A first edition copy of Dracula, 1897.
Nothing is too small. I counsel you, put down in record even your doubts and surmises. Hereafter it may be of interest to you to see how true you guess. We learn from failure, not from success!
I was delighted to be asked to curate an event for the forthcoming Bram Stoker Festival, which returns to Dublin from October 27 to 30. It is a fitting time of year to remember the Dubliner who brought the world what is undoubtedly the most celebrated Gothic horror novel.
Stoker was born in Clontarf in 1847, and educated at Trinity College Dublin, before going onto a career as a civil servant in Dublin Castle. Like his contemporary Oscar Wilde (who Stoker proposed for membership of the TCD Philosophical Society), he is thought of not as an Irish writer, but someone who left Ireland at a young age and was shaped by other places and things. I don’t think this is fair, and this event will aim to put him in the context of the Victorian Dublin he worked in, lived in and knew as home.
What I’ve done is gathered together a team of writers, for the purpose of going on a bit of a ramble through Stoker’s Dublin, but we won’t be leaving our seats. It is a sort of ‘Psycho-Geography’ in the Little Museum of Dublin, using old photos and other sources to open up a discussion. Le Blurb:
Without even leaving your seat, take an imaginary trip through the streets and alleyways of the Dublin of Bram Stoker and his literary contemporaries, Lafcadio Hearn and Sheridan le Fanu.
Vivid conversations with striking visual images describe the lit erary, social and political scenes of Victorian Dublin.
Stones of Dublin (Collins Press)
Lisa Marie Griffith was a natural fit for any such panel, owing to her excellent study Stones of Dublin: A History of Dublin in Ten Buildings. Beautifully illustrated, the book examines places like Trinity College, Dublin Castle and the Old Irish Parliament and looked at their importance in shaping the city. She knows the bricks and mortar of the city so well, but also the important contexts (political, cultural, social) of the times in which these buildings were constructed. It’s a great read,and just part of her excellent output on Dublin in recent years.
Frankie Gaffney (Liberties Press)
Frankie Gaffney’s debut novel, Dublin Seven, was described as being akin to “Love/Hate meets Ulysses.” Set very much in the here and now, there’s a reason I asked Frankie onto this panel. His knowledge of the written word through time, and his obsession with the evolution of the novel (see this Tedx talk), is part of his great love for literature and the journey it has come on. He is completing a PhD in Stoker’s Alma mater, not to mention teaching there. He is an important voice on Dublin today, but I look forward to hearing his views on Stoker’s place in the literary canon.
A Fantastic Journey (University of Michigan)
Finally, Paul Murray was not only a natural addition to this panel, he was an essential part of it. An expert on not only Bram Stoker, he has also examined the more forgotten Lafcadio Hearn, another important horror writer of the nineteenth century. That study won the 1995 Koizumi Yakumo Literary Prize in Japan, and was awarded the Lord Mayor of Dublin’s Prize too. Stoker is just one of the horror writers Ireland has produced, so let us briefly examine the others.
This is a chance to learn more about Dracula, yes, but also Dublin. How did Dublin shape Stoker? Come along and find out!
Time 3pm
Date October 28th
Location The Little Museum of Dublin, 15 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
TICKETS FROM BRAM STOKER FESTIVAL.
