Jan Morris & Venice: "The Dream of It"

with
Sara Wheeler
Writer & biographer

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Doors open at 6.30pm, lecture starts 7.15pm

The Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
(visitor entrance is on Exhibition Road, nearest tube station South Kensington)

Tickets: £35
(to include a glass of prosecco before the lecture)

Book your place online - see Dates & Prices below

All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Venice in Peril

Sara Wheeler’s authorised biography of Jan Morris will be published by Faber in April 2026. Jan Morris’s dazzling Venice topped bestseller lists around the world when it burst onto a staid literary scene in 1960 and to this day is one of the best-loved accounts of the city. Herself a prizewinning travel writer, Sara Wheeler shines a light specifically on Morris and the city that enthralled her. Some of her new material is surprising - even shocking: but it reveals that Venice was never far from Morris’s imagination. Everything, she said, flowed from ‘the dream of it’. But in this talk, based on material never previously made public, Sara Wheeler reveals that the relationship between the celebrated travel writer and Venice extended far beyond that one volume.

Morris had pulled into a desolate Serenissima on a troop train in 1946, a gauche, nineteen-year-old Cavalry lieutenant who had to be pushed into a smoky Harry’s Bar (it had swing doors then). Seven decades later, on the last of myriad glorious trips, the patron of Harry’s crowned his doughty customer as one of the Immortals. Venice had changed, of course. But so had Morris.

Kirker is delighted to be sponsoring this annual lecture, now in its Twentieth year. All proceeds from this event will directly support the work of the Venice in Peril Fund.

The Venice in Peril Fund

Venice in Peril Fund CIO is a leading non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving the art and culture of Venice, both now and for future generations. For more than fifty years, our mission has been to contribute to the protection and conservation of Venice, working collaboratively to safeguard the rich heritage of the city.

You can become involved in this continuing work by joining our Membership Programme, by donating to individual projects or subscribing to our e-news at Veniceinperil.org

Venice in Peril Fund CIO No. 1186770