Darkness and Light: Exploring the Gothic

Thursday, 16 July to Sunday, 20 December 2015

I was honoured to receive and invitation from Liza Leonard to curate a case at this exhibition! I took as my theme Women and the Gothic. I could have chosen a hundred books, easily, but was limited to five.. The choice was very difficult, needless to say. It's been a great experience to work with the staff of The John Rylands Library. I am particularly grateful for the help and support I have received from Xavier Aldana Reyes and Linnie Blake of The University of Manchester.

The exhibition is running till the 20th December and is free to enter.

'Housed in the neo-Gothic grandeur of The John Rylands Library, Darkness and Light reveals how Gothic architecture and anatomy inspired and influenced a literary genre, and how the lasting legacy of Gothic can be found in art, films and subculture today.
From the fantastical to the macabre, this intriguing exhibition unearths Gothic treasures from the Library's Special Collections to investigate subjects as varied as the role of women in the Gothic movement, advances in medical science and classic literature.

Amongst the fascinating items on display is Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel. With a Gothic medieval castle, doomed love and restless spectres of the past, it sets the scene for the genre and sits alongside a whole host of Gothic bestsellers including The Monk, Udolpho and Jekyll and Hyde.'
Click to go to the John Rylands Library page

As if it wasn't exciting enough to be invited to speak at The British Library on its Gothic panel on 9th November...

I was invited to talk on the Steve Lamacq show on BBC Radio 6, live from the Library! Click the link to hear me ramble on about the fantastic Gothic- themed exhibition, writing gothic and singing in The March Violets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04pgz3g

Leeds Festival of Gothica

Leeds City Museum
Cookridge Street,
LS2 8BH Leeds

14 October at 11:00–16:00
Free entry.

Take a dark trip into the bones of Leeds Gothica on the 14th of October.
Explore gothic literature, fashion and music.
Special guest –Rosie Garland, reading from her work!

With stalls and installations from jumbo records, ultimate skin tattoos, Leeds libraries, the West Yorkshire Playhouse Costume Department, ‘dead things’ by Kate, Sohos, Nyx and the Sophie Lancaster foundation to name but a few!

The John Rylands Library
150 Deansgate
Manchester
Gtr Manchester
2pm – 3pm
Free event

Take a closer look behind-the-scenes of the Darkness and Light exhibition with author and co-curator Rosie Garland.
We'll give you further insight into our Gothic collections and the dark histories behind them, providing you an exclusive look at items that aren't on public display in the exhibition.
This event will be followed by a short reading from, and book signing of Rosie's novel 'Vixen'.

http://events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:io1-id9zd8x5-hs4m4p

Darkness and Light: Exploring the Gothic

Thursday, 16 July to Sunday, 20 December 2015

I was honoured to receive and invitation from Liza Leonard to curate a case at this exhibition! I took as my theme Women and the Gothic. I could have chosen a hundred books, easily, but was limited to five.. The choice was very difficult, needless to say. It's been a great experience to work with the staff of The John Rylands Library. I am particularly grateful for the help and support I have received from Xavier Aldana Reyes and Linnie Blake of The University of Manchester.

The exhibition is running till the 20th December and is free to enter.

'Housed in the neo-Gothic grandeur of The John Rylands Library, Darkness and Light reveals how Gothic architecture and anatomy inspired and influenced a literary genre, and how the lasting legacy of Gothic can be found in art, films and subculture today.
From the fantastical to the macabre, this intriguing exhibition unearths Gothic treasures from the Library's Special Collections to investigate subjects as varied as the role of women in the Gothic movement, advances in medical science and classic literature.

Amongst the fascinating items on display is Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel. With a Gothic medieval castle, doomed love and restless spectres of the past, it sets the scene for the genre and sits alongside a whole host of Gothic bestsellers including The Monk, Udolpho and Jekyll and Hyde.'
Click to visit The John Rylands Library page