Let’s Talk About Romantasy: Ella Risbridger
Escapism or a reflection of the real world? This panel discussion explores the spell of the ‘romantasy’ boom and the genre’s reimagining of desire, danger and destiny.
Maybe it’s our exhaustion with the real world, or maybe we’re just craving something stranger, sexier and a little more magical. Either way, ‘romantasy’ is capturing our imaginations like never
before.
An enchanting blend of romance and fantasy, the genre is packed with stories of political power, revolutionary heroines and scandalous love-triangles, all set against the backdrop of rich magical worlds.
But why is their popularity soaring now? Are these stories pure escapism from the real world, or can they teach us about our own world, and the very real beasts that we are fighting?
Ella Risbridger is a writer whose work spans memoir, cookbooks, children’s fiction, poetry and essays. Her latest book, In Love with Love is a wide-ranging and personal exploration of romantic storytelling, from fairytales and classic novels to fanfiction and fantasy romance.
Saara El-Arifi is a No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Final Strife trilogy, the Faebound trilogy and the forthcoming Cleopatra. After a decade of working in marketing and communications, she returned to academia to complete a master’s degree in African studies specialising in Cleopatra’s myth and her impact on Black women.
Sarah Maria Griffin is the author of the novels Eat the Ones You Love, Spare & Found Parts and Other Words For Smoke, which won an Irish Book Award in 2019. She writes about video games for The Guardian, and her non-fiction has appeared in The Irish Times among other places.
Katherine Webber is a bestselling author of children’s and young adult books. Since 2017, she has published over 20 books and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Her recent YA novels include the internationally bestselling Twin Crowns trilogy, co-written with Catherine Doyle, and the standalone romantasy Captain of Fates.
Need to know
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For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.