British Shakespeare Association

We love to see the members of our Board in the wild - especially among such grand company!

The cover of a book. Title reads TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE. The illustration shows black embroidery of flowers, fruit, animals and insects on a stained cream ground.

Today is the OFFICIAL publication day for TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE! Please indulge me: I want to say a little (perhaps rather a lot) about it and share my acknowledgements - and a discount code! Appropriately,🧵1/10

Lovely to end the week with the arrival of this beautiful collection. Thank you to @drdeelittle.bsky.social and Rebecca for including my work

New to our Arden Performance Companions series, 'Shakespeare and Brecht: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers' by @stephenunwin.bsky.social is the first guide connecting the two playwrights, expanding staging & performing possibilities.

https://bit.ly/4pMQjoH

YouTube video by Shakespeare & Friends Did Shakespeare's Audiences Believe in Ghosts?

Recording the second episode of our new #YouTube series 'Shakespeare & Friends' this weekend, discussing a...tasty...topic. 🥧 🍰 🍺

The first episode, 'Did Shakespeare's audiences believe in ghosts?', is available here:

youtu.be/Br4N4RA0j_s?...

One week to go until our next NVS Seminar!

Prof. Eric Rasmussen (Nevada), ‘The Fifth Folio: Shakespeare Without Rules’

Tue 18 Nov, 1pm (CT) at @tamu.bsky.social LAAH 453 and streamed online

Zoom link and further details here: newvariorumshakespeare.org/news/

Image of the Droeshout engraving of Shakespeare from the 1623 First Folio. The image has been edited to give Shakespeare hot pink rayban-style sunglasses. Blocky text around the image reads “grants and awards - apply today.” End ID.

The deadlines keep coming and they don't stop coming! Make sure your application is in by *December 1* for the

- Innovative Article Award
- Shakespeare Publics Award
- Barbara Hodgdon Performance Award

More details at shakespeareassociation.org/awards-prizes/

Digital Text Analysis and Early Shakespeare Bibliography: Using Voyant Tools with Bad OCR Enumerative bibliographies are lists of scholarship that capture the state of a field. This article first evaluates digital texts of one such bibliography, Franz Thimm’s Shakspeariana from 1564–1864 (...

Out now: "Digital Text Analysis and Early Shakespeare Bibliography: Using Voyant Tools with Bad OCR"
www.digitalstudies.org/article/id/1...

One of the treasures from our early modern and Shakespearean collections @tamu.bsky.social Cushing Library: a copy of Shakespeare’s Second Folio (1632) once owned by the great 19thC American actor Edwin Forrest. He has added his name to ‘The Names of the Principall Actors’.

Gender, Violence and the Early Moderns European University Institute, Florence, May 22, 2026 - May 22, 2026 Deadline for submission/application: December 20, 2025 Call for Papers Organiser: Dr Giada Pizzoni Keynote Speaker: Dr Jonathan Davies (Warwick) Violence puts the gender roles in a society firmly on records. Although we can never fully grasp the motives behind past acts of violence, through them we can gauge what was tolerated or sanctioned in any given society. Historical violence can suggest which meaning early modern people had of assault and abuse, whether physical, verbal or psychological. This brings us to the fundamental methodological question of how modern categories can capture past social realities. In this regard, the aim of the workshop is to offer a more precise picture of gender violence, with a quantitative study on survivors, their witnesses, and the negotiating process. This gathering aims to promote a discussion on how to defy certain stereotypes around gender-based violence by investigating how women and men in the past viewed and talked about their roles within the abusive act. While some treated the violence suffered as an intimate matter, charged with shame and danger and therefore difficult to articulate, others saw it as a matter to be publicly outed and put into words. This workshop invites proposals for short papers (4,000-5,000 words) on any aspect of gender and violence in early modernity. Papers that investigate the possibility to offer significant input for the study of what we would regard as psychological/physical trauma; dynamics of power; for understanding responses to assault; to investigate the status and forms of victims and perpetrators. The past can share its feelings as violent acts are always initially expressed through language and shaped by specific social and cultural norms.

