Matthew Roberts

...nothing like a Sunday nap between drafts...

Malorie Blackman on Noughts & Crosses at 25: ‘It’s even more relevant today’ Her YA classic was inspired by racism in 1990s Britain. A quarter of a century later, she talks about success, death threats and getting shoutouts from Tinie Tempah and Stormzy

I remember doing school events and students would ask if I’d ever met anyone famous. I’d say, “Like who?” And they’d all yell “Malorie Blackman!!” I’d say yes and was cool for the rest of the day.

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/m...

Synchronicity is everything..."That the draft that feels hopeless at ten in the morning can feel promising by two in the afternoon."

I will update later 😂😱🫣

So excited to be there too.

Gulliver’s Travels at 300. The Global Afterlives of a Bestseller in Print, Transmedial Adaptations, and Material Cultures (Seventh ILLUSTR4TIO International Symposium, London) Plenary Lecture: Professor Daniel Cook (University of Dundee) Artist’s Talk: Martin Rowson (in conversation with Brigitte Friant-Kessler) Venue: St. Bride Library (London, U.K.) Dates: 23–25 September...

I’m looking forward to delivering the plenary lecture at this multidisciplinary conference, which marks the tercentenary of the first publication of the world’s greatest prose satire, in 2026:
www.fabula.org/actualites/1...

"This kind of discomfort is a sign that something is going right. It’s not a sign that something has gone wrong."

Love this! ♥️

getting comfortable with being uncomfortable Good academic writing means sitting with a discomfort that never entirely goes away. It’s not a discomfort that comes from having nothing to say. Most of us have more than enough ideas crowding the…

Fantastic blogpost by @patthomson.bsky.social on productive discomfort 👏 ‘Academic writing is a form of thinking. It’s not the transcription of thoughts already completed, but a process of thinking itself.’ patthomson.net/2026/03/08/g...

Shell Seat Appeal - Strawberry Hill House & Garden

Appeal launched for the replacement of the (replica) shell seat at Strawberry Hill (the original, designed by Richard Bentley, c1754-56, was sold in the 1842 auction): www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/shell-seat/ #c18 #c18th #18thc

Messing about in boats: Kenneth Grahame, Scottish writer, Secretary at Bank of England, born #OTD 1859; published The Wind in the Willows in 1908, bequeathed royalties to Bodleian Library at University of Oxford.
Manuscript [MS. Eng. misc. e. 247] @bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Nineteenth-Century Afterlives: Creative and Critical Approaches An exploration of the many ways in which the 19th century is revisited, reimagined, and critically reinterpreted

Our fantastic doctoral student Sarah Dutson is organising the next of our North-West Long Nineteenth-Century Research Seminars, which is a hybrid event focusing on postgraduate and early career research on 19c afterlives. For more info, please click here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nineteenth...

Calling all Victorianists! Do you have CFPs/events/news of Victorianist interest you want to share? Let us know at bavsnews@gmail.com and we'll circulate it to the BAVS membership in the spring newsletter. @bavs-uk.bsky.social @ruthannereads.bsky.social

Have you shown your support for the Seaside Holiday as Living Heritage? Encompassing everything from a stroll on the pier to the tang of vinegar on your fish & chips this initiative seeks to recognise cultural heritage as it is practised.
Here's the quick form 🏖️🌊🍦
forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Congratulations.

Hurrah! This plopped through the letterbox this morning.
Not only is it always a thrill to see my work in print (Chapter 10), but I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the book.
Many thanks to Duncan Lees and Liz Oakley-Brown for all their help and support.
#Shakespeare #RadioDrama

We've really enjoyed collaborating with @hbap1924.bsky.social
If you have time to give them some feedback it would be most welcome 🔽

I hear one of the boys tried to run away.

Lovely to see this review of our 'London in the Second World War' exhibition published on its last day. Huge thanks and congratulations to our staff who worked hard to curate it 🥳👏

Our next exhibition, 'Londoners on Trial' opens on the 9th March.... 👀

www.thelondonarchives.org/visit-us/exh...

Male impersonator Vesta Tilley, stood in a shiny black tailcoat and top hat, smiling with a cigarette in her mouth.

Meet Miss Vesta Tilley (1864 - 1952).

This LGBTQIA+ History Month, get to know a legend of performance royalty...

and what might now be interpreted as an early drag king 👑

[1/9]

My introduction to the law took place when I was a child & discovered my being gay was a crime with a jail sentence [or worse, walled up in the Central Mental Hospital to be experimented on]. As a result, like many minorities, I realised that the law was about oppression & not rights [1]

A picture of Parliament across the Thames. The text reads: Covid-19 Day of Reflection, 8th March 2026.

On Sunday March 8th, we will be observing the Covid-19 National Day of Reflection quietly at our beautiful memorial in central London.

The team will be there from 11.00-3.00, with paint and pens available for anyone who would like to help us with the work of maintaining the Wall.

Booked! Can't wait!

This spring I'm celebrating some seaside-themed anniversaries in a series of online talks. The first will be all about the architecture and design of #butlins holiday camps.
Tickets from
www.ticketsource.co.uk/kathryn-ferry/90-years-of-butlin-s-design-an-online-talk-by-dr-kathryn-ferry/e-yzajrz

The birth of the travel guide In the 19th century travel evolved from an aristocratic privilege to middle-class reality. Explore how rail guides made this possible.

This is a delight.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

All the more reason to support living heritage @seasidenetwork.bsky.social

The birth of the travel guide In the 19th century travel evolved from an aristocratic privilege to middle-class reality. Explore how rail guides made this possible.

This is a delight.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/explore-the-...

All the more reason to support living heritage @seasidenetwork.bsky.social

So many examples of living heritage at the seaside!
All the things in this image and much, much more.
Please do show your support via the quick and easy form
Thank you 😊

John Hassall created his famous Jolly Fisherman poster for Skegness in 1908. Today, statues of the character stand in the public realm of the seaside resort.

CONGRATULATIONS!🌈🎉🎉🎉👍👏

AWARD WINNERS 🏆
We’re proud to have won Best Ticketing Initiative at the Cultural Enterprises Awards.

With no public funding, we took a brave step: Pay What You Can - welcoming everyone in, while diversifying income.

Thank you to everyone who’s supported us 🏳️‍🌈

In his lecture on the Gothic Novel and the supernatural in fiction, Prof John Mullan delves into the famous Wuthering Heights scene where Cathy is at the window... 👻🪟

Watch full lecture 👉 gres.hm/supernatural-fiction

*also of UCL

#wutheringheights2026 #gothicliterature

Image of cover of Transforming Orality book

Image of Chapter opening of my essay on the Gresham lectures.

Really enjoyed this conference at Regensburg in 2023. And very glad to see versions of the papers now published. Mine delves into the sad and sorry tale of the c19 Gresham Lectures. @greshamcollege.bsky.social