Events

30 June – 5 July 2025
Pisa, Italy
"The Years That Followed": The Afterlives of Lord Byron

In the year following the poet’s bicentenary, the 49th International Byron Association Conference will delve into the poet’s enduring and multifaceted legacy from the immediate aftermath of his death to the twenty-first century. The Conference aims to investigate Byron’s perspectives on various forms of futurity– historical, political, personal, and spiritual, among others – as well as the place he and his works have held in culture and literature since 1824, both in Britain and overseas.

Hosted in the historic city of Pisa, where Byron himself once resided, the conference will convene literary scholars, historians, and enthusiasts from around the world. Through keynote addresses, scholarly presentations, and panel discussions, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a rich debate about the poet, his times and his works.

Complementing the academic program, the conference will offer a wide range of cultural events, including visits to sites of significance to Byron and other English Romantics, both in Pisa and the surrounding areas (Bagni di Lucca and Bagni di Pisa, Lerici and San Terenzo), as well as musical performances, exhibitions, and poetry readings.

Visit their website: https://www.iabsconferencepisa2025.com/

Academic Committee: Madeleine Callaghan, Gregory Dowling, Roberta Ferrari, Alan Rawes, Diego Saglia, Jane Stabler

Organizing Committee: Paolo Bugliani, Nicoletta Caputo, Camilla Del Grazia, Laura Giovannelli, Emily Morgan-Peterson

1-7 July 2024

Athens – Messolonghi, Greece
Byron: The Pilgrim of Eternity

2024 marks the bicentennial of Lord Byron’s death in Messolonghi, where he had travelled to advance the cause of Greek independence. His passing ended the meteoric, scandalous career of a man whose life, thought, and work continue to influence art and culture to the present day – a poet perhaps best known by the epithet that Percy Shelley gave him: “the Pilgrim of Eternity.”

Two hundred years after Byron’s death, the International Association of Byron Societies, representing over a dozen nations, assembled in Greece to honour Byron, discuss his work, assess its place within the Romantic movement, and explore his afterlife and lasting impact on global culture.

The Academic Committee invited proposals of roughly 250 words for presentations considering any aspect of Byron's life, work, and influence, with particular emphasis on bicentennial reflections on Byron as'Pilgrim of Eternity'.

Proposals were sent by 22 JANUARY 2024 to Peter Graham (email: 48ibc-messolonghi@messolonghibyronsociety.gr) chair of the Academic Committee, which also includes Roderick Beaton, Stephen Minta, Naji Oueijan, Maria Schoina, and Andrew Stauffer.

For the General Program please send an email to Rodanthi-Rosa Florou (email: byronlib@gmail.com), Chair of the Organizing Committee.

Visit the website to learn more: https://www.messolonghibyronsociety.gr/ibc2024/

August 7th - 11th 2023

University of San Francisco, California

New Worlds

In the early 1820s, after having joined the Carbonari movement to aid Italian national freedom, Lord Byron contemplated moving to South America to help the revolutionary campaigns against Spain's imperialist forces. Byron even named his yacht the Bolivar after the famous Venezuelan liberator himself, outraging the Austrian governors who were tightening their grip on occupied Italy. When the Carbonari movement collapsed in Italy, he shifted his attention towards Greece, ultimately traveling there in 1823 to support the revolution against the Ottoman Turks. As the Austrian outrage at the Bolivar shows, the South American, Italian, and Greek revolutions were all part of a global cause of liberal resistance. In both his poetry and his life, Byron championed counter-colonial resistance movements from within and without Europe, while his legacy helped to shape emergent nations and the culture of Romantic-era authors and writings around the globe.

In bicentenary tribute, the IABS 2023 conference showcased works on Byron and Romantic-era resistance that honors the global diversity of the Romantic age. On the beautiful campus of the University of San Francisco, presenters gave papers on and beyond Byron and his circle and share imaginative ideas for our future. Roundtables, live readings, and exciting excursions took place throughout the conference! 

Visit the website to learn more: www.iabsconference2023.org

Unfortunately, this conference had to be cancelled.

