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

“Viral Spiral: Multiple Shape-shifting from Ovid to Covid”, Thursday 12 October 2023, 6.00pm GMT

19/09/23

Marina is giving the inaugural lecture for the Centre for Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London. In her lecture, “Viral Spiral: Multiple Shape-shifting from Ovid to Covid”, Marina will explore stories of multiple transformations in …

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Public discussion: “How does self-censorship work for a writer?”, European Alliance of Academies Conference, 26 August

03/08/23

Marina is taking part in a conference on Freedom of Artistic Expression in Literature in the 21st Century, organised by the European Alliance of Academies, which is taking place 26-27th August, at Homerton College, Cambridge. The public discussion Mari …

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‘Inventory of a Life Mislaid’ included in LRB’s One Hundred Books for the Next Twenty Years

28/07/23

Inventory of a Life Mislaid was selected by Ali Smith as one of the LRB’s One Hundred Books for the Next Twenty Years One Hundred Books for the Next Twenty Years marks London Review Bookshop’s twentieth anniversary. The LRB invited twenty writers to ch …

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Latest Publications