The controlling idea: learning from stories ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
Join us online for a new series discussing ideas in books made into films.
Event details
Free
In the second season of talks, publisher Katie Isbester and her daughter Teddy, a film buff, will discuss the central idea of some of the greatest stories told. Each session will grapple with the big issue embedded in the story, and compare how the book and film treat this central idea. Each session will feature an expert guest and a Q&A with the audience.
- Season 2, episode 2: Is it a racist book?
- To Kill a Mockingbird and its sequel Go Set a Watchman.
Atticus Finch is one of the great heroes of our canon for battling racism in a racist society. Could To Kill a Mockingbird actually be just another white saviour story rather than an anti-racist story? Could Atticus Finch be non-racist in such a profoundly racist society? And if he is racist, should the children be reading him?
Katie Isbester is the publisher of Claret Press, an independent publishing house specialising in stories that deal with politics, issues and places. Teddy 't Hooft, aged 20, is a student at university, doing an arts undergraduate degree. Akhera Williams is a community organizer and the co-founder of Reroot.ED – a campaign fighting for an anti-racist, inclusive curriculum in secondary schools across the United Kingdom. Its ultimate goal is an anti-racist education system in the UK, which supports an entirely inclusive approach to learning.