Dr John Granger and Nick Jeffery continue with their Lake and Shed readings into the fourth generation of Rowling scholarship. Join us for our celebration of Mrs Murray’s 60th birthday, and her Kanreki, 還暦, or calendar re-birth.

In this first overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John go back and fourth with four Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Bad Dad, Writing about Writing, Violence against Women, and the Evils of Fleet Street. John responds with three or more ’for instances’ of Mother Love, Ghosts, Pregnancy Traps, and the Lost Child with Grieving Steward. Enjoy!

• A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (A)

In this second overview of the Golden Threads, Nick and John talk about Kanreki red caps and tackle three Threads each. Nick gives at least three examples for Evil Government, Occult tropes, and the Embedded Author. John responds with three or more ’for instances’ of the Search for the Real, Embedded Texts, and Shadow Doppelgangers. Enjoy!

• A Lake and Shed Look at the Golden Threads in the Work of J. K. Rowling (B)

John travels to his backyard Mongolian ger, the archetypal circular architectural form, to deliver a firehose introduction to the four essentials of ring writing. He uses slides to depict the structure of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as his brief ‘for instance’ of how Rowling chooses to organize her stories and he provides a list of links (below!) for further reading. Enjoy!

• A Lake and Yurt-Shed Conversation about Rowling’s Ring Writing