Thursday 31st May 2018

From 19:00 until 21:00

Venue: Dorset County Museum, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1XA

Thomas Hardy’s Fan Mail

Helen Angear

Come and join us as Helen Angear opens the envelopes of some of Thomas Hardy’s most interesting fan letters and examines how the writer was perceived by his readers.

The spread of Hardy’s writing across the world can be traced through the global fan mail he received from the 1890s onwards, each letter preserving an individual literary encounter. With examples of the most dedicated appreciation, this talk will explore how the letter form provided a more intimate layer within an evolving fan culture at the start of the twentieth century.

Helen Angear is currently in the final year of her PhD, an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with the University of Exeter and Dorset County Museum. The project involves digitising the letters sent to Hardy. Before commencing this PhD, Helen taught A Level English at Exeter College.