New Insights Into The Life And Work Of Renowned Author Roald Dahl

New insights into the life and work of renowned author Roald Dahl will be shared in a major conference at the University. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Hosted by the University’s School of English, Communication and Philosophy, the Roald Dahl Centenary Conference (16-18 June) brings academics from around the world to Dahl’s birthplace to celebrate the author known as ‘the world’s No. 1 storyteller’. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Focusing on topics including gender, morality, language and Dahl’s texts in musical performance, it seeks new ways of understanding Dahl’s achievements and place in twentieth-century and contemporary culture. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Plenaries will be given by David Rudd, Professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Roehampton, and Donald Sturrock, author of Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl and editor of Dahl’s letters. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Professor Damian Walford Davies, Head of the School of English, Communication and Philosophy said: “In bringing him “home” to Cardiff, this conference seeks to defamiliarise Dahl and assess his complex – and interrelated – body of work for children and adults from the fresh new perspectives demanded by a centenary year.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Delegates attending the conference will also have the opportunity to visit the places of Dahl’s youth on a tour co-led by Cardiff poet and psychogeographer Peter Finch, examine manuscript and visual material from the Roald Dahl archive at Great Missenden, and enjoy dramatic readings and performances of Dahl’s work. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

One of the highlights of the three-day conference will be the public event, Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Medicine (16 June 2016) – a fascinating interview between Professor Damian Walford Davies and Tom Solomon, Professor of Neurology at Liverpool University, who cared for Roald Dahl in his final illness in Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Drawing on his privileged late night hospital discussions with Dahl, Professor Solomon will share the stories Dahl told and read from his new book Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Medicine, offering new insights into the author’s thinking as his life came to an end. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Tickets for Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Medicine are free but advance booking is essential. The talk takes place on 16 June 2016 starting at 6.30pm in Room 0.16, the Postgraduate Teaching Centre, Cardiff Business School Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The event is sponsored by Cardiff University’s Science Humanities Initiative and is produced in collaboration with Creative Cardiff. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​