Roald Dahl
Censors and sensitivity
The drive for inclusivity in children’s publishing
The rewriting of Roald Dahl is an act of cultural vandalism
The vandals have come for Roald Dahl. His books for children are to be cleansed of their ‘offensive’ content. Sensitivity…
Before Quentin Blake, there was Nancy Ekholm Burkert – Dahl’s forgotten illustrator
Bunnies were out. Beatrix Potter had the monopoly on rabbits, kittens, ducks and Mrs Tittlemouses. ‘I knew I had to…
Are the cultural Marxists in retreat, or lying low?
In his Memoirs, Kingsley Amis includes a story about meeting Roald Dahl at a party in the 1970s. Dahl advises…
Stage fright
The smash hit Matilda, based on a Roald Dahl story, has spawned a copycat effort, The Twits. Charm, sweetness and…
Tale of the expected
As a New Year’s Day treat for all the family, Esio Trot (BBC1) seemed to be taking no chances. It…
Garlands of repose
It is a truism that writers of all kinds often find inspiration and solace in their gardens, as well as…
Bloomsbury bores
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) claimed that nothing has really happened until it has been recorded, so this new exhibition at the…
His dark materials
Alex Jennings, the new Willy Wonka, tells Lloyd Evans why Dahl’s ‘misanthropic world’ is fascinating to inhabit
Jimmy and the chocolate factory
One Aldwych, an Edwardian grand hotel near Waterloo Bridge, is serving a Jimmy Savile tribute tea. It is not explicitly…
