This lecture launched both our Literature Matters events and Marina Warner’s presidency of the RSL.

Dame Marina looks at the interactions of stories and power in unsettled times, and asks whether ancient myths, retold in different media, can help build common ground. Marina Warner is a writer of fiction and cultural history. Her many publications include studies of the Virgin Mary and The Arabian Nights. She is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Birkbeck College, University of London, and a contributing editor to The London Review of Books. She was appointed CBE in 2008 and DBE in 2015. The event is introduced by Kamila Shamsie. Marina Warner looks at the interactions of stories and power in unsettled times.