Celebrating Frankenstein at the Campus Book Festival 2018

As 2018 celebrates the 200^th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the National Book Council is organising the screening of J. Searle Dawley’s silent short Frankenstein (1910). It will be followed by a discussion on its cinematographic adaptation and its impact on the collective imagination by Prof. Saviour Catania and Prof. Gloria Lauri Lucente. The event runs as part of the Campus Book Festival, on the University quadrangle at 1 pm on Friday 23 March.

This 16-minute film was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein. The film, revealed only in the middle of the 1970s, is a very liberal adaptation of the novel and focuses on the psychological and the magical aspects of the narrative, while contributing to the development of the horror genre.

The ensuing discussion promises to be a highly engaging one, ably directly by Profs. Catania and Lauri Lucente, in their inimitable style. They will focus, in particular, on the impact of Shelley’s novel on cinema and pop culture, mentioning various adaptations such as the Hammer series.

Prof. Catania studied English literature at the University of Malta and he is currently Senior Lecturer in Film Studies where he teaches Development of Film Language, Classical and Contemporary Film Theory and Film Appreciation. He also lectures on literature and film in the Department of English and on Spanish and Latin American Film in the Department of Spanish.

Prof. Gloria Laura Lucente obtained a Laurea in Lettere Moderne at the University of Siena and a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her main areas of research are Film Studies, Italian Literature, and Comparative Literature with a focus on Anglo-Italian Studies.

The Campus Book Festival is organised by the National Book Council and the Għaqda tal-Malti, kicking off daily at 9.00 am with back-to-back activities planned until 4.00 pm. On Friday the activities will continue until late. The Festival aims to promote literature while giving publishers and book distributors a platform to sell and promote their publications. The Festival’s programme is vast and offers a wide range of events to suit many interests, from book launches and talks to film screenings, workshops and live music.

For more information about Frankenstein and the Campus Book Festival, visit the National Book Council’s website www.ktieb.org and Facebook page. A detailed programme can be downloaded by following this link.

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