Oxford Afterlives: The stories of J.R.R Tolkien, Lewis Caroll and Philip Pullman
The city of Oxford has been home to some of the world’s greatest writers and has inspired countless stories for all ages. This event celebrates Oxford as a place of stories and storytelling, and examines how Oxford tales have been re-shaped across the ages and across different media, taking on a myriad of afterlives. It will be held in the Oxford Museum of Natural History, which has sparked the imaginations of many authors.

Three Oxford academics will focus on three of Oxford’s most celebrated writers: J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carroll and Philip Pullman.

150 years after the original publication of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (Professor of English Literature, University of Oxford), author of the Costa-shortlisted biography The Story of Alice, examines the character of Lewis Carroll and the creation of his iconic heroine. From Victorian Oxford to the modern online world, he explores how every generation has created its own Wonderland, and why we are still so curious about Alice’s dreamworld.

One of Oxford’s best-loved authors is J.R.R. Tolkien, whose work as Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford was deeply tied to his work as a fantasy writer. Stuart Lee (Member of the English Faculty and Merton College, University of Oxford) traces how Tolkien’s Middle-earth and especially The Lord of the Ringshave been reimagined through a range of digital technologies, from games to films.

Philip Pullman’s work has a deep connection to Oxford. Margaret Kean (Helen Gardner Fellow in English, St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford) will discuss how Pullman’s stories are rooted in the physicality of the material world and resist being reinterpreted through digital media.

Join us to celebrate Oxford as a location of stories, and to discover how digital tools may give these stories afterlives beyond the city.

The discussion will be followed by a drinks reception from 19:00-19:30. Free and all welcome. Please register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-afterlives-the-stories-of-jrr-tolkien-lewis-carroll-and-philip-pullman-tickets-21006952360
Date: 24 February 2016, 17:30 (Wednesday, 6th week, Hilary 2016)
Venue: University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road OX1 3PW
Speakers: Speaker to be announced
Organising department: The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH)
Organiser: Hannah Penny (Communications and Events Officer, TORCH)
Organiser contact email address: hannah.penny@humanities.ox.ac.uk
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-afterlives-the-stories-of-jrr-tolkien-lewis-carroll-and-philip-pullman-tickets-21006952360
Booking email: hannah.penny@humanities.ox.ac.uk
Cost: free
Audience: Public
Editor: Hannah Penny