Dive beneath the surface of mermaid lore to uncover what these mythical figures reveal about women, desire, and society. Followed by Q&A.

Why do mermaids continue to enchant us? From ancient sea-spirits to Ariel, the mermaid has drifted through centuries of myth, art, and pop culture – shifting shape with our fears and desires. Discover the deeper history behind one of our most enduring mythical creatures, from the sirens of antiquity to Disney’s reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

Join Dr Billie Gavurin in unravelling what mermaids can reveal about the ways societies have imagined women, bodies, and outsiders. We’ll examine the relationship between mermaids and sailors, and how tales of the sea have reflected ideas about gender, danger, desire, and the “other”. Finally, we’ll turn to 21st-century reimaginings – from colonial critiques to queer and transgender reinterpretations – to discover how new generations are transforming the mermaid once again.

Doors open at 7pm, talk starts at 7:30pm - come down early to grab a good seat!

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Speaker Bio:

Dr Billie Gavurin is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham whose work explores myth, folklore, and evolutionary theory. Her PhD at the University of Bristol focused on animal-human hybrids and Darwinism in Victorian culture, where she subsequently lectured for two years. She has published articles on writers including Algernon Blackwood and H. G. Wells, and her first monograph, Darwinian Monsters at the Fin de Siècle, is under contract with Palgrave Macmillan. She is also an experienced public speaker who has organised her own conference exploring mythology and the Ecogothic.

This talk is 16+

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