Daphne du Maurier Festival gets new expert sessions

The 2009 Daphne du Maurier Festival of Arts and Literature is held in Fowey, where du Maurier made her home at Menabilly, the main inspiration for Rebecca’s  Manderley. She often used Cornwall as a focus for her novels and short stories, highlighting the unique coastal geography, landscape and rural culture to dramatic effect. 

For the first time this year at the festival there will be a series of special University of Exeter lecture sessions focusing on writers from Devon and Cornwall who have influenced and or written extensively about the region. English academics from the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus will share their knowledge of writers such as Sabine Baring-Gould from Lewtrenchard. He was a prolific writer best remembered for the hymn, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’, but it is Baring-Gould’s fascination with the supernatural, folk beliefs and paganism that will be revealed in the lecture. A map of the sexual adventures and misadventures of many famous 19th century writers will provide a revealing perspective in a session set out to explore the complex world of the Victorian tourist. 

The Cornish novelist and Nobel Laureate Sir William Golding is a major part of the South West’s literary landscape. A reflection on his most famous book ‘Lord of the Flies’ and later fiction will be considered in a lecture which will attempt to make sense of Golding’s wartime experiences.  Also, two Cornish women who helped shape the history of science Elizabeth Carne who founded the Royal Geological Society in West Cornwall and Caroline Fox co-founder of the Falmouth Polytechnic will have their diaries, letters and scientific papers explored by literary experts.

English scholars from the University have shared their expertise and knowledge since the festival’s inception in 1996 by contributing to talks, chairing discussion panels, giving readings and interpretations and creating events around South West writers particularly du Maurier. 

World renowned expert on Daphne du Maurier and Arts and Culture Development Fellow at the University of Exeter, Professor Helen Taylor said, ‘The University of Exeter provides regional and literary knowledge about South West Writers and culture. This is supported by an outstanding Special Collections which holds original manuscripts, letters and annotated notes of important English writers such as du Maurier.  We have close working relations with du Maurier’s family (Brownings) and recently named one of the buildings on the Cornwall Campus after Daphne du Maurier.’

In addition, Special Collections has recently purchased 19 letters written by Daphne du Maurier. Archive Curator Christine Faunch says ‘We are delighted to add this important acquisition to the du Maurier collections. Several letters discuss du Maurier’s most famous novel, Rebecca, shedding light on her approach to Rebecca’s character. The letters are due to be catalogued in May and will be available for research.’

The University also organised the Daphne du Maurier Centenary Conference in 2007 and the essays generated from this have provided a new critical approach to du Maurier’s fiction and form part of a special issue of the academic journal ‘Women: A Cultural Review’.

As part of the festival, in a lecture on ‘Literary Tourism in the South West’, Professor Taylor will reflect on the role of literary figures and how important local associations are for readers and filmgoers, and how National Trust Homes and ‘Du Maurier Country’ around Fowey, shape our understanding of the relationship between writers and place. In an additional event, there will also be a talk on the intricate workings of suspense in du Maurier’s fiction and film maker Alfred Hitchcock’s filmed versions of The Birds, Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

The annual festival focuses attention on the vast array of literary talent and arts practice, whose creative contributions generate attention from literary circles on a national and international scale. The University of Exeter Sessions take place on Tuesday 12 May and 14 May in Fowey Town Hall, with other Exeter talks on 9 and 15 May.