Patrick McGrath’s Gothic Fiction: An Introduction with Tatiana Farjado

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The British/American Patrick McGrath (1950-), less known than his contemporaries Stephen King or Anne Rice, plays a significant role in the evolution of the Gothic genre. His narratives include transgression, decay and madness, and his main characters are doctors/psychiatrists and artists. First a writer of short stories in the 1980s and then of novels, his plots take place in three main settings: the UK, the USA and Spain, and the tone of his writings shifts from humorous to more serious.

This talk aims to explain the evolution of McGrath’s work from the late 1980s to his latest novel, Last Days in Cleaver Square, published in 2021. Heavily influenced by Edgar Allan Poe and Sigmund Freud, especially at the beginning of his career, his latest fiction has acquired an anti-fascist character which might also be interesting for loversof history. Fascinated by delusions, McGrath’s characters experience hallucinations with supernatural beings such as a dybbuk or a ghoul, which will also be introduced in the presentation.

Host or Publisher Sam Hirst