ALT We invite 20-minute papers exploring any aspect of the critical age in Victorian popular literature. Topics for exploration include but are not limited to: • Representations of the critical age in Victorian popular fiction • The medicalisation of (peri-) menopause • Cultural constructions of middle-aged women • Class and (peri-) menopause • (Peri-) Menopause in Victorian advice literature • Motherhood and (peri-) menopause • Experiences of the critical age in Victorian women’s life writing • Myths and popular misconceptions The event will also include a Digital Humanities Research Skills Workshop, with an emphasis on making digital methods more accessible. We invite short papers or workshop proposals that showcase how digital tools can be used to research women and their bodies in Victorian literature. Possible topics include data creation/cleaning/visualisations, textual, quantitative or statistical analysis, using AI or specific tools (such as Voyant or Power BI).