Marina Warner

Forthcoming

18 October 2025 – 21 November 2026, Hayward Gallery Publication for Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature

Marina’s piece, ”An artist’s dreamland’ Jane Eyre Through Paula Rego’s Eyes’ is included in the exhibition publication, Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature. Her essay is alongside Rosanna McLaughlin’s ‘The Dangers of Innocence’ and Marco Livingstone’s ‘Girl Reading: English Literature Through the Eyes of Paula Rego’.

If you would like to see the touring exhibition, it can be found at these museums and galleries over the next year:

18 October 2025 – 18 January 2026
Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich

30 January – 10 May 2026
Cheltenham Wilson Gallery

22 May – 6 September 2026
Abbot Hall, Kendal

19 September – 21 November 2026
Rugby Art Gallery & Museum

Saturday 25 October 2025 – Sunday 22 February 2026, The Shelter of Stories – exhibition at Compton Verney (Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ)

This groundbreaking exhibition, curated by writer Marina Warner with Oli McCall and Roger Malbert and designed by Simon Costin, explores the art of storytelling. It examines its close relationship with the sense of home and belonging, as well as its vital role in times of upheaval and displacement.

Bringing together historic objects and images, alongside works by leading contemporary artists, the exhibition will introduce visitors to a different approach to storytelling, and ask, through a range of artefacts in different media, why do we tell stories and what do they achieve?

The Shelter of Stories will unfold in distinct sections, with each one focusing on a different aspect of storytelling.

The first will transport visitors to the sites where storytelling has traditionally taken place, from tales told by the hearth side and the campfire to puppet shows in the bustling city street. Works by South Korean artist Do Ho Suh (b.1962) and Lebanese artist Mounira al Solh (b.1978) will embody the title of the show, highlighting how stories can provide shelter, where fears can be faced, difficult subjects addressed, knowledge passed on, and hope kindled. An array of objects including puppets, masks, dioramas, instruments, and board games will display creative methods storytellers around the globe have used to breathe life into their subjects and reveal some of the many ways stories travel and enter our consciousness.

Subsequent rooms look at the function’s stories fulfil, socially and personally. These include confronting and overcoming dangers and monsters, imagining and entering other worlds, sharing wisdom and knowledge, coexisting with animals and natural phenomena and building collective solidarity and hope in times of difficulty. Works by artists including Paula Rego (1935-2022), Ana Maria Pacheco (b.1943) are among the highlights.

The role of story-making, in terms of fostering a feeling of belonging, forms the central theme of the show’s final section. Envisaged as a space for communion and creative expression, this part will consider the importance of building culture together, between locals and incomers, nationals and strangers. The exhibition draws on the Stories in Transit project – which began in 2016 in Palermo, Sicily, where many of those fleeing wars and famine arrive from different parts of the world.

Monday 17 November 2025, Introduction of Riddles of the Sphinx, BFI Cinema, 8.30pm

Marina will be introducing this screening of Riddles of the Sphinx at the BFI on November 17th.

This dreamlike and meditative landmark of feminist cinema features an experimental narrative structure, a revolutionary visual style and hypnotic music.

This visually and narratively groundbreaking work, with music composed by Mike Ratledge, considers the experience of womanhood and motherhood in a patriarchal society. In the central story, Louise moves through a series of exemplary tableaux, as she negotiates her personal life and her relationship with her daughter, inside and outside the home. Mulvey and Wollen draw on their theoretical writings, exploring ideas through the prism of feminist theory and psychoanalysis. Also drawing on the influence of avant-garde film, they experiment with film language to disrupt and challenge conventions of cinematic spectatorship.

Thursday 4 December 2025, Marina Warner: In Conversation & Book Signing, Compton Verney (Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ), 11.30-1pm

Marina will be in conversation with curator Oli McCall, discussing the exhibition they have been working on together, The Shelter of Stories, which is on until 22 February 2026. They will be sharing the ideas and inspirations behind the exhibition, along with Marina’s recent book, Sanctuary: Ways of Telling, Ways of Dwelling. Book your tickets to join here.

Fiction and the Fantastic: LRB Close Readings Podcast

Listen here to Marina’s introduction to the LRB’s Close Reading series. The first four are with the marvellous Anna Della Subin. Marina has since spoken with the brilliant Adam Thirlwell – see below and click on the images to go to each episode on its release. Last in the series, Marina is joined by Chloe Aridjis.

Episodes 1-4, with Anna Della Subin: