Beatrix Potter's 'myriads of fairy fungi' with Dr Bradshaw

Name: Beatrix Potter's 'myriads of fairy fungi' with Dr Bradshaw
Start: 2026-05-22T14:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-05-22T14:00:00+01:00
Location: The Armitt

About

In this talk, Dr Penny Bradshaw will explore Beatrix Potter's fascination with fungi, reflecting on what attracted her to this field of study and at how her engagement with fungi reveals the extent to which imaginative and scientific approaches were closely intertwined in her writing and thinking from an early stage. Penny will reflect on how Potter's mycological studies help to develop her environmental perspectives and understanding of the complex entanglements which exist within the ecosystems we inhabit. Penny will discuss some of the less well known stories and artwork by Beatrix Potter which feature fungi and will also show that mycological interests remained with her to the end of her life.
Beatrix Potter bequeathed her entire collection of mycological drawings to The Armitt, amounting to over three hundred items, and some examples from this unique archive will be available for you to look at after the talk.

About the speaker

Dr Penny Bradshaw is an Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Cumbria and programme Leader for the University’s MA Literature, Romanticism, and the English Lake District, which includes a module on children's literature. Penny specialises in and publishes on regional literary contexts, and her latest publication is An A-Z of Beatrix Potter (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026). Penny has also co-curated a book tie-in exhibition which is running at The Armitt throughout 2026.