CFP: Gender, Violence and the Early Moderns

Confirmed keynote speaker: @jddavies66.bsky.social

Deadline: 20 December 2025
Conference: 22 May 2026, European University Institute, Florence
all info: www.rensoc.org.uk/event/gender... #EarlyModern #SkyStorians

Tolerance and Dissent University of Fribourg (Switzerland), June 24, 2026 - June 26, 2026 Deadline for submission/application: January 15, 2026 9th biennial conference of the Swiss Association of Medieval and Early Modern English Studies We are inviting abstracts for 20-min papers or complete panels in the field of medieval and early modern English studies or adjacent disciplines for the 9th biennial conference of the Swiss Association of Medieval and Early Modern English Studies (SAMEMES), which will be dedicated to the topic of ”Tolerance and Dissent.” The conference will take place at the University of Fribourg, from 24-26 June 2026. The deadline for the submission of abstracts (c. 250 words + a short bionote of max. 100 words) is 15 January 2026. Please send your abstract, or any other conference-related query, to the following email address: samemes2026[at]unifr.ch. Select papers presented at this conference will be published in the open-access and peer-reviewed Swiss Papers in English Language and Literature (SPELL) in 2027. More information on the conference, travel recommendations, travel grants, etc. is available under www.samemes2026.com. Please send your abstract, or any other conference-related query, to samemes2026[at]unifr.ch. We would be delighted to welcome you to Fribourg in June 2026!

CFP: Tolerance and Dissent

Deadline for abstracts 15 January 2026
Conference: 24-26 June 2026, University of Fribourg
Travel grants available for graduate students
#EarlyModern #SkyStorians
all info: www.rensoc.org.uk/event/tolera...

CfP: AI and Shakespeare (BSA Virtual Conference) - British Shakespeare Association AI and Shakespeare: A British Shakespeare Association Virtual Conference In the interests of economy and inclusivity, the BSA will be meeting in 2026 virtually over two half days (26 – 27 February, 1....

We invite short presentations on any subject relating to Shakespeare and AI. View the full CfP at www.britishshakespeare.ws/cfp-ai-and-s...

BSA membership is required but otherwise there are ✨NO CONFERENCE FEES✨

Image: 'Generated using Midjourney' by Brett Greatley-Hirsch

An AI generated portrait of Shakespeare, where his image appears made of brightly coloured computer code

ANNOUNCING #BSA2026 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE!
AI and Shakespeare: CfP

The BSA will meet virtually in 2026, 26–27 Feb, 1–5pm GMT to reflect and take stock on the explosive impact of AI on Shakespeare research, performance and education communities, considering opportunities and threats, briefs and griefs

The BBC’s Television Adaptations of Henry VI and Britain’s National Identity Crises - Shakespeare Survey 78 Shakespeare Survey 78 - October 2025

Very pleased to learn at the end of last week that my article for Shakespeare Survey 78, "The BBC's Television Adaptations of Henry VI and Britain's National Identity Crises," has now been published online. If you'd like to read it, here's the link: www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...

Discussing: Pre-Modern Drama on the Radio with Dr Andrea Smith (Early Access) | Beyond Shakespeare Get more from Beyond Shakespeare on Patreon

🔊Early access release for our wonderful patrons - it's a chat with @audioandrea.bsky.social about pre-modern drama on the radio, the challenges and freedoms that the medium allow. Our patrons get early access to pod releases every Wednesday! #drama #AudioDrama #Radio www.patreon.com/posts/discus...

Are you an early career researcher, based in the UK, looking to get published? The Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship, in partnership with @writersandartists.bsky.social, may be for you.

Applications now open until 1st October 👉 https://bit.ly/4nd2sBp

Text reads: Advice and support Romeo and Juliet is a dramatic fiction and its characters are not real people. Many people of all ages sometimes struggle with their mental health, and some will have suicidal thoughts. The websites listed here offer advice and support, particularly aimed at young people and those supporting them, in the UK. The Samaritans www.samaritans.org can be contacted on 116 123 for free (also in Ireland), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Shout www.giveusashout.org is a text-based crisis line for those struggling to cope and who need immediate help: text 85258. It is a free service for all the major UK mobile networks, available 24/7. Papyrus www.papyrus-uk.org is a suicide prevention charity. For support and advice, call 0800 068 41 41 or text 07786 209697 Monday–Friday 10am–10pm, weekends 2pm–10pm, bank holidays 2pm–5pm. CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) www.thecalmzone.net has a helpline 0800 585858 available 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, and many resources on the website, especially for peer-peer support, and for young men. Young Minds www.youngminds.org.uk has resources for young people and their adult support networks. In an emergency situation, if someone has taken steps to end their life or if you are worried for your own or someone else’s safety, always call 999 (UK) or go straight to A&E. Mental health emergencies are serious; asking for help isn’t wasting anyone’s time. Forced marriage continues to take place in many different communities, and can affect people of all genders. The websites listed here offer advice and support, and link to many other resources. Childline www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/crime-law/forced-marriage/ provides information and sources of support. Karma Nirvana www.karmanirvana.org.uk supports victims and survivors of Honour Based Abuse, including forced marriage, and campaigns to end it.

