How did the relationship between the East and the West change when 18th century Europe chose science over magic? And can we think of magic as a tool for ‘Othering’?

Through tales of enchantment, an illustrated talk, and debate, Egyptian storyteller Chirine El Ansary, mythographer and writer Marina Warner, and novelist Samantha Herron invite you to listen to, engage with and discuss stories of magical transformations from The Thousand and One Nights. You will dive into tales of Jinn and divinatory astrolabes as well as discuss the importance of stories both to create histories and imagine new futures.

The evening will open with an illustrated talk by Marina Warner on Stories as Thought Experiments: The reason of myth, fairytale and magic.

Following on, internationally acclaimed storyteller Chirine El Ansary will premiere a new body of work, especially composed for the night, plucking the strand of enchantment throughout the incredible product of the human imagination which is The Thousand and One Nights.

To close the evening Marina Warner will host a panel discussion and Q&A session with Chirine El Ansary and fiction writer Samantha Herron on the role stories can play in creating new futures, on memory, loss and community.

Artists

Chirine El Ansary
Chirine El Ansary is a storyteller and a performer from Cairo. She has performed in ancient buildings, streets and markets in Cairo, Damascus and Aleppo as well as in prisons, refugee camps, remote villages, forests and world-class cultural centres all across the world. Chirine is currently completing a PhD at Goldsmiths.

Marina Warner
Marina Warner’s books include Stranger Magic: Charmed States and The Arabian Nights (2011) and Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairytale, just out in paperback. She is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Birkbeck College and a Professorial Research Fellow, SOAS.

Samantha Herron
Samantha Herron’s writing is heavily influenced by her experiences living with a family of former nomads in Morocco’s Draa Valley. Samantha edited and translated the English-Arabic publication Dardasha: Testimonies of Migration by Moroccan Women (2011) and wrote a collection of short stories called The Djinn in the Skull: Stories from hidden Morocco (2015).