Val Derbyshire, PhD student at the University of Sheffield, is giving two public lectures at Sheffield University’s Festival of the Mind in which she will explore the literary value of Mills & Boons romances. On Saturday 17 September there will be a panel discussion between 1 and 2pm, followed by the lecture at 2pm, and on Thursday 22 September the lecture will run from 4:45pm.

The University of Reading holds the Mills & Boon publishers’ archives. The collection consists of the editorial correspondence of both John Boon and Alan Boon, script registers, publicity material and some administrative records, and a large proportion of the back catalogue of Mills & Boon books.