Current News
Reading Group Notes on the Works of Daphne du Maurier by Dr Serena Trowbridge
7th June 2025: Dr Serena Trowbridge has very generously offered us her Reading Group notes to share with you all here at the Daphne du Maurier website. Many of you will be familiar with the name Serena Trowbridge. She is hugely supportive of the Daphne du Maurier website and has become an important, regular contributor at the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival,... More ››
In Our Time – Hypnosis, with references to Trilby by George du Maurier
2nd June 2025: Each Thursday at 9am on BBC Radio 4, Melvin Bragg leads a programme called In Our Time, in which he discusses a fascinating range of subjects with a panel of guests. Last week's programme, broadcast on Thursday 29th May 2025, was called Hypnosis. Included in the discussion was the topic of hypnotism in literature, with references to authors including Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker, and George du Maurier, among others. You can catch up with this programme on BBC Sounds. ... More ››
Discover the Coming of Age Collection from Daphne du Maurier – Coming 24th July 2025
29th May 2025: Virago are introducing stunning new covers for three classic Daphne du Maurier titles in their Coming of Age Collection, on 24th July 2025. ... More ››
Fought Like a Lion: The Life of an East End Soldier by Paul Blumsom
26th May 2025: From time to time, we recommend a book, because it has a connection to Daphne du Maurier, or because of a link to a relative or associate of hers. Today's book, Fought Like a Lion: The Life of an East End Soldier by Paul Blumsom, is the life story of William Charles Blumsom (1881 - 1932), the author's Grandfather. In telling William's tale, Paul has also uncovered information about Guy du Maurier, which gives us a great reason to share this book with you all. ... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2026
19th May 2025: ***Important News*** Due to circumstances beyond their control, the dates of The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2026 will be slightly different. The festival dates will be one week earlier than usual, from Friday 1st until Saturday 9th May. ... More ››
Celebrating Daphne du Maurier's Birthday – 13th May 2025
13th May 2025: On this day in 1907, Daphne du Maurier was born, so join us as we celebrate the 118th anniversary of her birth. If you are in Fowey, perhaps because you are attending the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival, you might be taking part in some of today's events. Or you might like to take a walk to some of the places in and around Fowey that were the inspiration for many of Daphne's Cornish novels and short stories.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 begins today, Friday 9th May
Friday 9th May: The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 takes place from Friday 9th May to Saturday 17th May, beginning this evening with music from Mad Dog Mcrea in the Parish Church at 8pm. From Saturday 10th May, there will be a full day of events every day until Saturday 17th May. Events will include walks, reading groups, talks, music, a quiz, and much more. ... More ››
The Women's Prize Daphne du Maurier pencil set
6th May 2025: The Women's Prize has just launched a fabulous set of Daphne du Maurier-related pencils in their range of stationery.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Secret Gardens – Friday 16th and Saturday 17th May 2025
1st May 2025: We are delighted to say that Secret Gardens is returning to the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival once more. This year, the gardens will be open on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th May, and you will be able to visit your favourite gardens in Fowey, Polruan and Bodinnick. Opera in the Garden also returns at Porphyry Hall Garden.... More ››
Art at St John’s, Bodinnick 10th – 17th May 2025
24th April 2025: As many of you know, during the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival, there is a fabulous art trail that takes place in various locations around Fowey, Polruan and Bodinnick. Today, we want to suggest that you take the car ferry (as a foot passenger) across to Bodinnick and visit the Art at St John’s Exhibition.... More ››
The Words - A Printmakers Exhibition inspired by Daphne du Maurier – 8th – 22nd May 2025
21st April 2025: The Words - A Printmakers Exhibition, inspired by Daphne du Maurier, by Bodenpress artists, takes place in St Albans from 8th – 22nd May 2025, timed so that the dates include Daphne du Maurier’s birthday.... More ››
Happy Easter Everyone
19th April 2025: Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter, wherever you are in the world, from all of us here at the Daphne du Maurier website, Ann, Sophie, and David xxx.... More ››
Virago reveal UK cover for After Midnight by Daphne du Maurier
19th April 2025: Virago has revealed the UK cover of After Midnight, the collection of Daphne du Maurier’s short stories, which will be published on 30th September 2025. This stunning new collection brings you thirteen chilling tales for the dark hours, introduced by international bestselling author Stephen King. ... More ››
News in the Telegraph of Birds Wreaking Chaos in Oxford
15th April 2025: An interesting and, in some ways, amusing story caught our eye in the Telegraph this week, which definitely had hints of Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds. Blavatnik School of Government, the University of Oxford Institution where the leaders of tomorrow are nurtured, has been brought to its knees by rogue seagulls!... More ››
Fowey Art Trail Saturday 10th – Saturday 17th May 2025
9th April 2025: Every May, the Fowey Art Trail takes place in conjunction with the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival. This year it begins on Saturday 10th May and runs until Saturday 17th May. ... More ››
A Death In Diamonds by S .J. Bennett – A book recommendation
2nd April 2025: From time to time, we bring to your attention a book that has an unexpected link to Daphne du Maurier. The book we want to tell you about today is A Death in Diamonds by S.J. Bennett (2024). It is the fourth and most recent novel in the series – Her Majesty the Queen Investigates. ... More ››
Women of Cornwall Exhibition, The Parlour, Art Centre Penryn, 28th March - 26th April 2025
30th March 2025: The Women of Cornwall Exhibition presents all 234 sellected women in a glorious display at The Parlour, Art Centre Penryn, Thursday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm, from 28th March - 26th April 2025. Each woman is pictured and has a write-up about her. ... More ››
An overdue copy of Rebecca returned to library after 51 years!
