Encountering Byron at Newstead

This talk explores Byron’s relationship to Newstead Abbey, his exploration of this relationship in his poetry, and explores the process of creating encounters with Byron through Newstead Abbey through his own words as part of the events and redisplays marking the bicentenary of his death in Missolonghi. This paper will explore Byron’s poetry and writing on Newstead, mapping his changing relationship to the house, and how it functions for him as a reflection of his family history and himself, how he navigates conflicting emotions of pride, hope, shame, guilt, longing and nostalgia through his portrayals of the house. The talk will also detail how his poetry and letters have been integrated into the house displays to create new and unexpected encounters with Byron in his ancestral home.

Host or Publisher The Byron Society