Fiction and the Fantastic: LRB Close Readings Podcast

Listen here to Marina’s introduction to the LRB’s upcoming Close Reading series – the first episode (on ‘The Thousand and One Nights’) aired on Monday 13th January; the second episode (on ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ by Jonathan Swift) came out on February 10th; the third (on ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino) on March 10th, the fourth on April 7th (on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll).

‘The Thousand and One Nights’

‘Gulliver’s Travels’ by Jonathan Swift

‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino

‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll

The first four episodes were with the marvellous Anna Della Subin. Next in the series, Marina has been discussing works with Adam Thirlwell – the fifth episode was shared on May 5th, the sixth on June 2nd:

Stories by Franz Kafka

Tales by Jan Potocki and Isak Dinesen

The final four episodes will be in conversation with Chloe Aridjis. See Forthcoming for updates.

Friday 7 February, In Conversation: Rachel Kneebone and Marina Warner at the Fitzrovia Chapel, Roberts Institute of Art, 7-8pm, More here!

Join us for a lively discussion between exhibition artist Rachel Kneebone and celebrated author Marina Warner exploring how the key themes of In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World at the Fitzrovia Chapel connect to Kneebone’s and Warner’s practices.

From Kneebone’s intricate process of working with porcelain to Warner’s insights on the power of storytelling, this conversation offers a chance to delve deeper into the ideas behind the artworks and the exhibition.

There will also be the opportunity to hear Marina talk about a short story she wrote in response to Paula Rego’s drawing in the exhibition. The conversation will be chaired by RIA curator, Yates Norton.

This is one of three events taking place alongside the exhibition. You can also join us for a Panel Discussion on The Politics and Poetics of Attention (23 January) and an Evening of Music with Violinist Angharad Davies (30 January).

Linder: Danger Came Smiling, Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, 11 Feb – 5 May 2025

Marina has contributed to the exhibition catalogue for Linder: Danger Came Smiling, the first London retrospective of Linder’s work. The exhibition ‘showcases 50 years of the pioneering feminist artist’s work, dissecting our fascination with the body and its representation’. Marina will be joining Linder in an in-conversation event at the Southbank Centre at 7pm on 14 February (see above)

From the early photomontages made while she was part of the punk scene of 1970s Manchester, to new work in digital montage shown for the first time, the exhibition presents the breadth of Linder’s artistic output across montage, photography, performance and sculpture.

The body and its photographic representation, from early glamour photography to digital deep fakes, is central to Linder’s approach to image-making.

Often working with a medical grade scalpel, she draws on the creative and violent power of the cut in her forensic examination of our shifting attitudes to aspirational lifestyles, sex, food and fashion.

As featured in must-see exhibition round-ups in The Guardian, The Art Newspaper and Dazed.

An adapted version of Linder: Danger Came Smiling, curated by Hayward Gallery Touring, tours nationally to Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; and Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool in 2025 – 2026.

Linder in Conversation with Marina Warner, Friday 14 February, 7pm, Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (Tickets from £10)

From Linder’s involvement in Manchester’s punk scene to her mantic stains inspired by British Surrealist Ithell Colquhoun, she is one of the foremost feminist artists of her generation.

In this discussion, Linder and Warner explore gender, the body and consumer culture’s influences, and the surreal and mythological realms which are a great source of inspiration for them both.

Linder is known for her photography, radical feminist photomontage and confrontational performance art. She focuses on questions of gender, commodity and display. Her photomontage practice combines everyday images from domestic and fashion magazines with pornography and archive material.

More information here!

Folklore Reimagined Late: Living Almanac Workshop, with Sophie Herxheimer, British Academy, Thursday 10 April 2025 (two workshop sessions, from 6pm)

Almanacs were the most popular form of printed publication for centuries. A Living Almanac will gather us all kinds of lore that is important for us now and in the near future. Days can be marked by such lore as local weather, tides, migrations of birds and other creatures, dates propitious for planting, important days such as birthdays. Fantastical and prophetic material is also typical of an almanac – horoscopes, wonders, miracles, superstitions, the folkloric and the surreal.

