The ‘ Third Sex ‘ Reading Group
Led by: Mollie Clarke , Dr. Claire O’Callaghan , Dr. Matt Crofts , and Helena Esser
Following on from the successful ‘Third Sex’ reading group at the VPFA’s 2020 conference, a more permanent reading group is now established! Meeting once a month, we will continue to focus on texts that examine ‘the third sex’ – that is; Victorian and neo-Victorian works that explore sex and gender, queerness, and LGBTQA+ identities. Meetings will take place via MS Teams, last for approximately 90 minutes, and will be supplemented by an exciting and supportive reading pack, comprising questions and textual prompts for members.
Meeting one: Wednesday 16th September 2020 at 5.30pm (BST).
Our first text will be Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet (1998), her debut novel exploring the gendered and sexual coming of age of music hall impersonator, Nancy Astley.Access the Reading Pack here.
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Meeting two: Wednesday 14th October 2020 at 5.30pm (BST).
In this session we will be looking at George Moore’s novella Albert Nobbs (1918, 1927), alongside Lisa Hager’s essay: ‘A Case for Trans Studies Turn in Victorian Studies’ (Victorian Review, Vol 4, No 1, Spring 2018).Meeting three: Wednesday 11th November 2020 at 5.30pm (BST).
Our theme for this month is ‘Wilde and Adaptations’, and we will be looking at a variety of depictions of Oscar Wilde, primarily Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience (1881)How to join:
The Reading Group is open to members of the VPFA. If you are not yet a member, you can join the VPFA here.
If you are a member email vpfareadinggroup@gmail, we will send out the reading pack a week in advance of the group meeting, and a link to join us online the day before it is scheduled. You will also be provided with a password to access the reading pack above. The pack and password will change with each session – please do not share this information with others. We ask that all attendees contact us individually so we can monitor numbers.
Bring your tea, coffee, other and come join us! We look forward to seeing you there.