Wed 3 February 2010 at 6.00 pm

David Fickling, The Unicorn and the Lion

Why stories are dangerous

Taking Place: Main Lecture Theatre, Gipsy Lane Campus

Do people ever really treat stories as truths? When, in our reading experiences, do stories emerge as truth? The way in which our values are nurtured and imprinted by stories indicates the importance of storytelling - so, is it possible to divide between reality and fiction, story and truth?

In this lecture, David Fickling will discuss both the differing and overlapping truths to reality and fiction, and the tension between the two.

David Fickling is a children’s book editor and publisher who formed his own imprint in 1999. Recent titles include Philip Pullman’s Lyra’s Oxford, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. He is a member of the Industry Advisory Board of the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies.