Marina Warner
Forthcoming
14 November 2026, Creative Folkestone Book Festival 2026: Shelter in an Unsettled World, Quarterhouse (Folkestone) 6-7pm
‘From Thursday 12 to Sunday 22 November 2026, Folkestone will once again become a town alive with storytelling.’
What does it mean to offer refuge – and who gets to belong?
In this major cultural conversation, acclaimed writer, mythographer and historian Marina Warner discusses her ambitious new book Sanctuary: Ways of Telling, Ways of Dwelling, exploring the ancient idea of sanctuary and its urgent relevance in an age of migration, conflict and rising nationalism.
Drawing on myth, literature, history and her work with refugee storytelling projects in the UK and Sicily, Warner examines how stories can create connection, dignity and new ways of imagining home.
This event will be chaired by Zoe Gilbert, an award-winning novelist and storyteller whose writing is steeped in folklore, myth, nature and the strange magic of the everyday. Her debut novel, Folk, was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize and adapted for BBC Radio, while her second, Mischief Acts, was named a Sunday Times Book of the Year. A winner of the Costa Short Story Award, Zoe also writes for classical composers, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for her adaptation of Folk into a song cycle, and presents the nature podcast As the Season Turns. With a fascination for the stories we inherit, the places we call home and the imaginative worlds we create for ourselves, she brings a wonderfully rich perspective to this conversation with Marina Warner about sanctuary, belonging and the power of storytelling.
Have a look at the full programme here and book to attend here
3 December 2026, LRB – Celia Paul & Marina Warner: Objects of Desire, London Review Bookshop, 7pm
In Objects of Desire Celia Paul, perhaps the most significant artist working in Britain today, records her artistic practice while working alone during an artist’s residency in Venice. Inspired by the art and literature of the city, Paul meditates on love, grief, ageing and belonging, but above all on her primary vocation, that of a painter. She will be in conversation with cultural critic and LRB contributor Marina Warner.
Tickets here
22 January 2027, Rachel Kneebone in Conversation, Wallace Collection, 6.30-7.30pm
Join artist Rachel Kneebone in conversation with acclaimed writer Marina Warner and Director of Collections and Research at the Wallace Collection, Dr Alison Smith, as they explore Metamorphoses: Porcelain Sculpture by Rachel Kneebone. Together, they will discuss the ideas, inspirations and artistic influences that have shaped Kneebone’s remarkable career and distinctive sculptural practice.
Taking the exhibition as a starting point, the discussion will examine the relationship between Kneebone’s contemporary porcelain sculptures and the historic spaces of the Wallace Collection, revealing new perspectives on the display and its themes. Discover the artist’s use of materials, creative process and literary and visual sources of inspiration in this fascinating conversation between three leading voices from the worlds of art, history and storytelling.
Book your ticket here.