Blogs & News

: Online Talk: Elizabeth Gaskell- An Introduction

Described by the press after her death as ‘one of the greatest female novelists of all time’, Elizabeth Gaskell’s literary fame has risen and fallen over the years. Now this special introduction reveals the woman behind classic novels like North and South and Cranford. Book now Elizabeth Gaskell, once better-known as ‘Mrs Gaskell’, mastered a huge range of genres from ‘Condition of England’ novels to Gothic horror, short stories, biography, historical fiction and the rural comedy of Cranford.

: Online Talk: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Fairy Stories

Wicked stepmothers. Prince Charming. Sleeping beauties. Fairy stories might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Elizabeth Gaskell. So put on your glass slipper and step into the deep dark woods for a fresh look at Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing. Many women writers have used the oral tradition of fairy tales to challenge accepted ideas and re-work traditional tales. Look below the surface in Elizabeth Gaskell and nothing is as it seems. Can

: Online Talk: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Short Stories – An Introduction

Comedy. Tragedy. Sensationalism. Realism. Gothic. Journalism. Elizabeth Gaskell was more than a novelist. Her short stories have got it all. Join popular speaker Elizabeth Williams for this intriguing introduction to a different side of Elizabeth Gaskell’s story-telling. Better known for her classic novels, Elizabeth Gaskell was a prolific writer of short stories. Charles Dickens knew this and encouraged her to write for his literary magazine. Works like the much-loved Cranford started as short stories. Others, like Libbie Marsh’s

: Online Talk: Ruth – Fact and Fiction: Social Class Divisions in Elizabeth Gaskell’s World

Class. Status. Sex. Elizabeth Gaskell’s controversial novel Ruth shocked Victorian society for its portrayal of a ‘fallen woman’ who had sex before marriage. But what of the true story that inspired it? Now you can uncover both fact and fiction including the story of Pasley, the young teenage girl Elizabeth met in Salford’s New Bailey Prison. Author Livi Michael looks at the real ‘Ruth’ and her background. How did creating this groundbreaking novel impact Elizabeth Gaskell as a

: Online Talk: Lancashire Day – Northern Writers

Northern writers from Elizabeth Gaskell to the Bronte sisters have created great novels and new genres that have transformed literature. But it’s not just the big names of Victorian literature… The North of England boasts a huge literary canon from The Hundred and One Dalmatians to Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. Mancunian writers have often led the way, from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s classic The Secret Garden to Isabella Banks’ The Manchester Man. And don’t forget Lancashire dialect