Dame Kristin Scott Thomas reads a selection of Kafka’s short stories in the Holywell Music Room

The event, 'Of Children, Animals, and Hunger Artists', was an exceptional experience for students, alumni and guests. Carolin Duttlinger, Professor of German Literature and Culture at Wadham, introduced and welcomed our special guest on 12 November.

Dame Kristin read a sequence of short stories from Kafka’s archive that were alternately funny and absurd; bizarre and troubling; captivating and unsettling. Regularly reading his work aloud to friends and family, and attending "Rezitationen" (recitals), Kafka's love of this hybrid acoustic form is well documented. As the centenary year of the death of Franz Kafka draws to a close, the event was a tribute to his diary entries on the power of the voice.

Dame Kristin Scott Thomas DBE is a British-French actor, A five-time BAFTA Award and Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the Olivier Award for Best Actress for the Royal Court revival of The Seagull. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The English Patient.

The research for this event is supported by the Kafka's Transformative Communities project in collaboration with Bold Tendencies, a not-for-profit arts organisation based in the rooftop spaces at Peckham Multi-Storey Car Park in South London.