Write & Shine: The Gothic City - Bram Stoker and MR James (Online)
The London Library
- Workshop
Fri, 11 Sep 2026 "> published -
Event Summary
Event Description
Join Write & Shine bright and early, live from The London Library for a 90-minute virtual writing workshop exploring London as a dark and gothic city.
In this workshop, we'll read fiction by London Library members Bram Stoker (1847-1912), whose Dracula stalks London's fog-shrouded streets, and MR James (1862-1936), whose ghost stories linger in the city's corners. We'll learn how Stoker used The London Library's collection to research the novel, conjuring his eponymous vampire from books he found in the stacks. And we'll think about how London lends itself to gothic storytelling: a city of mist and mystery, fog and flickering gaslight.
This workshop is part of a series of morning writing sessions led by author Gemma Seltzer, inspired by The London Library's rich literary heritage. Together we'll uncover London as a secret city-a landscape of dreams, disguises and shadows.
Write & Shine workshops take place in the early morning light - the best time to think, dream and imagine! You won't be expected to share your writing, which offers great freedom and encourages all kinds of fascinating ideas to emerge.
Our events programme is presented in partnership with Hakluyt & Company, the global strategic advisory firm for businesses and investors.
NB This is an online workshop via Zoom. Please log in at 7:30am for 7:45am start. You will be sent a Zoom link a few days before the workshop (if you do not receive it, please check your junk file or email us).
Fee Required:
Standard Tickets (inc booking fees): £24.38
Event Overview
- Event Title: Write & Shine: The Gothic City - Bram Stoker and MR James (Online)
- Type: Workshop
- Date: Fri, 4th Dec 2026
- Location: Remote
How to Book
- Contact name: The London Library
- Contact email: [email protected]
About The London Library
The London Library is one of the world's great lending libraries, with an amazing collection of around 1 million books, and an equally extraordinary history.
Behind its elegant facade overlooking St. James's Square is a vast network of books, where since the mid-nineteenth century, seven buildings have been brought into one and a great centre of learning and ideas has been created.