More Terrors than her Reason Could Justify
A 200th Anniversary Celebration of Ann Radcliffe’s Posthumous Publications
2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Ann Radcliffe’s final posthumous works. Often paid scant attention in critical writing on Radcliffe, they challenge a number of common assumptions about Radcliffean form. In doing so, they force us to confront and question the prescriptive and often rigid conceptions of the ‘female Gothic’ so often rooted in her work. This conference marks the publication of Radcliffe’s final works by celebrating her writing, her contemporaries and her legacy with an exploration of the Gothic and horror as written and produced by women and people of marginalised genders (non-binary, trans, intersex, two-spirit, et al.) from the 18th century to the present day.
An early Gothic writer, Radcliffe was known to some as the ‘Great Enchantress’, to others as the ‘Shakespeare of Romance writers’. She was a key figure in the early Gothic – both in shaping it and in its meteoric rise to popularity. This conference though wishes to put her in her contemporary context – rather than viewing her as an exception, we seek papers about her which place her in her contemporary literary, social and political context and papers which explore the works of her contemporaries: other Gothic trail-blazers like Eliza Parsons, Charlotte Smith, Regina Maria Roche, Eleanor Sleath, Clara Reeve and more! The programme for this year’s conference also seeks to step beyond Radcliffe’s moment to explore her legacy through an exploration of the ways in which women and people of marginalised genders have explored the potential of the Gothic. We are interested in the how the Gothic, horror and the supernatural and used to explore the world from the position of those who, for reasons of gender, are marginalised within it. The conference will explore new perspectives, bring different eras into conversation and include a global outlook. We seek papers which challenge easy and prescriptive conceptions of a binary, essential division between ‘gendered’ versions of Gothic and horror, building on the decades long work of critics like Ellen Ledoux and many others who challenge the popular usage of a reductively defined ‘female Gothic’.
We welcome papers on all media, including books, poetry, plays, films, tv series, visual novels and video games. We welcome perspectives from all disciplines.
Some (non-exhaustive) examples of possible subjects:
Ann Radcliffe’s poetry
Radcliffe’s travel-writing
Radcliffe’s novels in their political, theological, social, philosophical context
Radcliffe’s legacy in the nineteenth century
Stage productions of Radcliffe’s work
Chapbook rewrites, summaries and extractions from Radcliffe
Radcliffe’s contemporaries
Women as publishers of the Gothic/horror
Reevaluations of the ‘female Gothic’
Sapphic Gothic and horror
The Women’s weird
Genres associated with women writers/consumers including The Gothic Romance and the Paranormal Romance
Women in horror film (actors, directors, writers etc.)
Women on-screen in horror and the Gothic
Monstrous women
Misogyny in horror
Feminism and horror/the Gothic
The representation of women in horror/the Gothic
The representation of people of marginalised genders in horror/the Gothic
Trans-horror
The work of people of marginalised genders in horror and the Gothic
How to Apply
Please submit an abstract of 250-350 words to Radcliffe2026@gmail.com. (Please note, we will only read up to the 350 word limit). You do not need to include a bio and these will not be considered in the selection process. We do not accept submissions written by AI.
Abstracts should be submitted by April 30th 2026
If you are applying for your first conference or wish for further support, we will be holding two free abstract writing workshops on February 15th at 10am and 7pm GMT. If you are interested in the workshop but cannot makes this date or these times, please state this in your application.
If you have any questions, please use the email above.
Romancing the Gothic 