Abbi Parcell is in conversation with Dr Debbie Challis on how we can read and queer the Victorians through their readings of Ancient Greece.

As part of LGBTQ+ History Month Abbi and Debbie will discuss a book in the Portico’s historic collection – J. A. Symonds’ Studies of Greek Poets.

J.A. Symonds arguably had a pioneering role in the early development of queer studies. His audience, predominantly situated in the late 19th century intellectual milieu, encompassed scholars, writers, and those invested in classical literature and its connotations. Debbie and Abbi will discuss how the Victorians could use Greek poets and Ancient Greece more broadly to signal queerness and what this means for reading the collection of the Portico.

We invite people in the audience to bring a poem or piece of writing that is not ‘out’ but that they think signals queerness or queer identity.