Dr Janette Leaf's Avatar

Dr Janette Leaf

@janetteleaf.bsky.social

Honorary Research Fellow: Birkbeck, Uni of London. 2023-2026. Weird cats, Cultural Entomology; Victorianism; Hypnotic Gothic; Egyptomania; Redheads; Shop Girls; Pre Raphaelite Art; Ghost Ships; Neo-Victorianism. Co-editor BL Insect Weird anthology.

568 Followers  |  297 Following  |  45 Posts  |  Joined: 27.11.2023  |  1.5814

Latest posts by janetteleaf.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Our second 'Dracula' adaption this season - this time with fantastic beat-boxing, a capella pop songs. and a really funny script by Dan Paterson. Park theatre is a great little venue too. #Gothic #Dracula #nineteenthcentury #FrontRowFun

07.12.2025 11:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

If you like #Victorian popular fiction, #Egyptomania or #19thCentury Art, I hope you'll like my article! I loved my editors! @vpfa.bsky.social @bavs-uk.bsky.social @19birkbeck.bsky.social @ncsascholars.bsky.social @issegyptomania.bsky.social @mariecorelli.bsky.social @edinburghup.bsky.social

02.12.2025 14:50 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Sign up for this week and next week’s online #Halloween #Gothic events with @gothicauob.bsky.social and @cncsi.bsky.social πŸŽƒβ¬‡οΈ

20.10.2025 12:28 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Wow! Loads of congratulations on your new little one! I hope Brodie's enjoying being a big bro! I'm building up to proper gigs by doing solos at incredibly supportive acoustic sessions or open mics run by pals. (Either I'm a sucker for punishment or my listeners are 🀣)

13.10.2025 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

All fine! Latest area of research is the Hypnotic GothicπŸ˜΅β€πŸ’«πŸ˜΄I've got a Victoriographies article due out very soon on my core stuff: Satanic Scarabs & Orientalist Art in fin-de-siecle Gothic. πŸͺ²Apart from that, I'm branching out into singing/songwriting πŸ€ πŸ’€. Hope you, your partner & little'un are well!

09.10.2025 11:40 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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a silhouette of a person standing in front of a full moon with capcom written on the bottom right ALT: a silhouette of a person standing in front of a full moon with capcom written on the bottom right

Hey! This is incredibly late, but massive congratulations on the doctorate! I happened to see that you were now Dr Craig Thomson! Fabulous! 🐺

08.10.2025 11:26 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you very much! And, I hope you know I think you're incredible too! 🀩

02.10.2025 00:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm grateful to @bavs-uk.bsky.social @vpfa.bsky.social @issegyptomania.bsky.social bsls.ac.uk @incsa.bsky.social @thebsls.bsky.social & so many individuals within the #Victorian #Gothic #Egyptomania #LitSci #PreRaphaeilite communities for friendship & support during my Research Fellowships.

01.10.2025 13:16 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Delighted to take up my 3rd Birkbeck Honorary Research Fellowship today. Looking back at some of the 30 conference papers I've presented since being awarded my doctorate, I'm excited for 2025-2026. @19birkbeck.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @drvickymills.bsky.social @luisacale.bsky.social

01.10.2025 13:04 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

Bathed in blood-red light at #Dracula @lyrichammersmith.bsky.social soaking up the staging, centring of the relationship between Mina and Lucy, & Mina's key editorial role. Nice nod to those in the know with the appearance of the yellow-backed 1897 edition! Loved it! #Gothic @indiekid.bsky.social

21.09.2025 13:51 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy Birthday to Beatrix Potter: born 28 July 1866! An incredible woman: a writer, illustrator, nature lover and natural scientist, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, zoologist, archaeologist . . .

28.07.2025 09:35 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3

When you are determining where to submit your scholarly essay for potential publication & you opt not to send it to a specific journal bc their publisher is, say, licensing β€œcontent” to train AI β€” please tell the journal editor. This info is crucial for editors but shadowy / difficult to document.

