For many of us, semesters have now concluded and summer plans (or summer teaching) commenced. Even so, the world of all things Milton rolls onward, and I am writing briefly to make you aware of a few upcoming events and other news items.
Conferences
MSA@RSA 2027
The Society will be sponsoring panels at next year’s RSA in Philadelphia. Our Call for Papers includes the following sessions (see the MSA homepage for detailed descriptions):
- John Milton: A General Session
- John Milton, Space Man
- Milton and Non-human Actors
- Milton, Authoritarianism, and Interpretive Technique
To submit a proposal for an individual paper for any of these MSA sessions, send your paper title (15-word maximum), 200-word abstract, and resume (.pdf or .doc) to MSA Secretary, Marissa Greenberg, at MiltonSocietySec@gmail.com no later than July 20, 2026. In the subject line, indicate the panel for which you are submitting your proposal.
Proposals for complete sessions are also welcome. Proposals must include the session title (15-word maximum), format (panel or roundtable), and abstract (300-word maximum), along with the names, resumes, and titles and abstracts (200-word maximum) for each presenter and paper. Send this information to MSA Secretary, Marissa Greenberg, at MiltonSocietySec@gmail.com no later than July 20, 2026.
Teaching Milton Now: A Pedagogy Roundtable
Our President, Emily Griffiths Jones, has organized a virtual roundtable event on Milton pedagogy, which will be held on Monday, August 17, from 2-3pm Eastern time. Speakers will include:
- Jahidul Alam, Jackson State University
- Tomos Evans, Princeton University
- el friedman, New York University
- Lindsay Adams Kennedy, Benedictine College
- Vanessa Lim, Seoul National University
- Pasquale Toscano, Vassar College
At this roundtable, scholars on the cutting edge of Milton pedagogy will discuss new ideas and effective strategies for teaching Milton to undergrads and/or grad students. Our speakers will also contribute teaching materials to share in a forthcoming archive.
Add the event to your calendars, and save this link to join via Microsoft Teams: http://bit.ly/4xFP7r4
Conference on John Milton
The biennial Conference on John Milton will be held at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT, on October 22-24, 2026. Details, including registration information, are available on the conference website. Note the option of attending sessions via Zoom (registration fee required). The conference program will be available later this summer; watch the website for updates.
Publications
- Tomos Evans, ‘“That Son of Belial”: William Power and the Milton–Chappell Incident at Christ’s College, Cambridge (Easter Term, 1627)’, History of Universities, 38.2 (2026), 31–87.
- Andrew Mattison, Reading the Literary Past: Critical History and the Interpretation of Early Modern Texts (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026).
Join Us
Please recommend MSA membership to your academic friends, colleagues, and graduate students who are not members yet. Student membership is only $10! There are so many scholars actively engaged in Milton studies who are not yet members of the MSA and who would enrich our conversations. You are our best ambassadors, so please help us sustain and expand our community by reaching out to colleagues and students. Please also keep in mind non-tenure track colleagues and scholars of Milton in non-professorial roles as you recruit.
We love sharing the good news of our members’ publications, career changes, and other professional news and accomplishments. And if you encounter interesting Miltoniana in your wanderings, virtual or otherwise, we’d love to share that too. Just drop us a line using the news update form at the bottom of the home page of the MSA website; the form is also linked here.
Jason A. Kerr