Treasures: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, and the Scottish Gothic Tradition

Hear from Dr. Emily Alder and Professor Daniel Cook, both leading experts in the field of Gothic literature, as they consider the ways in which Frankenstein and the Gothic permeate Scottish fiction to this day. Chaired by one of our foremost cultural commentators and interviewers, Dr. Alistair Braidwood.

With the recent success of the film adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s ‘Poor Things’, and the debt Gray’s novel owes to ‘Frankenstein’ and Gothic fiction, how might we consider the influence of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece on subsequent writers and their work? Where does James Hogg’s ‘Justified Sinner’, Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Jekyll and Hyde’, or more recent works by Muriel Spark, James Robertson, Alice Thompson, A. L. Kennedy, and Alasdair Gray fit into a Scottish Gothic tradition?

This event celebrates our new Treasures display, featuring items relating to Byron and Mary Shelley. Plan your visit.

About the panelists

Professor Daniel Cook is a Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Dundee, where he is a Chair in English and Scottish Literature. His research and teaching interests focus on 18th- and 19th-century literature.

Dr. Emily Alder is Associate Professor of Literature and Culture at Edinburgh Napier University. She teaches and researches literature of the long nineteenth century, especially the Gothic, science, and environmental humanities.

About the chair

Dr. Alistair Braidwood runs the website Scots Whay Hae! as well as hosting the accompanying podcast where he talks to some of the most interesting names involved in Scottish culture and the arts. He also reviews and interviews for various literary and cultural publications, and has been published in a number of academic journals and books.

Host or Publisher National Library of Scotland