@sbilston.bsky.social
Victorianist, Professor of English Lit at Trinity College, Hartford. Born and raised in Suffolk, UK.
A mystery orchid. A forgotten archive. Victorian obsession.
Join us 18 Nov, 6pm-8pm as author @sbilston.bsky.social uncovers the strange tale of Cattleya labiata and its archival secrets. An atmospheric dive into plant hunting & archive sleuthing.
Book here: buff.ly/S3ATweG
π£ Only 15 days left to submit to the fall issue. Bring us your best! Submit here: www.cherryroadreview.com/submit
01.08.2025 12:04 β π 2 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0Only one month left to submit to the inaugural issue! Submissions will close August 15, 2025. Details here: www.cherryroadreview.com/submit
#literarymagazine #litmag
Submissions are now open for our inaugural Fall 2025 issue. We welcome submissions of previously unpublished fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Submit by August 15, 2025, 11:59 PM ET. πΈ
16.06.2025 15:52 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Cherry Road by the wonderful Roland High. Submit your writing here: www.cherryroadreview.com/submit
06.07.2025 01:48 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Thanks to Miranda Melcher for a really probing, detailed interview on The Lost Orchid for the New Books Network @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
11.06.2025 18:00 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0I'm a bit thrilled about this! The image, which I discuss in The Lost Orchid, was made in the 1820s. It's the first (European) illustration of an orchid that would obsess generations - sort of a botanical pin-up bsky.app/profile/nybo...
27.05.2025 16:30 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I'm a bit thrilled about this! The image, which I discuss in The Lost Orchid, was made in the early 1820s. It's the first (European) illustration of an orchid that would obsess generations - sort of a botanical pinup #LostOrchid
27.05.2025 16:28 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Many historians "have come to see colonizers as oppressors and colonized peoples as oppressed," Sarah Bilston writes. But Victorian orchid hunters are not easy to place in this dichotomy:
18.05.2025 14:45 β π 32 π 3 π¬ 1 π 1In 1818, a curious root arrived in a small English village, tuckedβseemingly by accidentβin a packing case mailed from Brazil.
"The story seemed odd to me: surely someone knew how it got into the packing case?"
We sat down with Sarah Bilston, author of The Lost Orchid: tinyurl.com/38k4ky27
This is how orchid-hunting was represented in 19th cent British lit: brave hunter goes on expedition, pushes through undergrowth and at last, gasp, there it is. Letters show that isn't what happened at all - hunters found knowledgeable locals who showed them the way #lostorchid
06.05.2025 14:57 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0This may well cross (actually, march all over) the showing-off line... but if you are looking for a Mother's Day gift, The Lost Orchid has a Kirkus starred review - www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...
05.05.2025 14:11 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I'm so looking forward to speaking about my new book, The Lost Orchid, at RJ Julia in Middletown on Tuesday, 6pm! events.wesleyan.edu/event/13697-...
05.05.2025 13:41 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Obviously Iβm biased but I do think this would make a great gift for an orchid-lover - no ice cubes needed! #lostorchid
13.04.2025 15:40 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Had a lot of fun talking about Orchidomania (and cultural manias in general) with Colin McEnroe today -
www.ctpublic.org/show/the-col...
One month until The Lost Orchid is published, can hardly believe it. Meanwhile, here's some pretty pictures of orchids and a Q&A:
www.hup.harvard.edu/features/the...
This is the gorgeous cover of my new book, by the amazing designer Gabriele Wilson! And I just learned The Lost Orchid got a Kirkus starred review, so Iβm going to sit here staring at it
04.03.2025 18:26 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0