THE great grandnephew of Dracula author Bram Stoker will celebrate the writer’s 170th birthday at Barry library.

Dacre C. Stoker, of Montreal, Canada, will visit Art Central Gallery on Wednesday, November 8 to celebrate the end of the 10th anniversary year of Barry County Library and Art Central.

He will take the audience on a compelling and enjoyable journey with a multi-media performance that weaves together the details of Dracula's history with Stoker family lore.

'Stoker on Stoker, the Mysteries Behind the Writing of Dracula', tells the story of Bram Stoker’s life and separates fact from popular fiction, revealing the truth about all things Stoker and Dracula.

Stoker on Stoker explores the issues behind the mysteries that have baffled Dracula scholars and fans since the book’s publication in 1897.

Bram Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 in Clontarf, in Dublin. He was educated at Trinity College from 1864 to 1870 and his love of theatre led him to become an unpaid drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, which was co-owned by the gothic writer Sheridan Le Fanu.

He married Florence Balcombe, former girlfriend of Oscar Wilde, in St. Ann’s Church in Dawson Street in 1878, but his novel-writing career began after he moved to London, with Dracula being first published in 1897.

The global importance of Stoker’s novel is just one of the many reasons Dublin is internationally recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature.

Dacre is the best-selling co-author of 'Dracula the Un-Dead' (the official Stoker family endorsed sequel to Dracula) and the co-editor (with Elizabeth Miller) of 'The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years'.

Stoker currently hosts tours to Transylvania to explore both the life and times of the historic Vlad Dracula III and also the locations where Bram Stoker set his famous novel.

Dacre Stoker has consulted and appeared in film documentaries about vampires in literature and popular culture.

Doors open at 6.30pm and the talk, Stoker on Stoker, will begin at 7pm on Wednesday, November 8.

To book a place, email artinthevale@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk.