We are very excited to announce the 2025 John Addington Symonds lecture, presented in collaboration with OutStories Bristol.

The lecture will take place on October 4th from 4PM to 6PM in the Peel Lecture Theatre. The event is free, open to all, and will be followed by a drinks reception.
Alexander Taylor and Nicky Sugar from the University of Bristol Special Collections will unveil the results of the current project to recatalogue the Symonds archive and increase engagement with his work. They will bring to life new information about Symonds’s life and work, but will also use the Symonds collection as a vehicle for discussing some of the current issues archivists have to balance when working on collections.
- How do we deal with sensitive or contentious topics within the records we look after?
- Who gets to decide which aspects of the collection are highlighted in catalogues, and on what basis?
- How do we ensure that engagement with collections is equitable and authentic?
They will show off some treasures from the archive and seek feedback from the audience about how you’d like to see them develop participation work based on this and other collections which contain LGBTQ+ narratives.
About the speakers:
Nicky Sugar became an archivist because she wanted to help make sure that stories get told. 27 years later, her motivation remains unchanged. After a varied career in higher education and local authority archives she joined the University of Bristol as Head of Special Collections in 2023.
Alexander Taylor has worked as an archivist across a variety of sectors including secondary and higher education and religious institutions. He has project-managed several recataloguing projects, including the personal papers of literary scholar John Addington Symonds. He joined the University of Bristol as Project Archivist in September 2024.