26.07.2025 16:57 β€” πŸ‘ 78    πŸ” 32    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

It was really great to see you, Jen! I also loved the shoutout to @britishlibrary.bsky.social Tales of the Weird editors in your talk, especially as @dremilyvincent.bsky.social, @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social & I were all sat near each other. Pam spotted our books in β€ͺ@blackwelloxford.bsky.social‬! x

27.07.2025 08:41 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I absolutely loved our panel too! It was wonderful to present alongside you and to chat! Your research is amazing and your 'thanks for listening' slide one of the very best. Hope to see you soon at another event! πŸͺ²πŸ’€

26.07.2025 21:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks very much! πŸͺ²

26.07.2025 10:49 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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#BAVS2025 you were a blast! 5 x Birkbeck papers from @drvickymills.bsky.social @nonfictioness.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social Julia Kuehn and me! Great to hang with @jeremynewton64.bsky.social too! Such fun and sociability with so many great #Victorian scholars! @19birkbeck.bsky.social

26.07.2025 09:49 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use Update: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has put online 492,000 high-resolution images of artistic works. Even better, the museum has placed the vast majority of these images into the public domain, mea...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use

17.07.2025 22:39 β€” πŸ‘ 3583    πŸ” 1703    πŸ’¬ 65    πŸ“Œ 143

CFP for Sex in the #19thC (deets in alt)

Abstracts (300 words), biographies (100 words), and should be submitted on Monday 22d September 2025 to rrr @ soton.ac.uk. Please
indicate if you would like to be considered for a travel bursary, and include your full name, discipline & institution.

21.07.2025 15:42 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 19    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 3
WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

14.07.2025 23:57 β€” πŸ‘ 6948    πŸ” 3741    πŸ’¬ 213    πŸ“Œ 991

It will be so great meeting in person! Really looking forward to your Gothic panel on Friday too! x

21.07.2025 09:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is really good news, not least because it's some sort of recognition of the huge amount you do! It definitely deserves celebration and congratulation! I'm really happy for you!

20.07.2025 13:29 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Two figures approach the Baggage Reclaim area of an airport. 

One says β€œWe wouldn't need to put things in the hold if you brought fewer books on holiday.”

Arriving on the carousel, amongst the bags and suitcases is a very large, well-stocked bookcase.

Two figures approach the Baggage Reclaim area of an airport. One says β€œWe wouldn't need to put things in the hold if you brought fewer books on holiday.” Arriving on the carousel, amongst the bags and suitcases is a very large, well-stocked bookcase.

My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

20.07.2025 10:07 β€” πŸ‘ 946    πŸ” 248    πŸ’¬ 15    πŸ“Œ 44

This is such fun! And many congratulations on your doctorate!

20.07.2025 09:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Architect Alfred Waterhouse born #OTD 1830 to a Liverpool Quaker family. Buildings include Manchester Town Hall, London’s Natural History Museum, Liverpool University's Victoria building. His love of red brick and terracotta led to him being nicknamed 'Slaughterhouse Waterhouse'.

19.07.2025 08:28 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

Just to give a flavour of Birkbeck C19th doings at #VPFAExtremes ! @19birkbeck.bsky.social @drvickymills.bsky.social @luisacale.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @andrewkingc19.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social

17.07.2025 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
VRW: Open Access Periodicals

Also, if you're working on C19 sources, see @patrickleary.bsky.social's invaluable list of open-access 19th-c periodicals here:

22.06.2025 14:30 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€ͺStill buzzing after an amazing #VPFAextremes conference! What a treat to hear so many talented speakers and to present on Hypnotic Gothic alongside Birkbeck pals!
@vpfa.bsky.social #Gothic #victorian

17.07.2025 13:24 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

One of the things I enjoyed pre submission was generating word clouds for each of my chapters. Bizarrely, it helped with re-structuring. I was also obsessive about keeping track of my wordcount for the intro, each chapter & conclusion to make sure it didn't become unbalanced! You're nearly there!

14.04.2025 16:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Delighted to welcome my splendid colleagues at @issegyptomania.bsky.social to Bluesky πŸ¦‹. Please consider giving them a follow on this platform, or even in becoming a member, they do incredible work on the reception of ancient Egypt and host numerous online lectures, seminars, and conferences!

18.02.2025 16:14 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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New exhibition launching at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London, soon!

One of the most remarkable artists of her generation, Evelyn De Morgan, is returning to Guildhall Art Gallery this April in an exhibition that premieres two newly restored artworks.

Find out more: bit.ly/3QftfhI

14.02.2025 17:36 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

@janetteleaf is following 20 prominent accounts