While new publications are always a thrill, I was especially delighted to find that Through the Looking-Glass: A Companion was featured by our publishers to explore what makes a successful book launch for future authors, through our two launch events.
They highlighted our unique settings – the birth places of Lewis Carroll’s famous novel, as well as that of Disney’s (and Burton’s!) almost equally famous movies, our engaging programming – our Spectral Science exhibition, and an authentic Victorian Phantasmagoria in Los Angeles, and an exclusive Special Collections Display at Christ Church, Oxford, as well as strong author presence, through expert panels and reflections at both Christ Church and in Los Angeles.
You can read more here – and order our book for your students & library here.
Delighted that our publishers selected "Through the Looking-Glass: A Companion" to reflect on what makes a successful book launch (or two!)🪞📚Unique setting (birth places of Carroll's book & Disney's movie)đź“šEngaging Programmingđź“šStrong author presenceRead more:www.peterlang.com/article/the-…
A VERY LABC HALLOWEEN! Put on your favorite costume and come celebrate Halloween with the LA Breakfast Club! Magic Lanternist Melissa Ferrari and historian Dr. Franziska Kohlt will transform Friendship Auditorium into an immersive horror theater full of fantastical and dreamlike imagery.Â
ABOUT THE PRESENTATION & MAGIC LANTERN PERFORMANCE: On a rainy 19th-century evening, the public flocked to the Royal Polytechnic Institution of London to partake in the technological spectacle of a new Magic Lantern show. That evening, they were treated to a performance of bestselling children’s fantasy Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, whose author, Lewis Carroll, had long been an aficionado of Phantasmagorias, magic lanterns, microscopes, telescopes, and every optical spectacle the Victorian age had popularized to shape a culture. These devices not only had a profound influence on the creation of one of the most popular children’s books of all time, but also on early cinema.
Historian of science Dr. Franziska Kohlt and magic lanternist Melissa Ferrari bring you a presentation and live Magic Lantern performance exploring the intersections of science, illusion, and the supernatural. Dr. Kohlt, inaugural Carrollian Fellow at USC, will share her research exploring how literary minds such as Lewis Carroll viewed new technologies and scientific discoveries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a means of accessing “other worlds” beyond human perception. The presentation will feature a revival of the 18th-century tradition of Phantasmagoria, a form of immersive horror theater where hidden projectors conjured apparitions and supernatural creatures, with a Carrollian twist. Performed with authentic 19th-century Magic Lanterns and Ferrari’s handmade & antique slides, the show will feature a preview of their new collaboration Phantasmagoria: Lighting the World Beyond, premiering later that evening at the USC Doheny Library, and take you from rainy nineteenth-century London, via the mysterious sides of California, to realms unknown.
Beyond thrilled to announce that “Alice Through the Looking-Glass” is published today!🪞In 516 pages, 38 essays by 42 authors, this book offers a truly interdisciplinary exploration of the polymathic influences that shaped Through the Looking-Glass, the lesser explored sequel of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, covering the history of science, logic, philosophy, theology, literature, popular and visual culture, and translation, business, data science, writing, and the visual arts. And all that for only ÂŁ28 – get it here.
We are thrilled to extend an invitation to celebrate the publication of the book at Christ Church, Oxford’s Upper Library, where Lewis Carroll was once himself sub-librarian, on Friday the 27th of September – tickets are free, but booking is essential. There will be talks by contributors Prof Adam Roberts, Rev Dr Karen Gardiner, Catherine Richards, Dr Nick Coates and myself, a panel discussion, special collections display and wine reception.
I am especially grateful for the generous endorsements of Brian Sibley, BBC veteran and Chair of the Lewis Carroll Society, and Prof Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Culture – «This volume is colossal in all senses: most obviously – at over 500 pages – in its sheer physical heft, but most importantly in its ambition, scope and achievement. It brings an unparalleled range of approaches to bear on Carroll’s neglected sequel and in doing so marks the arrival of an exciting new wave of Carrollian scholarship and enquiry. A comprehensive and illuminating companion to Looking-Glass and its author, it is also an exemplar of everything that collaborative, transdisciplinary scholarship can offer.» – Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature and Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
«This impeccably edited volume with its impressive assemblage of contributors addresses a diverse array of topics: the creation, illustration, translation and commercialization of the world beyond the mirror; discussions philosophical, psychological and theological; studies on logic and linguistics; and, fittingly for a nonsense classic, speculative examinations of the flora and fauna of the Looking-Glass World. This stimulating collection of essays is a timely appreciation of a literary masterwork too long overshadowed by its elder Wonderland sibling.» – Brian Sibley, Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society
Today I took a copy of this book to its new home in the Library of @ChCh_Oxford where Lewis Carroll was once sub-librarian. Feels like a full circle moment.
Pictured: the book on the windowsill of Carroll's old office, w Cheshire cat tree.
