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The Blake Society

@blakesociety

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The society celebrates the work and life of William Blake. It holds regular meetings, organises Blakean events and publishes the annual journal, VALA.
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🌟NEW PATRON OF THE BLAKE SOCIETY🌟 The Blake Society is delighted to announce that writer, rapper and composer @testamenthomecut will be a Patron of the society. His work has long been inspired by a deep love and knowledge of Blake. At this important moment, as we head into the bicentenary of Blake’s death in 2027, we couldn’t be more pleased to have Testament’s support and interest. We are confident that his enthusiasm for Blake and his vibrant creativity will help to take the Society to new level. Talking about his new role as Patron of The Blake Society, Testament said: “Blake is an iconic, worldwide figure now. My introduction to Blake was at school – at first I didn’t really get those lambs and chimney sweeps and roses; but as I grew into my own political, social and spiritual consciousness and I came back to him as I grew and tried to understand the world around me, his work blew my mind. Blake led me in my thinking about the contrary pulls between pain and hopefulness in this world; and, as someone who came up through hip-hop culture, he made me think how I could use art and the poetics of rap and spoken word and song to explore and empower others. A lot of the social messages and the quest for spirituality that I was finding within hip-hop as a young teen, I find also in Blake. He walks with us in the labyrinth of our imagination. We still walk streets of satanic mills, commerce, greed and inequality, and still we find that the human imagination is key to hope and peace. Two hundred years after his death he is more relevant today than ever before and offers us an opportunity to imagine the world an anew – a world of compassion, empathy and imagination.” Read more about this on our website: https://blakesociety.org/testament-patron/ by @blakesociety
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7 days ago
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🌟🌔Our October event🌖🌟 ‘FULL OF FAIRY ELVES’ Supernatural Belief in the 18th Century. Dr Simon Young sets out the supernatural beliefs of Britain in the mid to late 18th century. Monday 12 October 2026, 19:30 - 21:00 UK TIME, Free, Online. EVERYONE WELCOME As the nights close in we will turn our attention to the supernatural. We have invited a scholar in a different discipline to shed some light for us, not on Blake himself, but on the world of belief and superstition in which he was working. Blake’s work teems with fairy life, spirits, goblins and angels of all kinds. It is also threaded through with the folklore of his day. From the sun dancing on the mountains, to themes of stolen brides, lost children, caged robins, and fairy funerals, we see Blake weaving British folklore into his work. However, much of that folklore is lost to our own culture so it seems strange and easy to just put down to Blake’s idiosyncratic world view. Did the people of Blake’s time believe in fairies? What kind of creatures did they see? How did they view stories of ghosts and angels? To explore this area with us we have invited one of the most prominent folklore historians of our day to come into the world of Blake and help us to see the world as his contemporaries saw it. Dr Simon Young is a British Folklorist and Historian who studied at Cambridge and holds a Doctorate from the University of Florence. He now lives and teaches in Italy at the University of California’s Florence campus, and has published extensively on the 18th and 19th century supernatural. He has been runner-up for the Katharine Briggs Prize, and for The Wayland Hand Prize, and has won the Brian McConnell Book Award, and the Curran Fellowship. https://blakesociety.org/product/full-of-fairy-elves/ by @blakesociety
7
14 days ago
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COMING SOON IN OUR NEWSLETTER: 🌟 BIG Announcement about an exciting new Patron for The Blake Society! 🌟Registration for our October event about Supernatural belief in the Eighteenth-Century AND SOON... our November event - Blake and Comic Art! 🌟News of just-opened and upcoming events and exhibitions. 🌟Links to a new podcasts, links to watch-again on our recent events, and news from our friends at Blake Cottage Trust, Swedenborg House and the V&A. Have you signed up to receive our newsletter? It is free and open to all - you don't need to be a member to get Blakean news. Sign up at the bottom of the home page... Blakesociety.org If you have news of new books, art exhibitions, music or anything else, please do tag us on social media here! We'd love to know. 🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅🐅 by @blakesociety
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8 days ago
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🌟FULL OF FAIRY ELVES🌟 Fairy and Supernatural Belief in the Eighteenth-Century On Monday 12th October, 7.30pm UK time, I will be hosting an event for @blakesociety. I've invited Dr Simon Young, folklore historian, to talk to us about fairy and folkloric belief in Blake's time. Blake's work absolutely teems with fairy and spirit creatures of all kinds. I wanted Simon, as a scholar from a different discipline, to talk to us and help us understand the context within which Blake was working. EVERYONE IS WELCOME! You don't need to be a member of the Society to join in - it is free and open it all. Nor will you need to prove any knowledge of Blake. A little curiosity is all you need. We welcome curious folk. More information and registration HERE: https://blakesociety.org/events/ IMAGE: The Goblin. Illustration to John Milton – L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (one of a set of 12 works commissioned by Thomas Butts) by @blakesociety
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11 days ago
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The Blake Cottage participated in the Heritage Open Days on 15th September 2026. Led by Nick Tyson from The Regency Town House in Brighton, it offered the public a unique opportunity to see repairs underway and to learn a little of the couple’s seaside home, in which Blake is reputed to have been inspired to write the UK’s unofficial national anthem ‘Jerusalem’. Nick, an experienced historic building analyst and prominent figure in heritage conservation, has been working with the Trust to help restore and conserve it. Our big thanks to Nick and to all those who made it happen! We are just one year away from the bicentenary of William Blake’s death. Help us celebrate his legacy and join our crowdfunding campaign to open the cottage in time for this significant anniversary. Link in bio. #Blake200 by @blakesociety
