In this Birthday Lecture, the chairman and academic director of the Thomas Hardy Society, Mark Damon Chutter, will examine how comedy and comic timing shape Hardy's prose and poetry.

From the rustic chorus of characters like Joseph Poorgrass in Far from the Madding Crowd and Susan Nunsuch in The Return of the Native, to the sharp satire and irony of poems like The Ruined Maid, Hardy's humour is never far from tragedy. Through wit and irony, his comedy deepens the pathos, paving the way toward the inevitable fates of his characters.

Mark Damon Chutter is the Chairman and Academic Director of the Thomas Hardy Society. He has published papers in the Thomas Hardy Journal and for the Times Educational Supplement (TES). He has been teaching for over 30 years as a Drama and English specialist and was shortlisted for the TES's 'Most Innovative Teacher of the Year' and 'Teacher of the Year' awards.

Mark's interest and scholarship in Hardy started when he was a teenager as his Grandmother lived in Fordington Old Vicarage – the former residence of the Moule family.

This event is supported by and in partnership with the Thomas Hardy Society.