Anglia Ruskin University

A series of lectures with Jack Zipes (Professor Emeritus, German & Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota and Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Anglia Ruskin University)

Jack Zipes is an eminent scholar within the field of children's literature and especially in the study of fairy tales and folk tales. In addition to his scholarly work, he is an active story teller in schools and has worked with children's theatres in Europe and the United States.

Some of his major publications include Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales (1979), Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion (rev. ed. 2006), The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World (1988), Hans Christian Andersen: The Misunderstood Storyteller (2005), and Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of Genre (2006). He has also edited The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (2000) and The Great Fairy Tale Tradition (2001) and is the editor-in-chief of the series Oddly Modern Fairy Tales published by Princeton University Press. Most recently he has published The Enchanted Screen: the Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films (2010) and The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of Genre (2012).

Professor Zipes joined Anglia Ruskin University as Leverhulme Visiting Professor following a successful application to the Leverhulme Trust by Dr Mick Gowar and Dr Zoe Jaques. In addition to the lecture series, Professor Zipes will also lead a series of seminars and contribute to colloquia, In addition, he will deliver a series of practical storytelling workshops in schools in order to promote the value and practice of storytelling, and to help empower children as active, creative tellers of their own stories, and not simply as consumers of ready made tales.

Lecture Series

The Grimmness of Contemporary Fairy Tales
Wednesday 20 February 2013, 5-6.30pm
Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Rd, Cambridge, CB2 8PQ, Room GS4

Once Upon a Time: Changing the World through Storytelling
Wednesday 27 March 2013, 6.00pm
Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, University of Chichester, College Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 6PE

Reinvigorating the Fairy Tale: Contemporary Feminist Art and Photography
Saturday 20 April 2013, 6-7.30pm
Anglia Ruskin University, East Rd, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, Room LAB 109
Places are free but prior booking through Eventbrite is essential.

Seminars and talks

Screening: Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood
A selection of fairy tale films featuring some of Jack's extensive personal collection of films.
Tuesday 19 March 2013, 9.15-11.15am
Arts Picturehouse, 38-39 St Andrew's St, Cambridge, CB2 3AR
No booking required.

In conversation with Jack Zipes 1
Jack Zipes and Eugene Giddens (Skinner-Young Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature and a noted bibliographer and historian of the book), discuss 'Texts and Telling: the points of contact, conflict and mutual enrichment between oral folk and fairy tales and published, literary tales'.
Wednesday 17 April 2013, 6-7.30pm
Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, Room LAB 003
Places are free but prior booking through Eventbrite is essential.

In conversation with Jack Zipes 2
Jack Zipes and eminent fiction writers, Sara Maitland and Adele Geras, discuss re-tellings and reinterpretations of fairy tales. Chaired by Professor Farah Mendlesohn, Anglia Ruskin University.
Wednesday 24 April 2013, 6-7.30pm
Anglia Ruskin University, East Rd, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, Room LAB 109
Places are free but prior booking through Eventbrite is essential.

In conversation with Jack Zipes 3
Jack Zipes and Norman Geras, Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Manchester, discuss Marxism, Utopianism and Fairy Tales. Chaired by Professor Rohan McWilliam, Anglia Ruskin University
Wednesday 1 May 2013, 6-7.30pm
Anglia Ruskin University, East Rd, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, Room LAB 109
Places are free but prior booking through Eventbrite is essential.

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