“[Frankenstein] speaks about modern man and the disenfranchised populations in its very own time. This is a novel being written in the wake of the French Revolution when thousands died for ideals for human equality, liberty, and fraternity. This is a time in which the world was experiencing war across several countries. This was a time of the slave trade. This was a time in which the economy was being revolutionized… So, yes, I would say [Frankenstein] does speak to the modern condition of humankind, but grounded in its very own time…. One of the good things of this novel is that community is a good thing. We can’t succeed in isolation. We need one another.”
— Dr. Omar F. Miranda, Assistant Professor of English, University of San Francisco
Kimberly Garrett, Program Assistant, Department of English, University of San Francisco, asks Dr. Omar F. Miranda about the Frankenstein Bicentennial events happening at University of San Francisco during FrankenFest Week (October 24-Nov 1, 2018) and gains some insight into the differences between the 1818 and 1831 versions as well as the resonance and longevity of this masterful novel. They also broach the topic of a potential gender-bending Victoria Frankenstein as the main character! After all, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the daughter of the first feminist, Mary Wollstonecraft (author of Vindications of the Rights of Woman).
Watch the full video interview (12mins)
These and other clips of movies, lectures, plays, and a variety of adaptations can be found on the Frankenstein Bicentennial YouTube Channel.
The fun continues through Halloween with even more Frankenstein Bicentennial events, including the international Frankenreads, a project of the Keats-Shelley Association of America, funded by a Chairman’s grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818) by encouraging people around the world to organize or participate in events celebrating the novel — especially by conducting public readathons of the entire novel on Halloween Day 2018 and in “Frankenweek,” October 24-31, 2018.
Our regional Bay Area partners, Santa Clara University and University of San Francisco, will host public readathons all day on Halloween — join them if you’re in the area!
If you can’t make it to an in-person event, be sure to watch the livestream of the central Frankenreads reading of Frankenstein at the Library of Congress beginning 9am EST Wednesday, October 31st, 2018 at http://www.youtube.com/LibraryOfCongress! And share your own comments, pictures, and videos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube with the hashtag #frankenreads!
Frankenstein Bicentennial Celebration 2018 