The A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences &

The Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing, Moscow, Russia

The theme of this conference was “Poet & Reader”, where Byron himself might be perceived as an acute and genuine reader of texts composed in different modes and languages. There are also readers of Byron who were inspired by the poet’s verse style and his commitment to liberty and freedom. Famous writers, revolutionaries, philosophers, historians, artists, composers, travellers, and inventors belong to the international community known as Byron’s readership. Some of them claimed that they had learned English in order to read Byron in the original. Special attention was given to the Russian reception of Byron and his works.

Submission of Proposals
250-word proposals were sent by February 14, 2022 to ishishkova@yandex.ru (Professor Irina Shishkova), elenahaltrin@yandex.ru (Dr. Elena Haltrin-Khalturina)
Confirmation of acceptance by March 01, 2022.

We are happy to announce the new dates for the 46th International Byron Conference which was postponed due to covid-19 concerns. The conference will coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the Greek War of Independence of 1821, a landmark event that will be celebrated throughout the country.

Please note that the Call for Papers has opened again. The new deadline for abstracts is 31 January 2021. The exact format of the conference will be decided in the next few months and relevant information will be posted on the conference website as we go forward.

Delegates who had their proposals accepted are kindly requested to confirm their intention to participate by 31 January 2021 to our dedicated email address: byronthess@gmail.com

We very much hope that you will join us for this rescheduled event!

More information can be found on the official site http://www.new.enl.auth.gr/ibc2021/

4th-8th September 2019
University of Vechta (Germany)
Transgressive Romanticism: Boundaries, Limits and Taboos

Romanticism thrives on contradictions; conjuring up images and ideas of acquiescence in the sad Wordsworthian “music of humanity” (‘Tintern Abbey’) and in pastoral serenity on the one hand, it is, on the other, defined by transgressiveness, overreaching and the repudiation of boundaries. While political boundaries are often daringly crossed in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poetry, it is intriguing to see that, aesthetically speaking, even radicals such as Shelley (persistently) abided by the strict and apparently restrictive patterns of sonnets, odes or terza rima forms.

July 2-7, 2018
Ravenna, Italy
Improvisation and Mobility

The Italian Byron Society is pleased to announce the 44th International Byron Conference to be held in Ravenna

Byron’s most famous use of the word “mobility” is in Don Juan, Canto 16, stanza XCVII, where he uses it to describe Lady Adeline Amundeville, adding a footnote in which he defines it as “excessive susceptibility of immediate impressions”. Since then the word has been taken up by critics and biographers from Thomas Moore and Lady Blessington onwards, to refer to what seems an essential quality of Byron’s personality and poetry (and, particularly in more recent years, politics). The word has sometimes been linked with the notion of improvisation, especially when considering the spontaneity (or apparent spontaneity) of his verse: “I rattle on exactly as I’d talk / With any body in a ride or walk.” (Don Juan, 15, XIX).

The organisers also welcome prospective delegates to suggest ready-formed panels (of three 20-minute papers)

on the following topics: Byron and Ravenna; Byron and Italian politics; Byron and Italian art.

Please send 250-word abstracts for individual papers or ready-formed panels to byronravenna@gmail.com by 1 March 2018.

Information on conference registration and accommodation as well as on the cultural programme of the conference will be posted later on the Conference website.

Conference academic committee:

• Gioia Angeletti

• Shobhana Bhattacharji

• Gregory Dowling

• Olivier Feignier

• Alan Rawes

• Diego Saglia

2014, Tbilisi, Georgia

Whilst Byron may never have realised his ambition to visit Georgia, international Byronists have enjoyed “Beauty's native clime.” Around 100 Byronists from nearly twenty countries gathered in Tbilisi, Georgia for their first and the International Association of Byron Societies’ 40th conference. For such a diverse international gathering “Byron Original and Translated” was the appropriate and stimulating theme.

