Gothic Fiction & The Female Writer

Why do we read scary stories and novels? What kinds of pleasure do we get from being afraid? Since the eighteenth century, women writers have turned to Gothic literature to explore fears, anxieties and desires. Stories about heroines imprisoned in haunted castles symbolised the confinement many women experienced in their own lives. From ghosts to monsters, Gothic novels use the supernatural to challenge the norms of patriarchal society. 

Join Prof Diana Wallace in exploring the history of Gothic literature, from Sophia Lee, Daphne du Maurier to feminist writers like Angela Carter. This talk will explore how female writers have repeatedly re-invented Gothic conventions to reflect the anxieties and desires of their own moment in history. This literary journey will question if we still live in Gothic times and why this tradition might still be so relevant today.

Doors open at 6:30pm, talk starts at 7.30pm - come down early to grab a good seat!

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Speaker Bio:

Diana Wallace is Professor of English Literature at the University of South Wales. She specialises in research on the Gothic, historical fiction and women’s writing. She is the author of four monographs, including Female Gothic Histories: Gender, History and the Gothic and The Woman’s Historical Novel: British Women Writers, 1900-2000. She co-edited (with Andrew Smith) a collection of essays, The Female Gothic: New Directions,  and has published numerous book chapters and journal articles. She has edited three books for Honno’s Welsh Women’s Classics series, including Hilda Vaughan’s Gothic novel, Harvest Home. She was a regular contributor and newspaper reviewer for BBC Radio Wales.

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BOXPARK Liverpool, Beaufort Street, Liverpool, United Kingdom

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