A social and intellectual salon for books, conversation, and tea.
Tea & Tomes Society brings together people with a shared interest in nineteenth-century literature and culture, while welcoming scholarly interests that extend well beyond the period. We create opportunities for conversation, collaboration, and connection among scholars, students, independent researchers, and curious readers alike.
Based in the Twin Cities, the Society also looks beyond the page, exploring the history and culture of our community through gatherings, outings, and other shared experiences.
Meet our Executive Committee
Keeping things in order, our community connected, and the kettle ready for the next gathering.
Alexis Easley, PhD
President
Emerita Professor of English at the University of St. Thomas. She has published three monographs, most recently New Media and the Rise of the Popular Woman Writer (EUP 2021). She has edited or co-edited several other books, including British Writers, Popular Literature, and New Media Innovation (EUP 2024). She is currently editing a volume of primary texts titled Victorian Authorship: Literary Celebrity and Fandom (forthcoming from Routledge).
Victoria Bartness, M.A.
Vice-President
Certified Project Manager with a Mini MBA and a multidisciplinary background spanning education, technology, and languages. She speaks five languages and has worked in higher education as an educator, instructional designer, and multimedia specialist. Her work includes accessibility, digital learning, and the development of immersive educational experiences using virtual reality. Her academic interests include Victorian literature and culture, digital humanities, linguistics, and the intersections between the humanities and emerging technologies.
Mercedes Sheldon, M.A.
Treasurer
Adjunct Faculty in the English Department at the University of St. Thomas, where she also supervises student teachers for the School of Education. She is also PhD candidate in English Literature at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her work has appeared in Victorian Periodicals Review and Victorian Popular Fictions Journal. Prior to her turn to scholarship and higher education, she taught high school English and Theater Arts in the Twin Cities.
Andrea Stewart, M.A.
Secretary
Public health researcher at the University of Minnesota who received her MA from the University of St. Thomas. As an independent scholar, Andrea has built on the foundational groundwork of her thesis, “The Limits of the Imaginable: Women Writers’ Networks during the Long Nineteenth Century” which appeared in the 2019 issue of the Victorian Review, focusing her work on digitally mapping nineteenth-century women writers’ personal and professional networks. Andrea is a former editorial assistant for theVictorian Periodicals Review, and her article “Mapping the Multitudes, Discovering the Margins” was published in the Summer 2023 issue.