You will be invited to bring anecdotes, proverbs, old wives’ tales, special commemorations, poems, songs, photographs, drawings, and other material to inspire the Living Almanac. You will also be reaching beyond what has occurred to what might happen and what could be brought about – fostered or prevented.

Please note that this will be a group workshop that requires communication and collaboration with other attendees.

This workshop has a maximum capacity of 24 people and must be booked in advance. If you can no longer attend, please let us know so that we can offer your spot to someone else.

The Almanac workshop is part of the BA’s one-night spring festival of sorts, ‘Folklore Reimagined’ – an evening of inspiring talks, screenings, workshops, exhibitions and performances to explore how traditional beliefs and stories have evolved to shape global identities throughout history, and continue to influence culture and inspire new generations today. Tickets here are for the whole evening, but there are also tickets specifically to join for the workshop session with Marina and Sophie. The first session has sold out – a second batch of tickets for a later will be released soon! There may be space on the night to join as well, so do feel free to come along and see…!

April 18, 2025: ‘Mysteries and grace: The beauty and humanity of fourteenth-century Sienese art‘, Review of National Gallery exhibition – Siena: The Rise of Painting, TLS Issue No. 6368

‘Marina Warner in Conversation with Tacita Dean’ (2006), chapter in MIT Press’ publication Tacita Dean, edited by George Baker and Annie Rana (pp.57-83)

Thursday 1 May, ‘The Books That Made Me’, 6.30-7.45pm, British Academy (10–11 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AH)

Join Marina as she discusses the most meaningful stories from the realm of myth, folklore and fairy tale, that have shaped and inspired her life and work. Find out more here.

The conversation with Ritula Shah is available to watch back on the BA YouTube page:

May 8, 2025: Inside the Cauldron: Film Screening, Birkbeck Arts Week, 3.30-5pm

Marina will introduce the work of Leonora Carrington before a screening of Inside the Cauldron, a short film inspired by Carrington’s artwork and an unpublished essay of hers. The film was co-created by Sophie Mei Birkin and India Ayles, and produced by Robyn Jakeman at the Derek Jarman Lab (Birkbeck).

Film Description: A recently discovered ecological essay by the pioneering Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington has resurfaced in a world grappling with the environmental collapse she feared. In response to her urgent message, a group of emerging artists from the UK and Mexico created ‘Inside the Cauldron’, an experimental film that brings her vision to life.

Produced by the Derek Jarman Lab and filmed inside Carrington’s previously unseen home and studio in Mexico City, ‘Inside the Cauldron’ offers a rare glimpse into her world—one that celebrates hybridity and dissolves the boundaries between human and animal.

May 13, 2025: A summons to history: Radwa Ashour’s Andalusia and its afterlife, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, 6pm

Marina will join this in-conversation event, alongside Karoline Cook and Tamim al-Barghouti, to celebrate the first English translation of Radwa Ashour’s Granada trilogy, by Kay Heikkinen.

May 15-16th, 2025: Understanding Ovidian Violence and Beyond, Ghent University, Belvedère, Keynote talk 15 May – ‘Shapeshifting: A Strategy of Resistance?’

Marina will be taking part in the international conference Understanding Ovidian Violence and Beyond,taking place in Ghent, 15-16 May 2025. More information will be shared in due course.

June 1st, 2025, knack: ‘Cultuurhistorica Marina Warner: ‘Trump is een ogre en die versla je niet met brute kracht, maar door slim te zijn’ ‘/ ‘Cultural historian Marina Warner: ‘Trump is an ogre and you don’t defeat him with brute force, but by being smart‘ ‘

© Thomas Nolf

Elisa Hulstaert interviewed Marina for knack magazine whilst she was in Ghent, where they spoke about politics and storytelling and the democratisation of art.