In the company of wolves presents further research from the Open Graves, Open Minds Project. It connects together innovative research from a variety of perspectives on the cultural significance of wolves, wild children and werewolves as portrayed in different media and genres.

We begin with the wolf itself as it has been interpreted as a cultural symbol and how it figures in contemporary debates about wilderness and nature. Alongside this, we consider eighteenth-century debates about wild children ­– often thought to have been raised by wolves and other animals – and their role in key questions about the origins of language and society. The collection continues with essays on werewolves and other shapeshifters as depicted in folk tales, literature, film and TV, concluding with the transition from animal to human in contemporary art, poetry and fashion.

‘We have had so much of zombies and vampires in the past three decades that […] the time has come for wolves.’ Seth Lerer, Times Literary Supplement

‘A cornerstone in studies around the contemporary cultural signification of feral children, wolves, werewolves, and other shapeshifters.’ Antonio Alcala Gonzalez, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

Sam George is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Hertfordshire

Bill Hughes is Co-convenor of the Open Graves, Open Minds Project