Afternoon Tea with Sam Leith: The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading

Friday 15 November, 2.30 - 4pm, Old Library, The Wardwick, Derby Museum

Can you remember the first time you fell in love with a book? Maybe you tumbled down a rabbit hole, or flew out of your bedroom window, or found the key to a secret garden? And in the silence of that moment, your whole life changed forever. More vivid, more affecting than books we read mere months ago, our childhood reading might just be the making of us.

The current Literary Editor of The Spectator, Sam has written (what has been described by Philip Pullman as) “One of the best surveys of children’s literature I’ve read.”

The Haunted Wood is a book to treasure; the first general history of literature written for children through the ages, from Aesop’s Fables to Malorie Blackman. It explores the magic of our most beloved stories, the lasting grip they seem to have on us and the ways in which they define and console entire generations.

Sam will be in conversation with Professor Katherine Cox, Professor of English and Contemporary Culture at the University of Derby.

This event will be filmed and made available as a digital recording after the Festival. For more information please click here.