Virginia Woolf was an expert at making New Year’s resolutions. Alice Lowe reported on her resolutions of 1931 and 1936 in a post on Dec. 27, 2010. Since then, one particular resolution has been popular on Twitter and Facebook. Here it is from the Charleston Trust. Her resolution stands up well 90 years later.
Virginia Woolf’s New Year’s resolutions❤️
January 2, 1931:
Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year.
To have none. Not to be tied.
To be free & kindly with myself, not goading it to parties: to sit rather privately reading in the studio. pic.twitter.com/ljcfE8RlFa
When: April 1-2, 2022 Where: University of Brighton, with hybrid delivery What: Outside/rs 2022 isa conference that platforms those researching and working with themes of sex, gender, queerness, community and exclusions. Who: If you are a postgraduate researcher, early career researcher, or live, work or create in a marginalised community, then please join the conference in April, either online or in-person at the University of Brighton. Register Call for Papers/Participants: Due Jan. 9, 2022
Conference Theme
For those who exist in queer, marginal, or dissident relations to normativity in its various guises, the ‘outside’ is a familiar place. As Virginia Woolf famously noted, to be locked out of or barred from spaces of privilege was, and still is, a common experience for women. This is also a common experience for queer, trans or LGBTQIA+ people, as well as BIPOC communities, disabled and neurodiverse people, working class and colonised populations, and many others.
Keynotes
Dr. S.N. Nyeck, author of African(a) Queer Presence and the Routledge Handbook of African Queer Studies, virtual keynote
Ulrika Dahl, author of Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities, in-person keynote.
Queer Bloomsbury Panel
The conference will include a panel on Queer Bloomsbury. This will be an online panel on Friday, April 1, and will comprise three presentations (20 minutes each) followed by a half hour discussion/Q&A. The panel will include Madelyn Detloff (Miami University), Jane Goldman (University of Glasgow) and Samson Dittrich (University of Sussex) and will be chaired by Marielle O’Neill (Leeds Trinity University).
Submit an abstract
Conference organizers encourage postgraduate, early-career researchers, and community members to submit a paper on a topic of their choice relevant to one issue, or more than one, to look at, for example, the intersections of class, race and queerness. Read more about submission guidelines in the Call for Papers.
Please send abstracts of 300 words to outsiders2022@gmail.com. Abstracts will be reviewed anonymously, so include all personal information (e.g., name), in the body of the submission email only. Please also include whether you are submitting for the virtual or in-person conference, and your preference for which day. The deadline for the submission of abstracts and panel proposals is Jan. 9, 2022.
Get more information
For all enquiries and to join the mailing list, please email: outsiders2022@gmail.com
Let’s pretend Virginia Woolf is sending us all a Christmas card. And what could be more appropriate than this card by renowned collage artist Amanda White?
It features Woolf at home at a snow-covered Monk’s House in Lewes.
If a Virginia Woolf fan is on your Christmas list, here are a few gift suggestions — from a pricey purse to a Woolf society membership — that might bring pleasure. Even if that fan is you.
To the Lighthouse in a stamp print
To the Lighthouse is featured in the stamp in the top row, far right.
Stamp Book: Modern Classics, is a print that turns 42 modern classic books into an oversized sheet of collectable postage stamps, including one for Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.
Each stamp features a graphic inspired by the book and the date of publication in book form. The four-color prints measure 80cm x 60cm and are litho printed with an additional silver foil.
From Dorothy, it is available to purchase for £35 each from wearedorothy.com
The Waves Strapped will strap you
For the tonier among us, there is The Waves Strapped pocketbook at a price of 1.180,00 € from Olympia LeTan.
Constructed of cotton, wool, and silk, this book-shaped bag hinges open, closes with a brass clasp, is lined in a floral print, and includes a shoulder strap. It is a limited, numbered edition and can also be personalized.
Orlando-inspired Fendi fashions
Also out of our price range, but fun to look at anyhow, are designer Kim Jones’s first collection inspired by the Bloomsbury Group, specifically Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. Created for the luxury fashion house Fendi, the spring 2021 fashions are priced comparably to luxury cars.
Available from Liberty, the $73 price includes all materials, plus shipping. Mine arrived in the four to five days noted on the website.
Once completed, the tapestry can be framed or stitched into a pillow. It is part of a collection that pays tribute to the luminaries of British and Irish literature.
I haven’t started mine yet, but the kit looks pretty cool displayed in its classy black box on my bookshelf.
Second, there’s the Re-marks Bestsellers Panoramic 1000 Piece Puzzle, which includes covers of many best-selling books, including two of Woolf’s — Orlando and Mrs. Dalloway. It measures 17″ x 9″ and the cost is $28.99.
Third is a 1,000-piece eeBoo puzzle titled “Jane Austen’s Book Club.” Woolf, along with Austen, Mary Shelley, George Eliot, and Zora Neale Huston, are pictured sipping tea, alongside some of their famous titles. It’s 11″ x 11″ and is $23.99.
Gift a society membership to yourself or a friend
International Virginia Woolf Society logo
The most practical and appreciated gift of all may be a membership to one of the Virginia Woolf societies.
Besides developing friendships with other Woolf scholars and common readers, memberships may include subscriptions to publications, access to Zoom events, invitations to in-person events, and other perks.
It’s nearly time for Woolf Salon No. 15: “Time Passes” (A Reading). This time, Salon Conspirators have planned a full read-through of the hauntingly poetic middle section of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse (1927), followed by an open discussion.
Details
Hosts: Salon Conspirators Day: Friday, Dec. 10 Time: 3 p.m.–5 p.m. ET / Noon –2 p.m PT / 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. Brasilia / 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. BST / 9 p.m. – 11 p.m. CEST How to join: Anyone can join the group, which meets on one Friday of each month via Zoom and focuses on a single topic or text. Just contact woolfsalonproject@gmail.com to sign up for the email list and receive the Zoom link.
Background on the Salon
The Salon Conspirators — Hagen, Shilo McGiff, Amy Smith, and Drew Shannon — began the Woolf Salon Project in July 2020 to provide opportunities for conversation and conviviality among Woolf-interested scholars, students, and common readers during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
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