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!)šŖšUnique setting (birth places of Carroll's book & Disney's movie)šEngaging ProgrammingšStrong author presenceRead more:www.peterlang.com/article/the-…
Very grateful to have received a small grant from the Society for the Social History of Medicine for a symposium on Childhood Histories of Medicine that my brilliant colleague Dr Elisabeth M. Yang and I have been cooking up! Watch this space for more (soon!)
Excited to be starting the new year with news to have received funding from @sshmedicine.bsky.social for a little something on Childhood Histories of Medicine that @emyang.bsky.social and I have been cooking up – watch this space for more (soon)! #histmed #histSTM
Beyond thrilled to announce that “Alice Through the Looking-Glass” is published today!šŖIn 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 Aliceās 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 Ā£28 – 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 – Ā«This volume is colossal in all senses: most obviously ā at over 500 pages ā in its sheer physical heft, but most importantly in its ambition, scope and achievement. It brings an unparalleled range of approaches to bear on Carrollās 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.Ā» – Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Childrenās Literature and Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
Ā«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.Ā» – 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.
A ground-breaking new collection on Victorian scientists, theologian and fantasist George MacDonald has just been published, containing my essay ‘”A guiding radiance”: George MacDonald’s Science and Fantasy as a New Dialectic.’ MacDonald was famously a chief influence on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and encouraged Lewis Carroll to publish Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. He was a fascinating and radical thinker, and I am thrilled that the book has already been receiving stellar reviews.
Finally received my copy of this groundbreaking new book on Victorian scientist, theologian&fantasist George MacDonald- famous for inspiring Tolkien, CS Lewis & catalyst for the publication of Carroll's Alice! It contains my essay on MacDonald's scientific education in Scotland. pic.twitter.com/fVTOSBJbSw
— Dr Franziska Kohlt š¦¤ (@frankendodo) May 30, 2024
“What a book! The ten essays, plus Introduction, in this book are masterful: erudite, insightful, thorough, and even playful. They give us a view of MacDonald we have not previously experienced, showing the unity of his various writerly enterprises: poetry, essays, sermons, realistic fiction, and fantasy… They also demonstrate just how radical MacDonald’s work is, its challenge to easy certainties and conventional thought. The MacDonald these essays explore is an intricate thinker, and a writer acutely aware of the nuances and slipperiness of language… In short, this is the best book of essays we have on MacDonald, exceeding the several that have preceded it. This book is indispensable.” — Roderick McGillis , Emeritus Professor of English, The University of Calgary
“Unsaying the Commonplace has found the golden key for George MacDonald studies. Scholarship on the Scottish author is currently entering a golden age and this collection dazzles with its newfound brilliance.” — Timothy Larsen, Wheaton College”
The essays gathered in this collection rightly reveal George MacDonald as a thoughtful and engaged social critic, alive to the cultural questions of his day. Its tri-disciplinary framework of culture, literature, and theology provides understanding of the intellectual ecologies that nurtured MacDonald, while offering real insight into his works. — John Patrick Pazdziora, The University of Tokyo
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.
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.
Friday Rabbit Hole anyone? Catch me on The Colin McEnroe Show together with the brilliant Annie Rauwerda of “Depths of Wikipedia“, and nature writer Dominic Couzens, as we explore Rabbit Holes, from Alice in Wonderland and Greek mythology, via Jefferson Airplane and the Matrix to the depths of the Internet – podcast now available here and onĀ and all the usual podcast channels!
This hour is all about rabbit holes. Weāll talk about Lewis Carroll with @frankendodo, the feeling of going down an internet rabbit hole with @anniierau, and rabbit burrows with @DominicCouzens.
“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 Carrollās works to the new fellowship.
āDr. Kohlt exemplifies the scholarly excellence and creative vitality we hope to inspire and make possible through the Carrollian Fellow program,ā said Marje Schuetze-Coburn, interim dean of USC Libraries. āWeāre 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.ā
The fellowship is the brainchild of Rebecca Corbett, curator of the Cassady Collection and director of special projects within the USC Librariesā Specialized Collections group. āFranās appointment as our Carrollian Fellow is really exciting for the USC Libraries,ā said Corbett. āShe 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.ā”
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 š¦¤ (@frankendodo) May 1, 2023
Not my average Monday! Yesterday I spent the whole day recording 'The Folklore of Dreams', a 6-part audiobook commissioned by @Wondrium which will be co-released exclusively on @audible_com – along with the latest release of Neil Gaimanās Sandman later this year (no pressure š¬)! pic.twitter.com/4MNDClWQsG
— Dr Franziska Kohlt š¦¤ (@frankendodo) May 10, 2022
In 2022 Wondrium commissioned the 6-part course ‘The Folklore of Dreams’ which will become available exclusively via Audible later this year. Aimed at a general, non-academic audience, this six part audio book will explore how we have imagined, and told stories about dreaming. It will follow these stories, and the symbols, landscapes, heroes, and demons that populated them through the ages, looking at science, literature and storytelling, wherever it happened. This is what the blurb says:
Sleep and dreams have always been among the most mysterious, yet essential, aspects of the human condition, so itās little wonder that a rich legacy of sleep-related myth and folklore has sprung from every culture across the world in every period in time. And these legends still shape pop culture today, linking, like an unseen thread, some of our most famous tales: the sleeping princesses of fairy tales, Morpheus in The Matrix, the nightmarish creatures in the dreamworld of Panās Labyrinth, the mirror worlds of Alice in Wonderland, or the Sandman myth in Neil Gaimanās work of the same name.
The audiobook will be co-released with the latest release of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman – the precise release date is yet to be confirmed, but keep watching this space! Very grateful to the production team at Audible & at Bigdog studios, who really managed to record the entire thing in one sitting!
Dr Franziska Kohlt 