Dr Franziska Kohlt

I will be giving a talk on Lewis Carroll and his engagement with Victorian Psychiatric Practise at the Lewis Carroll Society Meeting (Art Worker’s Guild, London, 8th of April 2016). The talk is based on an article which has appeared in the Journal of Victorian Culture. Click here for more details on the talk!

Find out more about Mad Tea-Parties, Mad Hatters and March Hares!

Happy [weird Victorian] Christmas…?

I’m pleased to say The Conversation have published my article on “Alice’s Adventures in Cyberspace” in which I briefly reflect on American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns and its most recent sequel Alice: Otherlands. Give it a read! It includes a video snippet of McGee’s new work.

American McGee’s Alice: Otherlands (2015)

EDIT: The Lecture is now available online – click here!

As it’s (almost!) Halloween Ashmolean LIVEFriday turns into DEADFriday this week – with all sorts of Halloween themed shenanigans in store. Next to wandering ghosts, face painting and a bar there will also be a series of public lectures & gallery pop up talks, organised by TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities).
– I will be speaking about the, slightly unusual, topic of ‘Death and Victorian Children’s Literature.

Arthur Hughes, ‘At The Back of the North-Wind’

From Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Victorian Children’s Literature was, perhaps surprisingly, filled with scenes of dying and suffering children, a reality many readers had to face in their own environment. However, searching for a sense in this, authors often gave those children fantastic dreams and visions, filled with mythological creatures which embodied ideas of death and dying, but also of nature, and for hope for rebirth eternal life. Thus stories like Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies or George MacDonald’s At the back of the North Wind give amazing insights into the Victorian search for the meaning of life, the nature of the soul and man’s place in creation.

To find out more about these fantastical Victorian journeys into the inner workings of nature and life itself – come to the Ashmolean Lecture Theatre (Level -1) at 7.45 pm! The event is ticketed. A full list of speakers and more info can be found here.

Alice Liddell Window Christ Church Dining Hall

I will be giving a pair of talks on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and it’s place in Victorian Children’s Literature and Illustration this November, one at Christ Church’s Wonderday and the other at a Lewis Carroll Study Day at the Surrey History Centre. Christ Church’s Wonderday will give attendees the unique opportunity to hear Carroll experts like Edward Wakeling, Kiera Vaclavic and Melanie Keene speak about both Carroll’s connection with Christ Church as well as the most recent interdisciplinary research into the subject – and moreover, visitors can explore the stunning surroundings of Christ Church, and the place where it all began (Alice’s Nursery, the Deanery Garden, the (mock) turtle shells in the kitchen, or the long-necked ladies in Christ Church dining hall) in exclusive guided tours. At Woking’s Study Day insight will be provided into rarely seen documents from the Dodgson family archives by Will Brooker, other aspects of the collections will be illuminated by Edward Wakeling and myself. Both events require pre-booking and should be real highlights in this anniversary year!

Lewis Carroll Study Day, Surrey History Centre, Woking

I was very excited to see my work on this year’s Alice sesquicentenary celebrations featured on my college’s website. The college has been substantial in in facilitating a crucial part of ‘Alice’s Day‘ – the re-enactment of Alice’s Dream in the opening chapter of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This was performed with giant puppets of the Alice and the White Rabbit by the Spanish company Teatre Nu – give it a read here!

Giant Alice on Oxford’s Radcliffe Square in front of Brasenose College on Alice’s Day. Follow Alice celebrations around the world using the hashtag #alice150 

It’s that time of year again, and as it is the 150th anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – this Alice’s Day (under the slogan “Pictures & Conversations”) is going to be bigger and better than ever – have a look at the programme! The twelve chapters of the book will be re-enacted in many creative ways all around town; the Caterpillar will be giving advice at the Bodleian Library (Weston Library), and there will be a huge Lobster Quadrille at the Natural History Museum from 12:30 – which you can actually join (instructions here – will you, won’t you join the dance?).

A particular highlight will be the free anniversary lectures at the Old Fire Station – this year by Brian Sibley, broadcaster, writer and president of the Lewis Carroll Society – and media-expert Prof Will Brooker from the University of Kingston – and I am very honoured to be speaking alongside those two fantastic speakers!

Don’t miss out – join the dance on the 4th of July in Oxford!

Alice’s Day Anniversary Lectures 2015, Old Fire Station