D.H. Lawrence and the Gypsies, with John Pateman

About this event

D.H. Lawrence had a lifelong fascination and affinity with people who lived outside the bounds of ‘civilised society’. He shared their sense of not belonging to the mainstream and being an outsider. He had no time for personal possessions and longed to live the itinerant life on the open road with a horse and covered wagon for a home. He first came into contact with Gypsies – the term commonly used at the time for Romany people – when they passed through his home town of Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. They appear in many of his works, most famously The Virgin and The Gypsy, a novella set in the Derbyshire of Lawrence’s youth. His descriptions of Gypsies reveal his intimate knowledge of their lifestyle and culture, while reproducing popular stereotypes that range from the lustful Carmen, to the Devil incarnate. This book also explores how Lawrence’s representation of Gypsies as ‘the other’ formed part of his wider analysis of race, class and domestic purity in English society in the early twentieth century.

John Pateman is a “Gypsy, Librarian, Communist” and the author of a number of books about his Romany family including Seven Steps to Glory, Hoo, Hops and Hods, Tugmutton Common, and Dippers Slip. He is a Council member of the D.H. Lawrence Society and the author of Willie Hopkin: D.H. Lawrence’s Socialist Friend, published by Five Leaves as part of a series of books exploring aspects of Lawrence’s life and work.

Refreshments included

Free, no need to book.

This event includes free entry to the DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum

Part of the 2026 DH Lawrence Festival