As part of the 14th International ESPRit Conference, “Periodicals and the World”, ESPRit will host its annual Postgraduate Workshop on Periodical Studies in Brussels in September 2026.

Key Information

📅 Workshop date: 9 September 2026
📍 Venue: Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), Brussels
🎓 Eligibility: Postgraduate students
📝 Application deadline: 20 February 2026

The workshop will take place on 9 September 2026, before the start of the main conference, and offers a forum for postgraduate researchers to present and discuss their work in a supportive scholarly environment. Particular emphasis will be placed on methodological questions related to periodical studies.

The workshop is open to postgraduate students working on any topic related to periodicals, across all historical periods, geographical areas, and cultural contexts. Participants are encouraged to reflect on shared challenges, research practices, and approaches within the field.

Applications

Applicants are asked to submit the following four documents:

• an academic CV outlining studies, research interests, and any distinctions and/or publications;

• a 500-word formal proposal for the workshop. Case studies should be avoided; instead, proposals should focus on specific methodological issues relevant to periodical studies. Workshop presentations generally last 10 minutes;

• a short statement explaining how the proposal relates to periodical studies (or indicating if the field is still new to the applicant);

• a one-page outline of the applicant’s ongoing research or PhD thesis, including title, supervisor, institutional affiliation, and expected (or recent) year of completion.

How to Apply

📧 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
📌 Subject line: “ESPRit Postgraduate Workshop on Periodical Studies”
📅 Deadline: 20 February 2026

The main working language of the conference is English. Proposals in other languages will be considered, provided that presentation arrangements are agreed in advance with the organisers.

Selection Committee

• Evanghelia Stead (UVSQ Paris-Saclay)
• Sophie van den Elzen (Utrecht University)
• Gábor Dobó (Kassák Museum–PIM–MNMKK, Kassák Foundation)
• Cedric Van Dijck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)
• Maaike Koffeman (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

For further details, including the full call for papers, please visit the conference website. ESPRit looks forward to welcoming postgraduate researchers to Brussels in September 2026.

On the occasion of the launch of JEPS 10.2 Open Issue

📅 Thursday, 11 December 2025
⏰ 16:00 CET
📍 Online — Free and open to all with registration. Register HERE

The JEPS in Conversation series offers a space for editors and authors to engage directly with readers, discuss their research, and reflect on key questions shaping the field of periodical studies today.

This session brings together issue editors Helena Goodwyn and Zsuzsa Török in conversation with contributing authors Chiara Cremona, Yasemin Gencer, Anne-Marie Millim, and Hayarpi Papikyan, who will introduce their articles and discuss their research.

The seminar will be recorded and later released as an audio podcast on our website.

Featured Articles in Conversation

Chiara Cremona and Andrea Penso

“From Britain to Italy through France: A Preliminary Survey of the News about Walter Scott Published in the Italian Gazettes of the Early Nineteenth Century”

Biographical Notes: Chiara Cremona is a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her main research interests include nineteenth-century English, Italian, and French literature, periodical studies, and reception studies. Andrea Penso is an independent researcher with expertise in transcultural journalism, literary reception, and digital text analysis. He is the author of Un libero di Pindo abitator (2020), which won the research award from the Werkgroep Italië Studies.

Yasemin Gencer

“Qualifying Inclusion: Photo-Sharing Initiatives in Turkish Periodicals of the 1920s”

Biographical Note: Yasemin is an Assistant Professor in Wayne State University’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design. She is a scholar of Islamic art and civilisation specializing in Ottoman and modern Turkish art and print culture.

Anne-Marie Millim

“‘The Last New Novel’: Valuation Strategies in Reviews of Fiction Published in the Athenaeum and the Saturday Review, 1855–59”

Biographical Note: Anne-Marie is an Assistant Professor in English Studies at the University of Luxembourg. Her research focuses on Victorian literature and early twentieth-century multilingual Luxembourgish writing. She has published widely on life-writing and the genres of the press.

Hayarpi Papikyan

“Reimagining the Borders of the Textual Nation: The Case of Armenian Literary Periodical Murch and Women’s Writing”

Biographical Note: Hayarpi specialises in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Armenian studies, the history of Armenian women, and the history and sociology of schooling and institutionalised education. She holds a doctoral degree from the Université Paris V – Sorbonne Cité and, since 2019, has been working at the American University of Armenia.

Call for Nominations

The European Society for Periodical Research (ESPRit) invites nominations for the 2026 ESPRit Prize, awarded biennially to recognise substantial contributions to the field of periodical studies.

Scope and Eligibility

We welcome nominations for publications and initiatives in any language. ESPRit is an international, multilingual community, and the prize seeks to celebrate work that enriches periodical studies by fostering dialogue across national, linguistic, cultural or disciplinary boundaries. Eligible contributions include (but are not limited to):

✔ monographs
✔ edited collections
✔ exhibitions
✔ reference works
✔ book series
✔ journals
✔ websites
✔ databases

To be eligible, the nominated work must have been completed between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. Anyone can nominate, and self-nominations are welcome. Nominees do not need to be ESPRit members.

The Prize

The prize will be awarded during ESPRit’s Annual General Meeting. The winner will receive €500, a one-year ESPRit membership and an invitation to present their work at the next ESPRit conference.

How to Nominate

Please submit a short proposal of up to 500 words to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 16 February 2026. The proposal should describe the nominated work, outline the reasons for its nomination and provide the contact details of three potential reviewers. Nominators are responsible for making the nominated work accessible to the jury, preferably in digital form, though print copies may be requested in some cases.