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Archive for September, 2024

Call for papers for conference on Woolf and Dissidence

Posted in 34th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, dissidence, tagged , on Sunday 29 September 2024| Leave a Comment »

Note: The deadline for proposals has been extended to Dec. 13, 2024.

The call for papers for the 34th Annual International Virginia Woolf Conference 2025: ‘Woolf and Dissidence’, to be held at King’s College, London: July 4, 2025, and the University of Sussex: July 5-8, 2025 is out.

July 4 pre-conference events at King’s College include a visit to the King’s Archives and a panel discussion on ‘Virginia Woolf: Creative Engagements’ with contemporary writers and artists speaking about their multi-media engagements with Woolf’s writing. The conference itself runs July 5-8 and will be held at the University of Sussex.
Co-organisers are Helen Tyson (Sussex), Clara Jones (King’s) and Anna Snaith (King’s).
We are delighted to bring the Annual Virginia Woolf Conference back to the UK and to two sites – King’s College London and the University of Sussex – with such strong Woolfian connections. – Helen, Clara and Anna

Overview

Virginia Woolf practised a politics of dissent. From her pacifism, deeply held through two World Wars, to her feminism, Woolf continually wrote back to power. She urged transgression and trespass and ‘thinking against the current’, as she wrote in ‘Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid‘).

Dissent takes many forms in her oeuvre from the overt politics of her major essays to her novelistic defamiliarizing of patriarchal, capitalist, imperialist society. Narratologically, too, her writing swerves and undercuts: its experimentation a form of dissident aesthetics.

The organisers of the 34th Annual Virginia Woolf Conference invite paper, panel, workshop and exhibitions proposals that engage with the theme of ‘Woolf and Dissidence’. They seek to foster conversations about the nature and contexts of Woolf’s

Monk’s House sitting room

dissidence or that of her predecessors, contemporaries and inheritors. What are the limitations of her politics? In what ways did she conform?

In the centenary year of the publication of Mrs Dalloway it is fitting that the 34th Annual Virginia Woolf Conference returns to the UK and to two locations with strong Woolfian connections: King’s College London, where Woolf studied as a teenager, and to Sussex, home to Monk’s House and Charleston.

The conference theme also honours the history of the Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence, founded by Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore, at the University of Sussex. The Centre’s pioneering work in sexuality and queer studies provides a fitting context for the Woolf conference.

Possible topics

Possible topics could include exploration of Woolf, her contemporaries and the following:

  • political, sexual, gender dissidence: then and now
  • outsiderness and exile
  • the politics of refusal
  • pacifism
  • dissident ecologies and the more-than-human world
  • the rhetoric of dissent
  • organisational, institutional or networks of dissent
  • aesthetic or artistic dissent
  • religious dissent
  • radical, activist or mainstream publishing
  • revolution and activism (in relation to race, gender, sexuality, ecology)
  • convention, orthodoxy or conformity (political, social, literary, aesthetic)
  • dissident readings of Woolf

This list is only a starting point, and organizers encourage all ideas and approaches including transdisciplinary, transhistorical and collaborative work.

Who can submit and possible formats

Organizers welcome submissions from academics, readers, students of Woolf and for:

  • individual papers (1500-characters abstract)
  • panels or roundtables (3000-characters abstract)
  • interactive workshops (3000-characters abstract)
  • exhibits or posters (including digital and material) (3000-characters abstract)
  • a non-traditional (dissident?) form of presentation (3000-characters abstract)

How to apply

Please apply via the submission form on the conference website at:.
https://woolf2025uk/cfp/ Deadline: 29 November 2024.

Questions?

Please direct queries to: virginiawoolf2025@gmail.com

Stairway in the Virginia Woolf Building at King’s College, London. In 2017, a Virginia Woolf exhibit was at the top of the stairs, complete with a life-sized wax statue of Woolf. Read more.

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New pop song features Sally from Mrs. Dalloway

Posted in Mrs. Dalloway, music, tagged , , , on Thursday 26 September 2024| Leave a Comment »

The London-based group the Oslo Twins have a new single titled “Sally” that is based on Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway (1925).

