Marina Warner

Marina Warner is a writer of fiction, criticism and history; her works include novels and short stories as well as studies of art, myths, symbols and fairytales.
“My critical and historical books and essays explore different figures in myth and fairy tale, such as the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc; more recently I have concentrated on fairy tales, including the Arabian Nights. I also write novels and short stories, often drawing on mythic or other imaginary predecessors to translate them into contemporary significance – to re-vision them.

Stories come from the past but speak to the present, and I have found that I need to write stories as well as deconstruct them and place them in historical contexts, because I myself love reading works of imagination, and I would like to join the conversation with admired predecessors, who range from Apuleius to Virginia Woolf, Italo Calvino, and Angela Carter.”

Recent Diary Entries

LRB event: Marina in conversation with James Butler, 9 July 2025

26/05/25

Marina discusses her new book on the ancient right of sanctuary and its meaning in the modern world with James Butler at the London Review Bookshop (14 Bury Pl London WC1A 2JL) at 7pm on 9 July 2025. Tickets: £10. Book here!

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Migrant Forms: Creative Futures (16 June 2025) – Cambridge

22/05/25

‘Migrant Forms: Creative Futures’ is a symposium followed by the launch of ‘Crossings: Migrant Knowledges, Migrant Forms’, edited by Natalya Din-Kariuki, Subha Mukherji and Rowan Williams (Punctum Books, 2025). The symposium is taking place at Cripps B …

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College of Sanctuary Lecture 2025, 13 June 2025

20/05/25

Maps of home: Imagining sanctuary now (College of Sanctuary Lecture), Mansfield College, Oxford, June 13, 2025, 5.30-6.30pm Acclaimed historian, mythographer, art critic and novelist Marina Warner reflects on the idea of home, and how we can imagine sa …

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Latest Publications