Who is afraid of Enid Blyton?

A teatime with a radio play

Enid Blyton is one of the most widely read authors in the world and has produced around 700 books. To this day, her children's and young adult books continue to enjoy unbroken popularity. Her stories may still be exciting, but today's readers are struck by the schematic characters. Often the author draws them according to long-established prejudices and rigid norms. Children from low-income households are stupid and dirty, girls are weaker than boys, and the criminals are recognisable at first glance because they are not white. Yet even with this view, Blyton's world of easy classifications and easy-to-solve cases draws us in in a strange way.
Burg Hülshoff - Center for Literature (CfL) invites six contemporary authors to present their favourite Blyton book in short texts and to reflect on what is so fascinating about this writing to this day - and what is off-putting.
Visitors will not hear these texts just anywhere. In the tea house at Hülshoff Castle they are served alongside British cucumber sandwiches, scones and Earl Grey. In radio play form.

With texts by
Randy Boyagoda,
Mithu Sanyal,
Nicole Seifert,
Stefanie de Velasco,
Gabrielle Wang,
Nadia Wassef

Production and sound design:
Rasmus Nordholt-Frieling

Video:
Philipp Wachowitz