Author Reading: Merlin Holland

Join Merlin Holland, the only grandson of Oscar Wilde, for a reading from his latest work, After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal (2025). A reception and book signing will follow the program.

Holland writes, lectures and broadcasts regularly on the subject of his grandfather's life. Publications include Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess, the first complete record of the libel trial which ultimately brought Oscar Wilde to ruin and social disgrace and The Wilde Album, a pictorial biography of Oscar Wilde. He is also the co-editor of The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde and author of Conversations with Oscar Wilde, a series of imaginary conversations between him and his grandfather. An account of Oscar’s ‘posthumous life’, After Oscar: the Legacy of a Scandal, showing that his grandfather has caused even more trouble after his death than when he was alive, was published in October 2025. After Oscar's conviction in 1895, his wife, Constance, and their two sons were forced to move abroad and change their name to Holland. The family has never reverted to the name Wilde.

Please have your reservation confirmation ready upon entering. A reservation does not guarantee a seat. Line forms upon arrival of the first patron, and doors open 30 minutes in advance. Doors to our theater will open approximately 30 minutes before the event begins. No food or beverages are allowed inside our theater or gallery space.

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Host or Publisher Harry Ransom Center