It's #WorldSuicidePreventionDay; it was really important to me when I wrote a new introduction to the New Cambridge Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet that I included a page of 'Advice and Support', which I hope might be useful for students, teachers, actors, readers... Here it is

It's that time of year 🎓 🍂 Stock up on all the books you need for class at 30% off in our sale until 5th October.

Shop The Arden Shakespeare https://bit.ly/47KN7mO

Jenny (left) and Andrea outside the Ipswich Institute

Three weeks today I'll be talking about #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 at the #IpswichBookFestival with my friend and University of Suffolk colleague, Dr Jenny Amos.
Can't wait!
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama
#BookSky #BookCommunity
www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/events/andre...

Online Teacher Day. - British Shakespeare Association 27 September 2025 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm - The British Shakespeare Association would like to invite teachers of Shakespeare to participate in a day of talks and discussions aimed at supporting and inspi...

Term is well and truly underway and that can mean only one thing - BSA's Online Teacher Day is coming up! Join us on Sat 27 Sept, 11am-4pm GMT for talks, discussions and resources to support and inspire your classroom practice. Register for FREE at the link below

A poster advertising the 'Wills Project Transcribathon' on Thursday 24 July, 1-4pm BST, in the Digital Humanities Lab at the University of Exeter, and on zoom. The poster features black text on green and yellow backgrounds, and three images - a box of folded will manuscripts, an unfolded will manuscript, and the painting Thomas Braithwaite of Ambleside making his will, Abbot Hall, 1607. Photo: Lakeland Arts.

Wow - so many people already signed up for our Wills Project Transcribathon later this month! 🙏

If you drop by you can transcribe some lines & help make 25,000 English wills more accessible for all.

In person & online, join us here: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com

#EarlyModern 🗃️ #Palaeography

Stand covered in books

Andrea standing in front of the stand holding the book: Shakespeare On The Radio

Close up of pendant - skull wearing headphones

Publicity sign about the book

And it was also lovely to see my book #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 on the @edinburghup.bsky.social.
Thank you to everyone involved - what a great event! (2/2)
#BSA2025 @bsashakespeare.bsky.social #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

Last day of #BSA2025 😢
Fab conference full of fascinating discussions and generous people sharing their knowledge, including Abigail Rokison-Woodall from the Shakespeare Institute talking at the moment about #Shakespeare and #Lecoq
@bsashakespeare.bsky.social

It was a treat to be part of all this—including final night hanging out w/ Jennifer, Miranda, Virginia, Ben & more!

Greensleeves: Text and Textiles in Early Modern English Culture - Society of Antiquaries of London This interdisciplinary conference takes the iconic sixteenth century ballad Greensleeves as a focal point through which to explore the interconnections of texts, textiles and material culture in early...

Today is the last day for signing up to our #multidisciplinary #Greensleeves #conference, either in person or online. Recordings will be available if you can't be there for the livestream.
www.sal.org.uk/event/greens...
@antiquaries.bsky.social

Dr Emma Whipday stands behind a podium before a large screen with the title slide of her presentation on 'the dramaturgy of single motherhood' projected onto it

Our third #BSA2025 keynote @emmawhipday.bsky.social takes us on an five-act exploration of the dramaturgy of single motherhood in early modern England, including autobiographical insights into the influence of early modern stigmas in the present day

Dr Emma Whipday stands behind a podium before a large screen with the title slide of her presentation on 'the dramaturgy of single motherhood' projected onto it

Our third #BSA2025 keynote @emmawhipday.bsky.social takes us on an five-act exploration of the dramaturgy of single motherhood in early modern England, including autobiographical insights into the influence of early modern stigmas in the present day

Thanks for coming along @shakescenery.bsky.social and for a great seminar on Paratexts and Documents of Performance!

It was great fun workshopping scenes from Hamlet with @thepantaloons.bsky.social today at the @bsashakespeare.bsky.social conference on the beautiful University of York campus!