Great pleasure being back at BBC Broadcasting House with Melvyn Bragg for BBC Radio 4 In Our Time, to explore all things “Alice in Wonderland” with Professors Kiera Vaclavik and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. The programme will air on Thursday 15 February, 9am & 9:15pm GMT; it’ll be available as a podcast afterwards (with extra content!). If you can’t wait, you can listen to last time I was on IOT, speaking about automata, here.
We may not always realise it, but our attitudes, likes and dislikes, fears and habits are often crafted for us by generations of narratives. For example, many people understand the benefits of a healthy bee population. They may see bees as cute, helpful and unique. However, they might hate wasps with a passion, find them to be a nuisance and want to avoid “wasp season” at all costs. In truth, both are pollinators who improve our natural world, even if they also have the potential to sting us. Dr Franziska E Kohlt researches how narratives shape our relationships with insects. From Alice in Wonderland to Animal Crossing, we have all absorbed stories about animals throughout our lives.
This week I am off to offer a Keynote Lecture at the World Congress on Logic and Religion, which will feature a workshop on Symbolic Logic and Religion. The will be published as a paper in due course, and I am hoping to offer some new connection between Lewis Carroll’s understanding to the practical uses of Logic, to which his understanding of religion, and how it inflected all his work is integral, from his teaching to children’s literature to how he expressed his opposition to vivisection.
Prepping my Keynote for the World Congress on Logic &Religion today before I'm off to Romania next week to present it. I feel privileged to be able to cite some of the excellent recent scholarship on Carroll& Religion- so far such an under-researched topic https://t.co/7GxErQ9tnLpic.twitter.com/6jsuVOT5ri
If you’ve always been curious what Lewis Carroll’s Alice has to do with Science, Medicine and the Environment, this Saturday you’ll have a unique opportunity to find out in my online lecture for the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, where you’ll be able to get an exclusive preview for my two (!) forthcoming books on Alice, and my latest research in this field. The talk will be online, free, and, recorded, in case you can’t make it – and it’s this Saturday, 12th of August, 7pm British Summer Time, 2pm EDT & 11am Pacific Time. Zoom link & more info here.
“The USC Libraries have named Franziska Kohlt as their inaugural fellow in their newly re-envisioned Carrollian Fellowship. Kohlt, an accomplished historian of science, scholar of comparative literature, and expert in science communication, brings her diverse expertise and passion for Carroll’s works to the new fellowship.
“Dr. Kohlt exemplifies the scholarly excellence and creative vitality we hope to inspire and make possible through the Carrollian Fellow program,” said Marje Schuetze-Coburn, interim dean of USC Libraries. “We’re delighted to welcome her to the USC Libraries and excited about the new approaches she will bring to the Cassady Lewis Carroll collection and to engaging our academic and creative communities.”
The fellowship is the brainchild of Rebecca Corbett, curator of the Cassady Collection and director of special projects within the USC Libraries’ Specialized Collections group. “Fran’s appointment as our Carrollian Fellow is really exciting for the USC Libraries,” said Corbett. “She is an established Carrollian scholar who truly embodies the polymathic spirit of Dodgson, with her work spanning comparative literature, the history of science and science communication, and she will help us to explore connections between the Cassady Collection and our rare book holdings in natural history and the history of science.””
Finally, here's the official announcement. Incredibly honoured to have been appointed Inaugural Carrollian Fellow at @USC & @USCLibraries – and so humbled by all the kind words. Have been having a tremendous time & more exciting stuff to come! https://t.co/2XSjiaHUY9pic.twitter.com/KRyDezrmzN
— Dr Franziska Kohlt 🦤 (@frankendodo) May 1, 2023
To honour the 125th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s death, BBC History asked me to write an article about the man, his life – and of course his most famous work: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
It’s unusual to have 2000+ words to explore a topic in a little more depth – so I hope you enjoy this portrait of the “maker of Wonderland” which is out today.
As for one of my favourite parts of the story, though, scroll on…
One of my favourite parts of this story comes right at the end. Among the people who admired Carroll and was inspired by his work – his mathematics as well as his fiction, was the young Alan Turing, who borrowed from his school library at Sherborne both Alice books – Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass – and The Game of Logic (pictures are courtesy of Sherborne School archives).
Sherborne School also feature the anniversary, as well as the Turing connection in a post on their website, as well as in their letter to current students and alumni.
Thrilled that my – albeit slightly mortified – that my first audio book is now out in the open! Give it a listen! Here’s what Audible say:
“It’s easy to dismiss dreams as “just dreams”—incoherent visions, disturbing, odd images that don’t really mean anything much. But in stories, myths, and fables, dreams are vital. They’re often used as a literary device to provide insights and foreshadowing. Through the dreams in stories, we get to the heart of deep philosophical, scientific, and religious problems. Dreams allowed writers to transcend boundaries and confront things otherwise off-limits. ”Â
Dr Franziska Kohlt 