The History of Gothic Fiction & Dark Academia - Talks in the Pub

Talks in the Pub, from the team behind Seed Talks. A pint, some pub snacks, and everything you never knew about the rise of Dark Academia. We are running two talks this evening, for tickets to 'The History of the Female Vampire, please click here. Dark Academia is everywhere right now – in books, film, TV, fashion and home decor. Think autumn, sepia tones, and old universities full of secrets. This talk introduces you to the history of Dark Academia, and looks at why it appeals so strongly to audiences today. On one hand, it draws on classic Gothic ideas – murder, dark magic, hidden crimes. But on the other, it also speaks to very modern worries: about education becoming a business, and about who really gets access to knowledge and privilege in the first place. Doors open at 6pm, talk starts at 6:15pm - come down early to grab a good seat Your speaker: Dr Sarah Gamble is Associate Professor in English Literature at Swansea University. She’s a specialist in contemporary Gothic fiction and women’s writing, and has a particular expertise in the life and work of Angela Carter, on whom she’s written two monographs: Angela Carter: Writing from the Front Line (Edinburgh University Press,1997), and Angela Carter: A Literary Life (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Most recently, she has co-edited (with Anna Watz of Uppsala University, Sweden) a two-volume collection of academic essays on Carter – Angela Carter’s Pasts: Allegories and Intertextualities, and Angela Carter’s Futures: Representations, Adaptations and Legacies (Bloomsbury, 2025). Her current research involves dark academia and vampires.