Imagining Lost Stories: The Magic of Paintings in Historical Fiction
How do authors recreate the lost past? Why are so many historical novels dripping with wet paint?
How do authors recreate the lost past? Why are so many historical novels dripping with wet paint? To answer these questions, Joanne Rush will give a whistle-stop tour of the key portraits in historical fiction.
| A Department of History event | |
|---|---|
| Date | 6 December 2022 |
| Time | 17:30 to 19:00 |
| Place | Exeter Library, Castle Street, Exeter |
| Provider | Department of History |
Event details
How do authors recreate the lost past? Why are so many historical novels dripping with wet paint? To answer these questions, Joanne Rush will give a whistle-stop tour of the key portraits in historical fiction. At the end, she’ll take us behind the scenes of her new Tudor thriller, The Art of Limning. We’ll explore museums and archives from Scotland to London, looking for traces of the people who are hardest to find: the women, the working classes, and the West Africans who made a new home here. What were their daily lives like? What images of themselves did they see in the world? And if no authentic portraits have survived, can a historical novelist use her imagination?
Joanne Rush is an award-winning short story writer, art critic, and poet. Her fiction has been featured in collections such as Best British Stories and Northern Gravy, and her poetry is available in journals including Diet Milk and Across the Margins. Joanne got her first PhD in Renaissance Literature and Visual art from Cambridge University. As part of a second PhD at Bath Spa University, she is currently writing her debut historical novel - a tale of Tudor art, identity, and secrets.
This event is being hosted by Ex Historia, the history postgraduate research forum at the University of Exeter.
Booking
This event is free, but please register here:
