ALS Fifth Meeting, 2026
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE FIFTH ANNE LISTER SOCIETY MEETING, spring 2026!
Since our inaugural meeting in April 2022, the Anne Lister Society has convened each April in Anne Lister’s hometown of Halifax, U.K.; we are thrilled to announce that we will reconvene for our FIFTH ANNE-VERSARY MEETING, 3-4 April 2026, again in Halifax, during the Anne Lister Birthday festivities.
Launched in the summer of 2020, the Society aims to foster knowledge of Lister’s extraordinary life and writings and to interpret her legacy. It seeks to nourish conversation among scholars and to build conversations between scholars and Lister’s wider readership and expanding network of invested enthusiasts. By encouraging research and greater understanding of her way of inhabiting the world, the Society aims to establish and sustain Anne Lister’s place — both in the cultural tradition and for the future.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM, 2026
DAY ONE / Friday 3 April
Welcome: (10:15 am)
Laurie Shannon (Northwestern University, WYAS transcriber, and convener of ALS)
Chris Roulston (University of Western Ontario and 2026 ALS conference co-chair)
Stephen Turton (University of Cambridge and 2026 ALS conference co-chair)
Panel 1: Practices of Diary-making (10:30-11:45)
“A short history of crypthand: model forms in manuscript and print”
Constance Halstead (University of York)
“‘I keep my accounts very regular’: Ageing and Autonomy in Aunt Anne’s Writing”
Imogen Cook (University of Kent)
“‘Everything anatomical amuses and interests me’: Anne Lister Writing about Anatomy”
Susanne Piotrowski (WYAS transcriber and independent researcher)
Roundtable Organized by the Anne Lister Forum: New Postgraduate Research (12:00-1:00)
Session chair: Constance Halstead (University of York, founder of the Anne Lister Forum)
Participants: Zoe Copeman (University of Maryland), Cee Collins (University of Leeds), Alice Burns (University of Liverpool), Penny Young (University College London), Imogen Cook (University of Kent), and Abi Palmer (University of Cumbria)
Panel 2: Reading Anne Lister and Anne Lister Reading -- Across Time (2:30-3:45)
“‘Might We Not Be Happy?’: The Political Camp of Gentleman Jack”
Penny Young (University College London)
“Re-embodying the queer past through biographical fiction in Emma Donoghue’s Learned by Heart (2023) and Pauline Valade’s Bruno et Jean (2024)”
Aude Haffen (Paul Valéry University, Montpellier)
“Anne Lister’s Classical Others”
Caroline Gonda (University of Cambridge)
Friday Keynote Leture and Conversation: (4:00-5:00)
“Dancing with Gentleman Jack: Northern Ballet’s Newest Creation”
Clare Croft (University of Michigan, dramaturg for Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack) with colleagues from Northern Ballet
DAY TWO / Saturday 4 April
Panel 3: Anne Lister’s Worlds (10:00-11:15)
“Anne Lister and the Halifax Logier Academy: Group Piano-Teaching in Nineteenth-Century Halifax”
Alison Deadman (East Tennessee State University)
“Anne Lister, Russian Amazons, and Venuses”
Olga Khoroshilova (St Petersburg State University)
“Slavery in Anne Lister's World: The Case of the wicked Miss Threlfall”
Anna Clark (University of Minnesota)
Saturday Keynote 1: (11:30-12:30)
“Casting Anne Lister: The Film-Maker’s Responsibility in Shaping a Historical Legacy”
Anne Choma (independent researcher, author, and consultant) and Jennifer van Gessel (screenwriter and director)
Panel 4: “Lister &” – Anne’s Extended Conversations (2:30-3:45)
“Harem Visions and Visits: Lister and Orientalism”
Stephen Turton (University of Cambridge)
“Lister and Rousseau”
Chris Roulston (University of Western Ontario)
“‘I left my guide and told him to shift for himself’: Lister’s use of guides and guidebooks on her 1824 tour of the Lake District”
Abi Palmer (University of Cumbria at Ambleside)
Saturday Keynote 2: (4:00-5:00)
“Anne Lister’s Final Resting Place: The State of Research”
Pat Esgate (organizer of Anne Lister Birthday Week and co-founder of ALS) and Laurie Shannon (Northwestern University and co-founder of ALS)
* Program details are inevitably subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances (strikes, the weather, public health incidents, or other international and travel issues!)