Time’s list of “The 25 Most Powerful Women of the 20th Century” includes Margaret Sanger, Hillary Clinton, Mother Theresa, Madonna – – and Virginia Woolf.
The Time editor who chose Woolf for the list calls her “one of the most famous, well regarded novelists of the 20th century.” She also describes her as an astounding and prolific, sharp and witty literary critic.
In the video, she mentions several Woolf novels, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves and Between the Acts. Woolf’s novels, she says, are “hard to read but extremely rewarding.” And Woolf herself is someone she wishes she could have dinner with.
If I lived across the pond, I know where I would be this winter — at Charleston
Charleston Farmhouse
Farmhouse for its short courses and masterclasses on Virginia Woolf.
The Virginia Woolf Masterclass will be held Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28, 2011, from 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The event promises its 12 guests that they will “learn more about the world and writing of Virginia Woolf in the inspiring setting of the Charleston kitchen.”
Discussion will center around Woolf’s most experimental, pathbreaking novels, Jacob’s Room, Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. Participants will also visit Sussex University’s Special Collection archive to view examples of her correspondence with friends. The Monk’s House Papers and the Leonard Woolf Papers are part of the collection.
Jean Moorcroft Wilson and Cecil Woolf are featured in an article about World War I poet Edward Thomas posted today on the Islington Tribune website.
Wilson, who is writing a biography of Thomas, spoke about him at an event at the Imperial War Museum on the eve of Remembrance Day. She is the author of biographies of World War I poets Isaac Rosenberg (2005) and Siegfried Sassoon (2009).
Churchill biographer Martin Wilson also spoke at the event, describing the conditions on the Western Front during the Great War.
Wilson serves as editor for many monographs in the Bloomsbury Heritage Series and the War Poets Series published by her husband, Cecil Woolf of Cecil Woolf Publishers, which is based in London.
Essays should be written on the topic ‘Why is reading Virginia Woolf still so crucial today?’ Entrants should choose their own title for their essays, which should be between 2,000 and 2,500 words in length.
The competition is open to members and non-members. Members of the executive council and editorial committee of the society, the judges, and the families of both are not eligible to enter. Entries should be mailed to Ruth Webb, 15 Southcote Road, London SE25 4RG. They must arrive by 10 January 2011.
The winner will receive a cheque for £250, presented at the society’s annual general meeting in central London on April 2, 2011, and the winning essay will be published in the Virginia Woolf Bulletin. If the winner is unable to attend the April 2011 general meeting, the prize will be sent by secure mail.
The volume also includes all of the keynote speeches, along with a transcript of the panel “Inspired by Woolf” that featured Katherine Lanpher, Dr. Ruth Gruber, Susan Sellers and Kris Lundberg. Megan Branch, who also writes for Blogging Woolf, crafted the introduction for the piece and prepared the transcript.
Contributors include Molly Hite, Mark Hussey, Tamar Katz, Eleanor McNees, Kathryn Simpson and Rishona Zimring.
In the interests of full disclosure, my essay, “Woolf in the Cyber City: Connecting in the Virtual Public Square,” is included in the volume.
