Annual John Halstead Memorial Lecture 2026 at the John Rylands Library

The Society for the Study of Labour History is delighted to announce that the third annual John Halstead Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Professor John Goodridge at the John Rylands Library in Manchester on 13 June 2026. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.

John Halstead(1936-2021)

The lecture is held annually in memory of the late John Halstead, who was among the earliest members of the Society for the Study of Labour History and served in a variety of posts over many decades, including as editor of Labour History Review and Vice-President.

Professor Goodridge will be speaking on 'Reading by glow worm: the struggles of labouring-class poets'

Speaker

John Goodridge is Emeritus Professor of English at Nottingham Trent University and the President of the John Clare Society. A respected figure in the field of English working-class literature, his latest book, co-edited with Andrew Bridgen, is Essays on British Working-Class and Radical Writing from 1700 (University of London Press, 2025). Other books include Rural Life in Eighteenth-Century English Poetry (Cambridge, 1994), John Clare and Community (Cambridge, 2013), John Clare the Trespasser (Nottingham, 2016), co-edited with Professor Kelsey Thornton, and A Cambridge History of Working-Class Writing, co-edited with Bridget Keegan (New York, 2017). He was formerly Editorial Director of Trent Editions and edited a number of volumes including Poems of a Nottingham Lace-Runner, by Mary Bailey (Five Leaves, 2022), He is active online, writing and editing ‘A Catalogue of Labouring-class Poetry', ‘Rowley’s Ghost’ and ‘John Clare Resources'; he also runs the ‘History of British Working-Class Literature’ Facebook Group.

Nottingham Trent University profile https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/arts-humanities/john-goodridge [ntu.ac.uk]

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