Franz Kafka’s Art of Failure

Have you already booked in for our Big Read book discussion on Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka on the 11th September. In which case this talk is for you!

A talk marking the centenary of Franz Kafka’s death by exploring the theme of failure in his work. The protagonists of Kafka’s stories and novels often fail in their attempts to escape, evade or even understand the obstacles that confront them, but the despair of failure was something Kafka felt keenly about his own writing. What can his struggles with literature teach us about the relationship of creativity and failure? Join Dr Richard Stamp to find out!

Dr Richard Stamp is Director of Undergraduate Programmes in the School of Writing, Publishing and Humanities at Bath Spa University. He has published articles and edited books on modern European literature and philosophy, but he has never published a study of Kafka, despite 30+ years of reading and teaching his work – and probably never will. He is a failed Kafka scholar.