Celebrate Author Mary Shelley’s 221st Birthday with Gumberg Library

Join Gumberg Library for cake and an eerie theremin music performance to celebrate the 221st birthday of writer Mary Shelley—author of the iconic novel Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley

Free and open to the public, the Mary Shelley Birthday Party will be held tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 30, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Popular Reading Room on the 4th floor.

Bill Purse, chair of contemporary music media and jazz in the Mary Pappert School of Music, will play the theremin—an electronic musical instrument featured in soundtracks of numerous horror and science fiction movies.

The birthday party is being held in conjunction with Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature, a traveling exhibit on display at Gumberg Library through Saturday, Oct. 6. The free exhibit explores the birth of Frankenstein, Shelley‘s life, the scientific search for the principle of life and the transformation of the “monster” in popular culture.