 2013, King’s College London

2012, Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon

The 38th International Byron Conference was held from July 1 to 6, 2012, at Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon, in collaboration with Lebanese University. Professor Naji Oueijan and the Lebanese Byron Society had long awaited the opportunity to bring the International Byron Conference to Lebanon. Perhaps we need to admit that “there is a tide in the affairs of men” and that there were some years when it was difficult to hold a conference in Lebanon, but we can also admit that our thinking had been a little too timid and worrisome. It was a wonderful feeling to finally hold the International Byron Conference in this beautiful country of antiquity and historical interest. Just imagine! We were in a land once inhabited by the Phoenicians, who had invented the alphabet, a land Lord Byron wished to visit but could not!

27th June to 1st July 2011
Byron & Latin Culture

6-13 September, 2009
Messolonghi and Athens, Greece
Lord Byron and History

The 35th Annual International Byron Conference took place in Messolonghi and Athens (with visits to Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplion) from September 6 to 13. Messolonghi, a town rightfully linked to Byron’s heritage, co-hosted along with the city of Athens 120 Byronists from 20 countries around the world, making this year’s conference a truly cosmopolitan and multicultural event.

23-28 May 2022
Messolonghi, Greece
Byron, Shelley, Philhellenism, and Revolution

The Messolonghi Byron Society
Messolonghi Byron Research Center

When originally planned, during the lead-in to the bicentennial commemorations of the Greek War of Independence, the International Student Byron Conference aimed to center on Byron’s involvement in Philhellenism and the Greek Revolution, to which he devoted his fortune and the last year of his life. Byron was the most famous of the several hundred Philhellenic volunteers who risked everything and in many cases gave their lives in the service of a foreign conflict. They came from all parts of the European continent, from Great Britain, and from the United States of America. Behind the volunteers in the field were many more activists who stayed in their own countries but were highly successful in promoting public support for the cause and raising funds to support the insurgent Greeks. But the coronavirus pandemic intervened, and the conference was postponed.

Now its academic committee is pleased to announce a rescheduling for May 2022. All participants whose abstracts had previously been accepted and who have indicated their interest in attending the rescheduled event will be eligible to present in May 2022.

This new date gives good reason for a widening of the conference topic. 2022 is the bicentennial of the death of Byron’s friend, brother poet, and fellow Philhellcnc Percy Bysshe Shelley. Kindred spirits in some ways, Byron and Shelley were polar opposites in others. “We are all Greeks,” Shelley famously observed—but his abstract and universal Philhellenism, notably embodied in the verse drama Hellas (1822), the last work published during his lifetime, was very different from Byron’s practical involvement in the Greek cause.

Along with presentations related directly to Byron’s involvement in the Greek Revolution and to the wider contexts of European and American Philhellenism and its contribution to the making of modern Greece, the academic committee welcomed proposals addressing Byron’s and Shelley’s political and personal affinities and differences, their influences on one another, and Shelley’s Philhellenic and revolutionary ideas, whether expressed in poetry or prose.

Proposals were sent by 28 February 2022 to Professor Roderick Beaton (rod.beaton@kcl.ac.uk), Professor Peter Graham (pcgraham@vt.edu) and Professor Maria Schoina (schoina@enl.auth.gr) with a copy to Mrs. Rodanthi-Rosa Florou (byronlib@gmail.com).

As well as an in-person conference, organisers also followed the covid-19 developments around the world and made arrangements for a hybrid or online conference should it be necessary. Detailed descriptions of the previous International Student Byron Conferences can be found on the Messolonghi Byron Society’s website, www.messolonghibyronsociety.gr

The Messolonghi Byron Society – International Research Center for Lord Byron & Philhellenism announce the postponement of the 15th International Byron Student Conference, which had been scheduled to take place at Messolonghi from 26 to 31 May 2021, to similar dates in 2022.

Once it had become clear, earlier this year, that Covid-19 restrictions in Greece were unlikely to be lifted in time for a face-to-face event to take place in Messolonghi in May, the organisers gave careful consideration to the practicalities of an online event instead. However, what has distinguished these conferences is the rich and multiple rewards of being on the spot in Messolonghi: the opportunity to spend time in the historic town and a picturesque landscape Byron experienced daily in the last months of his life, and to be there amid a group of like-minded scholars at all stages of their careers.  None of this could have been replicated by an online format. It is also important that student participants should have the opportunity, as in past years, to experience Greek sights and sites, to become familiar with the Byronic, Romantic, and Philhellenic resources of the library at the Byron House’s research center – and, as has not before happened, to visit the new Byron Museum. This will be beautifully housed and curated by the Messolonghi Byron Society on the 2nd floor of the Byron House and will be inaugurated in May 2021 as part of the national celebrations commemorating the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution.