28th March 2025: A fun news item has attracted our attention this week. The story begins in late September 1973 at the library in Enderlin, North Dakota, when someone checked out a copy of Daphne du Maurier’s most famous novel, Rebecca. The date the book needed to be returned was 6th October 1973. Fast forward fifty-one years to 10th March 2025.... More ››
The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America postpone their April 2025 event
27th March 2025: Unfortunately, the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America has to postpone its event, which was due to take place on Saturday 5th April. This was the talk by Leonard Cox, Vice President of the Society, about Male Narrators in Daphne du Maurier’s writing.... More ››
The Birds – A One Woman Show Starring Paula Arundell
26th March 2025: Daphne du Maurier fans living in Melbourne, Australia and the surrounding area are in for an absolute treat because they will be able to see an excellent new production of The Birds performed as a one-woman show.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 – events for those with a particular interest in Daphne du Maurier
23rd March 2025: The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 takes place from 9th – 17th May. There is a fantastic array of talks, walks, workshops, reading groups, films, music events and even a quiz this year, so do look at the programme and start choosing the tickets you want to buy. There will, of course, be a number of events about or relating to Daphne du Maurier, and this article takes a closer look at all the Daphne du Maurier elements of this year's festival.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 9th – 17th May 2025 Programme and Booking Office Now Live Online
19th March 2025: The du Maurier Fowey Festival takes place from 9th – 17th May 2025. The programme is now live on the Fowey Festival website. The box office is open to Friends of the Festival now and will be open to everyone from 9am on Friday, 21st March.... More ››
Daphne du Maurier's books celebrating anniversaries in 2025
15th March 2025: Each year we like to let you know which of Daphne du Maurier's books are celebrating anniversaries. It might remind you of books you have forgotten or overlooked, or you might like to read a book during its anniversary year... More ››
Daphne du Maurier Society of North America April 2025 Event - It's Raining Men... in the novels of Daphne du Maurier!
10th March 2025: The Daphne du Maurier Society of North America's next event takes place on Saturday, 5th April 2025, 1:00pm – 3:00pm. Leonard Cox will explore the male narrators in a number of Daphne du Maurier's novels and one of her short stories.... More ››
How to Become a Friend of the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival
8th March 2025: The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival 2025 takes place from 9th – 17th May. Tickets for the lineup of festival events will be on sale from mid-March. If you would like to become a Friend, you will be able to enjoy a number of benefits at this year’s Festival. There are two choices of membership: ... More ››
Comparing Rebecca with other Gothic Literature
28th February 2025: Many of you will recognise the name Serena Trowbridge in connection with Daphne du Maurier. In recent years, she has become a regular speaker at the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival, and she has encouraged some of her students to contribute their work to the Daphne du Maurier Website.... More ››
The Dark Romance Collection from Daphne du Maurier
26th February 2025: Discover the Dark Romance Collection from Daphne du Maurier. Daphne du Maurier’s Dark Romance Collection from Virago will be available to buy from 13th March.... More ››
10 Great Gothic Thrillers That Will Keep You Up at Night – The New York Times
19th February 2025: M.L. Rio, best-selling author of If We Were Villains and Graveyard Shift, wrote a super article for the New York Times a few days ago, in which she named her top ten gothic thrillers and first on her list is Rebecca. ... More ››
Let's Pretend – The Make-Believe World of Daphne du Maurier
14th February 2025: In the Video and Films section of the Daphne du Maurier website, we have had a series of eight clips from the film Let's Pretend – The Make-Believe World of Daphne du Maurier for some time. But now, we have a link to the full video, thanks to the generosity of Lucy Elliot, a keen follower of both Daphne du Maurier and this website and its social media platforms. ... More ››
Discover the Dark Romance Collection from Daphne du Maurier – Coming March 2025
12th February 2025: Virago has produced stunning new covers for four stone-cold classics. Which cover is your favourite?... More ››
Rebecca on Audio – read by Holliday Grainger
11th February 2025: Last November, we told you that W.F. Howes, RBmedia's UK publishing brand, was going to release 25 works by Daphne du Maurier in audiobook format, many of which have never been released as audiobooks before. Today, we look at Rebecca, narrated by Holiday Grainger.... More ››
Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley ... Starring Sebastian Horsley as Maxim de Winter – A Blog from Stephen Alexander
10th February 2025: As many of you will already know, Stephen Alexander includes pieces about Daphne du Maurier's books on his blog, Torpedo the Ark. We have reposted many of them in our website's Interesting Facts section under the heading, A series of Daphne du Maurier-related blogs from Stephen Alexander. Today, Stephen's piece combines two things, because in his du Maurier-related blog, he has written about Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley, the art exhibition ... More ››
The Birds to be performed at USM Department of Theatre this month
9th February 2025: Students will be taking part in a play of The Birds at the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Theatre, Russell Hall, USM Gorham Campus, from 21st February to 2nd March 2025. ... More ››
Cornwall Heritage Awards 2025 Object of the Year
3rd February 2025: Since 2018, Cornwall Heritage Awards have celebrated Cornwall's 80-plus museums, art galleries etc. One of the ways they do this is with the award for the Object of the Year, which is decided by public vote. This year, the theme for the Object of the Year is Cornwall's Creativity. The object that we have voted for is this beautiful painting of The Jane Slade by Reuben Chappell, submitted by the National Maritime Museum, Falmouth. Daphne du Maurier's first novel, 'The Loving Spirit' was, of course, inspired by the Jane Slade. ... More ››
Alison Jacques presents Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley, curated by Daniel Malarkey.
