Mary Shelley beyond Frankenstein

2018 marked 200 years since the first publication of Shelley’s most famous novel, and 2023 will offer the opportunity to celebrate Frankenstein once more, as we note the bicentenary of the second edition. However, as our project seeks to examine the understudied and perhaps undervalued aspects of Gothic women writers, we want to begin our discussions with an exploration of the other Mary Shelley. Far more than just a teenage prodigy or simply a ‘one-hit wonder’, Mary Shelley lived until her early 50s and composed powerful literature throughout her lifetime in a variety of genres: including novels, non-fiction, poetry, travelogues, short stories, and translations. Our very first seminar was designed to offer a snapshot of the breadth of Mary Shelley’s work beyond her most famous text. Originally held live on Zoom, Monday 30th August 2021. If you would like to request the Zoom auto-transcript, please email us at [email protected]! Speaker: Professor Nora Crook (Anglia Ruskin University) ‘The hidden women in Mary Shelley’s “Lives of Eminent Literary and Scientific Men”’ Dr Anna Mercer (Cardiff University) ‘Gothic Women and Self-Sacrifice in Italy: Why we need to reread Mary Shelley’s Valperga’ Dr Valentina Varinelli (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), ‘Mary Shelley’s Anglo-Italian Identity and Her Role as Cultural and Political Mediator’