New dates in May 2022 will be announced in due course. All proposals by students and faculty which were accepted for 2021 will automatically be accepted for 2022. In the meantime, the organisers welcome new proposals, particularly from students, which may be submitted at any time up to a deadline in January 2022, also to be announced. Updates will appear regularly on this website.

20-25 May 2019

Messolonghi, Greece
Byron and Revolution

Keynote Speakers
Professor Roderick Beaton, King’s College London
Professor Andrew Stauffer, Virginia University USA

The Messolonghi Byron Research Center welcomes proposals for 20-minute papers to be delivered at the 14th International Student Byron Conference, to be held at Messolonghi May 20-25, 2019.

The last act of Byron’s life was to dedicate himself to the cause of the Greek Revolution, which began in 1821 and ended with the recognition of Greece as an independent state by the Great Powers in 1830. The circumstances of his death and later commemoration at Messolonghi have been much discussed ever since. But the whole of Byron’s life and career took place in the shadow of revolutions: notably the three great revolutions that together have defined the modern world: the American (1776), the French (1789) and the Industrial Revolution that was rapidly transforming Britain and Europe throughout his lifetime.

June 20-22, 2024
Rome, Italy

The University of Notre Dame, Keats-Shelley House, and the University of Colorado, Boulder co-hosted an exciting Byron Symposium at the University of Notre Dame Rome, a cutting-edge facility near the Colosseum. Speakers expanded upon Marilyn Butler’s seminal investigation of a romantic “Cult of the South,” based in Italy, to address Byron’s personal, poetic, and political interactions with a wider range of cultures throughout the Mediterranean Rim: Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece, the Balkans, and Turkey, as well as Italy. The symposium featured a guided tour of a major Byron exhibition at the Keats-Shelley House and a presentation on the new Museo Byron in Ravenna. Additional attendees were welcome to register free of charge. For more information on this event and other global Byron Bicentenary Celebrations, contact co-organizers Greg Kucich and Jeffrey Cox or visit The Byron Society website.

April 19-20, 2024

Trinity College Cambridge hosted a two-day event to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron's death on April 19, 1824. As Byron's alma mater and home to Thorvaldsen's famous statue of the poet, Trinity provided a fitting backdrop for this celebration of his enduring legacy. The event explored Byron's contemporary relevance through a diverse program of talks by renowned academics and writers, music performances including a newly commissioned piece by Judith Weir, and poetry readings of both Byron's work and newly commissioned pieces. An exhibition in the Wren Library showcased Trinity's extensive Byron collection, featuring original manuscripts, letters, and first editions. This multifaceted event offered fresh perspectives on Byron's influence in today's culture and scholarship. For more information, visit www.trin.cam.ac.uk or email byron2024@trin.cam.ac.uk.

April 26-27 2024
Provocative and Provoking: Fifty Shades of Byron

The 2024 Newstead Abbey Byron Conference, commemorating the bicentenary of Lord Byron's death, invited scholars and enthusiasts to explore the theme "Provocative and Provoking: Fifty Shades of Byron." This event celebrated Byron's multifaceted life, diverse poetry, and global impact. Featuring a keynote by Professor Andrew Stauffer on "Byron: A Life in Ten Images," the conference welcomed papers on all aspects of Byron's life, works, and reception. Held at Newstead Abbey, attendees had the opportunity to tour the historic house and gardens, with additional cultural events planned at nearby Byron-related locations. The conference organizers accepted abstracts of up to 300 words and short biographies until January 2nd 2024. The Byron Society offered bursaries for students and early career researchers. For submissions and bursary inquiries, contact Dr. Emily Paterson Morgan at newsteadbyronconference@gmail.com. This expanded event allowed a comprehensive exploration of Byron's enduring legacy across cultures and communities.

A lively conversation in which Prof. Bernard Beatty and  Prof. Jerome McGann discuss their new books on Byron.

