British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) conference

Monday 27 to Wednesday 29 July 2026

The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History, with the Centre for Port and Maritime History, are delighted to welcome BAVS delegates to Liverpool in 2026. On this site you will find information about how to submit a proposal and start to plan your trip for next year.

The Liverpool Convention Bureau have liaised with a range of hotels to secure the best deals on accommodation, and you can now make bookings direct through their site. Advice for arranging travel from Dublin, where the RSVP conference is being held, is also included for your convenience.

As we approach the conference itself there will be further information added about the programme, registration and other key details you may need to start planning.

Meet your conference team

  • Dr Clare Horrocks (LJMU) - Conference Lead
  • Dr Lucinda Matthews-Jones (LJMU)
  • Dr Samuel Saunders (University of Liverpool)
  • Dr Amelia Yeates (Liverpool Hope University)
  • Melissa Gustin (National Museums Liverpool)

Keynote speakers

  • Dr Alison Chapman (University of Victoria, BC)
  • Dr Amy Matthewson (University of Birmingham)
  • Professors Joe Kember and John Plunkett (University of Exeter)

Call for papers

The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (CMCH) at Liverpool John Moores invites you to Liverpool for BAVS 2026. Founded in 2000, the British Association for Victorian Studies supports and promotes research in Britain and beyond. This year’s conference Planning Team represent the richness of Victorian history and research in the City, with colleagues from LJMU, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University and National Museums Liverpool.

Please note:
There will be no specific theme for the conference. Papers on any aspect of long-nineteenth-century studies from across Art History, Music, Maritime History, Theatre History, the History of Science and Literature from all genres, including Neo-Victorian, to name a few, are welcome.

Liverpool is a cultural port city with a rich, if at times contentious, heritage, providing a framework for discussion of Victorian Studies in the twenty first century. The City mirrors many of the exciting social, cultural and economic innovations of the period, from the Philharmonic Hall and its Orchestra to the many theatres. We would particularly like to attract papers that engage with this myriad of narratives, reaching across disciplines. Victorian Liverpool encapsulates the diversity of Victorian studies, broadening out to the provinces, bringing migrants from Scotland, Ireland and Wales to the City, extending the reach of Britain into the Empire and beyond; both who went out from Liverpool and who settled here. Here ‘Victorian’ is not a static concept, but transcends the immediate locale while still being shaped by it. We welcome papers that examine the rich cultural tapestry the city stimulates, whilst continuing to address the broader controversies of the period.

The Liverpool Planning Team welcome proposals for 20 minute papers, but proposals for creative, non-traditional, craft approaches to presentation will be welcome. We would particularly like to attract proposals for Roundtable sessions on areas like Pedagogy, Research Methods, Theatre and Music History. If people would like to organise shorter lightning papers and panels then please contact the Planning Team to discuss this.

Please submit proposals of 250 to 300 words to bavs2026liverpool@gmail.com by no later than 30 November 2025.

Any queries, then please contact the Conference Lead, Dr Clare Horrocks.

Image credit: John Ingle Lee, Sweethearts and Wives (detail), courtesy of National Museums Liverpool