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a month ago
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A very special day visiting Blake's Cottage ✨💞 15.09.26 Thank you so much Nick Tyson from The Regency Town House @theregencytownhouse @blakesociety @blakecottagetrust John Higgs @john.higgs Ambassador for Blake Cottage Trust Bruce Dickinson @brucedickinsonhq Patron @allenginsbergofficial @sweet_felpham & all the the good people who are making it happen 💞 ✨✨✨✨✨ "Between 1800 and 1803 William and his wife Catherine, (1762-1831), lived in a small mid 18th century agricultural labourers cottage in Felpham, Sussex. Now owned by the Blake Cottage Trust, (Charity number: 1160716), the property is currently undergoing repair, in preparation for its public opening in 2027, the 200th anniversary of Blake's death. This tour, led by Nick Tyson from The Regency Town House in Brighton, provides the opportunity to see repairs underway and to learn a little of the couple's seaside home, in which Blake is reputed to have penned the words to the UK's unofficial national anthem 'Jerusalem'." /Heritage Open Days/ HELP SAVE & RESTORE WILLIAM BLAKE'S COTTAGE >>> https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-r22estore-william-blakes-cottage Music 'The Chimney Sweeper' composed & performed by Fergus Morris @fergus_morris #Blake200 #WilliamBlake #CatherineBlake #blakecottagetrust taken in Felpham by @blakesociety
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a month ago
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BLAKE AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 🍂Our September event🍂 Tuesday 29 September 2026, 19:30 - 21:00 Free, Online - everyone welcome Professor Jason Whittaker considers some of the implications of AI and Big Tech for the arts from a Blakean perspective. Find out more and sign up here on our website under EVENTS https://blakesociety.org/product/blake-artificial-intelligence/ by @blakesociety
5
a month ago
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We met at Bunhill Fields on Saturday for our annual grave-side celebration of Blake’s life and work. It was a fantastic turnout, replete with verse, song, inspiring anecdotes and conversation. Profound thanks to our special guest @tamsyn_challenger, who shared poems from her book Him Hymn, Pastores Ensemble, Janina Aza Karpinska, @blakefellowship, Mary Wilson (descendant of George Richmond no less), @tamdeanburn, William Blake Congregation, @robins.n and everyone else who shared a reading, a poem or their thoughts. Upwards and onwards to the big 200th anniversary of Blake’s death next year. Keep an eye on our website (link in bio), sign up to our newsletter, become and member, to keep abreast of plans for #Blake200 #williamblake by @blakesociety
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2 months ago
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☀️✨️TOMORROW!✨️☀️ OUR AUGUST EVENT Saturday 15th August 2026, 12 noon Free, Bunhill Fields Join us to mark the anniversary of William Blake's death and to celebrate his life and work. Meeting at Blake’s Grave Free, at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, London EC1Y 2BG. William Blake died on August 12th 1827. On the Saturday just after, we’ll gather at his graveside to share our love of his work. This year we will open our celebration with poetry from multi-disciplinary artist, and poet, Tamsyn Challenger. The event will be compered by Diane Pacitti, writer, and John Riordan, artist, both Blake Society Trustees. We invite anyone planning to participate to email dianepacitti@btinternet.com with details of their poem, song, musical contribution etc. That will enable us to offer variety and balance in the curated first part of the event. After that it will be open mic. Please bring anything you’d like to read, sing, perform, or share (not compulsory). EVERYONE IS WELCOME. Just turn up, we’d love to see you! Nearest tube is Old Street. Afterwards by tradition we repair to a nearby pub, The Artillery Arms, for a well earned Blakean beer and chat. by @blakesociety
0
2 months ago
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☀️A Blakean Eclipse of the Sun.🌑 Today is the 199th anniversary of William Blake's death. Today too, 12th August 2026, from around 6pm - the very moment of Blake's death, a partial or total (depending on your location) eclipse of the sun will be visible in many locations. You can find out more about what is visible in your area, or watch the eclipse live online from 6.10pm UK time, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich @royalmuseumsgreenwich https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/online/solar-eclipse-august-2026-uk-live-stream by @blakesociety
4
2 months ago
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OUR AUGUST EVENT! Saturday 15 August 2026, 12 noon Free, Bunhill Fields Join us to mark the anniversary of William Blake's death and to celebrate his life and work. Meeting at Blake’s Grave Free, at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, London EC1Y 2BG. William Blake died on August 12th 1827. On the Saturday just after, we’ll gather at his graveside to share our love of his work. This year we will open our celebration with poetry from multi-disciplinary artist, and poet, Tamsyn Challenger. The event will be compered by Diane Pacitti, writer, and John Riordan, artist, both Blake Society Trustees. We invite anyone planning to participate to email dianepacitti@btinternet.com with details of their poem, song, musical contribution etc. That will enable us to offer variety and balance in the curated first part of the event. After that it will be open mic. Please bring anything you’d like to read, sing, perform, or share (not compulsory). EVERYONE IS WELCOME. Just turn up, we’d love to see you! Nearest tube is Old Street. Afterwards by tradition we repair to a nearby pub, The Artillery Arms, for a well earned Blakean beer or similar. taken in Bunhill, London by @blakesociety
3
2 months ago
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Meeting at Blake’s Grave Saturday 15 August 2026, 12 noon, Free, at Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road, London EC1Y 2BG. Join us to mark the anniversary of William Blake’s death and to celebrate his life and work. This year we will open our celebration with poetry from multi-disciplinary artist, and poet, @tamsyn_challenger. Please bring anything you’d like to read, sing, perform, or share (not compulsory). EVERYONE IS WELCOME. More details on EVENTS page of our website (link in bio) by @blakesociety
2
3 months ago
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