A star is born! Congratulations 🎉 🎉 🎉

Conference Poster, “Voices for the Margins,” a day conference of the British Nonconformity in the long 18th century work group. Conference will be held at the John Rylands Library in Manchester on June 22, 2026.

Call for papers. Narratives of British Nonconformity in the Long Eighteenth Century often centre on key characters, further amplifying the voices which are already the loudest. This conference seeks to give attention to those who are situated on the peripheries of these narratives.This will include family members and colleagues of more established figures, enslaved peoples, non-Western perspectives, the heterodox and heretical, the radical, and those engulfed in scandal. This conference aims to consider a diverse range of social, economic, racial, and theological perspectives, giving attention to those who were either marginalised in their own lifetimes, or have been marginalised by subsequent historiographies. We invite proposals for papers on any subject pertainting to this theme, which may include: The poor • Women • Family and friends of famous figures • Overlooked figures • Enslaved peoples • Non-Western lives and perspectives • Heterodox and heretical figures or views • Radicals • Scandalous figures The conference is hosted by the British Nonconformity in the Long Eighteenth Century, co-convened by Drs Baiyu Andrew Song and Daniel Johnson, under the auspices of the American Society for Church History. Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a brief biography by May 25, 2026 to c18.nonconformity@gmail.com.

Excited to announce that Dr @danjohnsonhymns.bsky.social and I will co-host our 4th annual conference this year at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. Call for papers is now alive. Please help us to spread the news. Grateful for the support of ASCH and AFCBS.

Why did clergymen marry? What did a wife offer them in serving their parishes? Why on earth would Charlotte Lucas marry Mr Collins? Answers to these questions, & much more, at this talk using the @thejohnrylands.bsky.social collections with curator Paul Carlyle. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clerical-c...

Adam Tickell being rubbish again? I AM SHOCKED!

Publication day! My book Keeping Hold: A Cultural and Social History of Possession in Eighteenth-Century Britain is out now. 20% discount code KEHO2026. www.cambridge.org/core/books/k...

18 month postdoc at the lovely IHR in London, $41,740. Deadline 7 March. 'The Fellow will play a key role within the IHR team responsible for hosting the 2027 North American Conference in British Studies (NACBS)' in London 2027.

Repost to spread the word. #Skystorians

Opportunities Find opportunities to join UCL History in academic, research, teaching and learning, admin and other capacities below.

The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery (CSLBS) is excited to announce 3 new roles on our groundbreaking Valuable Lives project!

🔍 Open roles:
• 2 x Research Assistant (Digital Humanities)
• 1 x Research Fellow (Digital Humanities)

🗓 Closing date: 23 Jan 2026

shorturl.at/OCpLP

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎉

To celebrate the start of a new year, we are currently offering 40% OFF EVERY SINGLE BOOK on our website, until 31st January 2026.

Head to our website (link in bio) to shop now.
#booksky

Alain de Botton is a stupid person's idea of a smart person

Thank you so much Joanne for this really generous review!

My review of @benltjackson.bsky.social's excellent book!

Pleased to see that an article I wrote w/ Rachel Rich, @adamcrymble.bsky.social and @sarahfoxhistory.bsky.social is out! We look at George III's use of food for masculine self-fashioning. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

[HUMS Bicentenary PhD] A reparatory history of the Manchester Royal Exchange in collaboration with the Royal Exchange Theatre at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - [HUMS Bicentenary PhD] A reparatory history of the Manchester Royal Exchange in collaboration with the Royal Exchange Theatre at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com

This PhD on a reparatory history of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, exploring the legacies of empire is open for applications. It features a great supervisory team (moi, Kerry Pimblott, and Sadia Habib) and fabulous public history opportunities. Please share.
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Finally on 10 December we're delighted to be joined by @drdeclankavanagh.bsky.social who is giving a paper on Michael Clancy and queer/crip life-writing

Then it's... me ... on 26 November on queer bodies and kinship

Our first event is a reading group of @leannecalvert.bsky.social's article on queer approaches to the 18C Irish family on 22 October. Brilliantly, Leanne will be joining us to discuss her article

We're putting on an exciting range of research events this year at @manchester.ac.uk on 'Queer Bodies' in 18 & 19C Britain. Colleagues in English, Art History (@emmamerkling.bsky.social), & History are exploring queer approaches to bodies and embodiment and their cultures. See poster for more!

I'm going to @thenacbs.bsky.social this November (wahoo) in Montreal. My own funds are quite tight, does anyone know of funds available to ECRs to support attending I'd be really grateful!

OH GOD it hasn't been that long has it!

Huge huge congratulations Emily! What an achievement, and wonderful to finally see it in the flesh!

Really chuffed to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society today

Book cover for Vanished. Features a nineteenth-century print with a fossilised mastodon skeleton, Asian elephant being ridden by a turbaned man, Native and colonial figures looking on. In the background is a mountainous landscape and there is also a single passenger pigeon in the sky. The whole scene is framed by an ornate frame and foliage. Below the book is the following text: A love letter to the astonishing ways of being that have survived past extinctions, and an exhortation to create a worthwhile world.

Love’s Labour Launches with a roar! Thanks to many roarsome people I’ve gone from peasant to PhD, to Professor, and Penguin author with Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction out today. 🐅

Pls share, read, and help create a worthwhile world.
#WorldEnvironmentDay
#BookSky #HPS #Skystorians 🗃️

Have just heard that a university has drawn up a policy excluding trans staff & students on campus from using single-sex spaces. Does anyone else know of any other UK unis doing this? Please let me know

Had a wonderful conversation earlier this week with Miranda Melcher from the New Books Network about 'Material Masculinities' (out now with MUP! 😉) newbooksnetwork.com/material-mas...

Thanks so much for buying a copy Alun, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

oh that's wonderful to hear!

thank you Emily!

Thanks so much Colm, a long time to get there, but got there in the end!

Although my book doesn't engage in the history of chattel slavery, there's lots of good work out there exploring its history, it does explore some of commodities that were produced by enslaved people and looks at the importance of colonial brutality in men's relationship with goods

Thank you so much Laura!