British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) conference

Monday 27 to Wednesday 29 July 2026

Location: John Foster Building, Mount Pleasant

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.

The 2026 Rosemary Mitchell Book Prize for a Second Monograph in Victorian Studies has been awarded to Stephanie O'Rourke for Picturing Landscape in an Age of Extraction (Chicago UP 2025)

Honourable mentions:

  • Nathan Hensley, Action Without Hope: Victorian Literature after Climate Collapse (Chicago UP 2025)
  • Keren Hammerschlag, The Chosen Race: Troubling Whiteness in Victorian Painting (University of California Press, 2026)

Meet your conference team

  • Dr Clare Horrocks (LJMU) - Conference Lead
  • Dr Lucinda Matthews-Jones (LJMU)
  • Dr Billie-Gina Thomason (LJMU/University of Liverpool)
  • 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)

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