This is a joint event organized by the London Byron Society and the Byron Society of America.
It is a lively discussion in which Prof. Bernard Beatty and Prof. Jerome McGann discuss with each other and the audience their new books on Byron: Beatty’s Reading Byron and McGann’s Byron and the Poetics of Adversity.
Hosts: Dr. Emily Paterson-Morgan and  Prof. Andrew Stauffer.

Click HERE to watch the video

24th-25th April 2021 *was rescheduled from 2020
Byron & Loss

Keynote Speaker: Dr Mirka Horova

2020 marks the bicentenary of a troubling year. George III had lost his life and, many would argue, George IV lost what little shreds remained of his dignity, pursuing his errant wife with hypocritical vengeance during the so-called Queen Caroline Affair. The monarchy and government had lost the trust of the people, and many of them would have lost their lives had the Cato Street Conspiracy succeeded. Meanwhile Byron, now in the fourth year of his self-imposed exile, was rapidly losing his hair, teeth, famous good looks, and – some might argue – his dignity. It is against this backdrop that he became interested in Italian politics, or rather the loss of political authority and national autonomy.

To mark the year of 1820, we welcome papers considering the theme of Byron and loss. These could include`, but are not limited to:

Themes of loss may include but are not restricted to

Grief, familial loss and suicide

Melancholy, weltschmerz, Romantic melancholia

Material and aesthetic losses

Appetite and diet

Loss of status, land, and national autonomy

Loss of love, lovers, and spouses

Religious convictions and anxieties

Idealism and political convictions

Anxieties about poetic reputation and legacy

Writer’s block and poetic inspiration

Financial losses, economic instability and usury

Ruins and degeneration

NB:

• Nottingham uni and trent uni

• BARS BAVS

• Our website

• Ask Simon Brown if he would like to give a talk about Newstead on Friday afternoon and join us for the supper

7th December 2019
Antenna Media Centre (Nottingham Trent University), Nottingham
Byron & his language

Keynote speaker: Professor Jerome McGann

Submissions relating to any aspect of Don Juan are welcome, however papers connected with the first two Cantos are of particular interest. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Byron’s sources, influences and inspirations for Don Juan

• Techniques, conventions and tropes used in Don Juan

• The contemporary reception of Don Juan (critical reception, popular and working-class reception, male vs female reception, metropolitan vs rural reception, reception in Britain and other countries) and Byron’s response

• Later critical and creative responses to Don Juan

• Imitations and adaptations of the poem

• Questions of ownership, piracy and anonymous publication

• The poem’s place in Byron’s oeuvre with an especial emphasis on its continuing value in the modern era.

Proposals of no more than 300 words should be submitted by email to byrondonjuan2019@gmail.com no later than Friday 30th August.

We welcome submissions from postgraduate students for a student panel.

For more details of the conference, please visit www.thebyronsociety.com or email contact@thebyronsociety.com or byrondonjuan2019@gmail.com.

Ticket details, Conference Programme and other information available on website, www.thebyronsociety.com

October 18-19, 2019
DePaul University, Chicago

Join us in celebrating the 200th anniversary of Byron's Don Juan at a unique symposium hosted by The Byron Society of America and The Keats-Shelley Association. This two-day event in Chicago features keynote lectures by Jerome McGann, Clara Tuite, Alice Levine, and Peter Graham, bringing together scholars from Australia, Greece, and North America. The conference explores Don Juan's origin, cultural value, and relevance to free speech in the 21st century through diverse interpretations - from poststructuralist to feminist approaches. Presentations will cover a wide range of topics, including Lady Byron, Ada Lovelace, rap music, and opera, highlighting the poem's blend of high and low culture. The event spans two prestigious venues: DePaul University and The Chicago History Museum, offering not only academic discourse but also musical performances of Liszt, Chopin, and Mozart. With no registration fees, this conference promises a rich, interdisciplinary exploration of Byron's masterpiece in a culturally vibrant setting.

26-27 April 2019
Newstead Abbey
Faith and Infidelity: Byron in 1819

1-2 May 2015
Newstead
Byron and the Bible