References

• Revolting and Ridiculous: A Roald Dahl Retrospective ‘Never grow up … always down.’ This excellent advice appears in George’s Marvellous Medicine, but it might have been Roald Dahl’s personal motto. Has any other children’s author known how to grow down as well as Dahl? Dahl never condescended to his readers, but indulged their obsessions (lollies, fart jokes, nonsense neologisms) and fed their appetite for tales of the macabre and grotesque. From Revolting Rhymes to The Twits to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Matilda and many more, Dahl’s writing crackled with exuberance, imagination and irrepressible puerility. His books have been published in 59 languages with more than 200 million book sales worldwide. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s birth – so the Wheeler Centre will get revolting and ridiculous on stage with guests including Andy Griffiths, Jess McGuire, Kate McLennan, Tim Rogers, Anna Burke and more. They’ll wax nostalgic, perform extracts from Dahl’s vast body of work, delve into the recurring themes of his stories and discuss the life of this incomparable, sometimes controversial, author. Join us for a celebration of snozzcumbers, swishfigglers and whoopsy-splunkers. (For health and safety reasons, all audience whizzpopping must take place outside the venue.) #Dahl100 Note: While this event is aimed at grown-ups, children are welcome! (Event image: photograph by Michael Dyer, with illustrations by Quentin Blake.)