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About the writing of Frankenstein

In July 1816, a group of friends were staying in the Villa Diodati.near Lake Geneva: the mad, bad and dangerous to know Lord Byron, his lover Claire Clairmont, Byron’s physician Dr John Polidori, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and, of course, Mary Wollstoncraft, Shelley’s then lover, future wife and Claire’s step-sister.

It was the ‘Year without a Summer” and to while away a particularly gloomy night, Lord Byron suggested that they each write a ghost story.

“I busied myself to think of a story — a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror — one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart.”
— Mary Shelley

The Gothic tale Mary told that night and later developed into a novel was Frankenstein. Although the Romantics were fascinated by science and technology, they also feared its consequences (much in the way we worry about cloning and nuclear weapons today). Today, the story about the misguided scientist and the monster he created continues to resonate, inspring countless movies and spin offs.

Unsurprisingly given the company, several other works germinated on that almost legendary evening, including The Vampyre by Dr Polidori and Byron’s poem Darkness. Still more emerged during the group’s longer stay in Switzerland; Byron discussed his ideas for Don Juan extensively with Shelley; and Shelley’s own poems Hymn to Intellectual Beauty and Mont Blanc were composed.

About the Poetry at SMSA group

Led by Thomas Thorpe as coordinator, the Poetry at SMSA group is one of SMSA’s regular Members’ Activities & Events.

Each month, the group meets in the Norman Selfe Room to discuss poetry relating to a particular theme.

They have given a number of popular public readings at SMSA over the last several years.

Read a profile of the Poetry at SMSA group from our e-news.

Find out about upcoming Poetry at SMSA meetings & themes

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The Birth of Frankenstein: Celebrating 200 Years

Monday, 18 July 2016, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Venue: Mitchell Theatre

200 years ago, on a stormy night near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, a 19 year old girl invented Science Fiction while telling ghost stories with her companions. The subject of countless movies and spin offs, her compelling Gothic tale Frankenstein has become a part of our collective imagination, even today.

Join the Poetry at SMSA group to celebrate 200 years since ‘the Birth of Frankenstein’ with selected readings from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dr Polidori’s The Vampyre and the poems of Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.

SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)

About the writing of Frankenstein

About the Poetry at SMSA group

The Birth of Frankenstein: Celebrating 200 Years

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