Showing posts with label Robert Lloyd Parry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Lloyd Parry. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Talking Terror: An M.R. James Festival

Gladstone's Library, at Hawarden, Cheshire, has announced 'Talking Terror: An M.R. James Festival' on 27-28 November, 2026. The weekend event includes: 

  • Robert Lloyd Parry performing several stories of M.R. James by candlelight  
  • Adam Z Robinson performing The Room in the Tower by E. F. Benson and chairing a live recording of The Ghost Story Book Club podcast with special guest Rosemary Pardoe (Jamesian expert, author and long-time editor of Ghosts and Scholars)
  • Professor Darryl Jones (author of the latest M.R. James biography) in discussion about James' stories 
  • I will be joining Rosemary and Adam for a discussion on 'Writing Ghost Stories Today'.  

    The event takes place in the atmospheric Gothic country house, which houses over 150,000 volumes and offers several quiet reading rooms as well as elegant landscaped grounds. 

    Hawarden was recommended warmly to me by the historical novelist Peter Vansittart, who would stay there at least annually while writing his books, and appreciated the combination of private study time and collegiate dining and discussion. I was therefore delighted to be invited to take part in this Jamesian weekend.

    (Mark Valentine)