In his recent speech to accept his award at the BAFTAS, director of The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro paid specific tribute to Mary Shelley for giving ‘voice to the voiceless, and presence to the invisible’. In the first 2018 evening talk at Chawton House, Angela Wright (University of Sheffield) will examine Mary Shelley’s apprenticeship in ‘giving voice to the voiceless’ by looking at her own enthusiastic reading of her Gothic predecessors Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis. Concentrating first and foremost upon Frankenstein, the talk will also illustrate how Mary Shelley’s engagement with the Gothic extended to a life-long fascination that spanned her considerable authorial career.

Tickets will entitle you to entry to our exhibition, ‘The Art of Freezing the Blood’ between 5-6.30pm.

For more information and tickets, please visit: https://chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/evening-talk-mary-shelley-reader-creator-gothic/