30th January 2025: Last Night I Dreamt of Manderley, an art exhibition curated by Daniel Malarkey, is currently taking place at Alison Jacques Art Gallery, 22 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG. The exhibition runs from 24th January until 8th March 2025.... More ››
A Family Memoir about Daphne du Maurier written by her Grandson
28th January 2025: Virago has announced that it has acquired the rights to a history of the du Maurier family written by Daphne du Maurier’s grandson. The Du Mauriers: A Family Portrait by Paul de Zulueta, Daphne du Maurier’s oldest grandson, is a fascinating, intimate, revelatory family memoir. Virago will be publishing it in September 2026.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Adult Short Story Competition 2025
27th January 2025: The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival is delighted to announce that, once again, they will be running their Adult Short Story Competition. The chosen title for this year is Making Waves.... More ››
The du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Fundraiser – Bingo Night
26th January 2025: On Wednesday, 19th February, at 7.30pm, the du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival are holding a fundraising Bingo Night at Havener’s, Town Quay, Fowey. Do go along. It’s going to be a lot of fun.... More ››
A Reminder about the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America – February 2025 Film event
27th January 2025: They're lining up to join the Daphne du Maurier Society of North America at the Dallas Angelika Theater to watch the 1963 Hitchcock adaptation of The Birds on the Big Screen. Sunday, 2nd February, 2025, at 1:00 pm. ... More ››
The Dark Side of Peter Pan: J.M. Barrie, the Man Who Couldn't Grow Up by Olivia Camozzi – A Book Recommendation for January
22nd January 2025: Today, we bring you news of a new book called The Dark Side of Peter Pan: J.M. Barrie, The Man Who Couldn't Grow Up, by Olivia Camozzi, published in October 2024. There is an insatiable appetite for books about J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan. So much has been written since the beginning of the 20th century when the play was first performed on the London Stage and a little later when the book Peter and Wendy was published. ... More ››
Daphne du Maurier as a Celebrity Mastermind Specialist Subject
21st January 2025: Did you see Celebrity Mastermind on BBC2 yesterday evening (Monday 20th January 2025)? If not, watch it on the IPlayer because television, radio presenter and actress Kirsten O'Brien was one of the four celebrities taking part, and her specialist subject was the Life of Daphne du Maurier. ... More ››byThomasRowlandson100x133.jpg)
My Cousin Rachel - A Sprig of Holly: Notes on Gibbeting (with Reference to the Case of Tom Jenkyn)
18th January 2025: From time to time, Stephen Alexander writes pieces about Daphne du Maurier's books for his blog Torpedo the Ark. Today, we bring you a piece he wrote in December about My Cousin Rachel. ... More ››
The Shaping of a Writer: Gollancz’s epitextual construction of Daphne du Maurier’s persona by Margherita Orsi
14th January 2025: Margherita Orsi is an Adjunct Professor and Research Fellow at the Department of Interpreting and Translation at the University of Bologna in Italy. She has studied the work of Daphne du Maurier extensively.... More ››
The Du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival Competition for Young Writers and Artists 2025
11th January 2025: The Du Maurier Fowey Literary Festival has announced its competition for Young Writers and Artists 2025. The competition has four categories: fictional writing, factual writing, poetry, and art. This year, the theme is Making Waves.... More ››
Daphne du Meltier Cornwall Council's gritting lorry for the Fowey area
8th January 2025: With all the fun and excitement of Christmas and the New Year behind us, lots of people poorly with winter bugs and the weather pretty grim in many places across the UK, and further afield, we think what you need is a bit of news to make you smile. ... More ››