The 3-minute song, produced by band members Claudia Vulliamy and Eric Davies, has been described as “pulsating.” Named the “Record of the Day” on Sept. 2, it was also described as “a gorgeous affair, touched with yearning and melancholia.”

Set during Clarissa Dalloway’s party, the song features Sally, Clarissa’s longtime friend, as they are reunited at her London party on a fine day in June.

Here’s how Vulliamy explains the creative process:

“It wasn’t easy fitting the words ‘Mrs Dalloway’ into the rhythm of a pop song….Sometimes when you’re drinking with people you’ve known for years, you get struck by an overwhelming awareness of the passage of time. Parties can feel like this, which is why I connected the lyrics to Mrs Dalloway, the titular character in Virginia Woolf’s novel.

“The central character organises a party full of people from her past and becomes wistful. Sally is the name of a character in the novel, an old friend – or old flame – of the protagonist, who reflects on when they were teenage girls with big ambitions.”

The Oslo Twins will perform “Sally” when they appear at The Waiting Room in London on Nov. 22.

Oh, Sally, you have read my mind. Some things we never have to say. – lyrics from “Sally” by the Oslo Twins

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A tea celebrating Virginia & Leonard’s 1st unchaperoned date

Posted in events, Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf, tagged , , , on Saturday 14 September 2024| Leave a Comment »

On Sept. 17, 1911, Virginia Stephen and Leonard Woolf enjoyed their first unchaperoned date together. On that occasion, they walked from Firle to Alfriston for tea.

A few days earlier, on Tuesday, Sept. 14, Virginia sent Leonard a postcard in advance of his visit. It read:

A fly will be at Lewes for the 11.6 on Saturday. Desmond MacCarthy and Marjorie Strachey are coming by some train, I think. Please bring no clothes.

This year, you can travel to Alfriston to celebrate the anniversary of the Woolfs’ first unchaperoned date with a special “Leonard and Virginia Tea and Chat” at Much Ado Books.

The Alfriston bookshop, which was named one of the seven best browsable bookshops in the UK, is marking the occasion with a relaxed, low-key tea-time gathering at 3 p.m. on Tuesday,  Sept. 17, at The Star Inn.

You’ll be able to order from The Star’ s afternoon menu, which offers tea, scones, and finger sandwiches, as well as cocktails and bubbly.

The afternoon will include a discussion of the life and works of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, whose work changed the course of literature and politics.

Tea drinkers will be free to share their thoughts about the pair and their lives — from Leonard’s gardening to Virginia’s printing to his political writing to her novels.

Alfriston is a lovely village set in the foot of the East Sussex Downs. It is on the banks of the Cuckmere River and the sea, and the magnificent Seven Sisters chalk cliffs are within walking distance.

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New Gordon Square Society offers events in Belgium

Posted in Bloomsbury, events, tagged , , , on Monday 2 September 2024| 1 Comment »

​There was nothing one could not say, nothing one could not do, at 46 Gordon Square – “Old Bloomsbury,” Virginia Woolf, 1921).

Founded this year in Antwerp, the Gordon Square Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and propagating the free thinking of the Bloomsbury Group and Virginia Woolf through lectures, exhibitions, concerts, performances, debates and more.

Founders include Isabel Miquel Arques, Yasmine Geukens,  Marie-Paule De Vil, Ben Majchrowicz, and Eric Rinckhout.

Take a look at the group’s upcoming events, as well as membership opportunities. And for more information, visit https://www.gordonsquaresociety.net/.

Gordon Square Society Events

Sept. 28: A pre-festival ‘Fundraising Evening’ at a unique location in Antwerp with treats for body and mind, Bloomsbury cocktails and food, and music performances. Meet society members in person during its exclusive introductory evening in the beautiful setting of Casa Lozana. The society will provide treats for body and mind, with Bloomsbury cocktails and food, and a performance by internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Natascha Petrinsky. Petrinsky has performed opera roles at Europe’s greatest opera houses, such as La Monnaie in Brussels, La Fenice in Venice, La Scala in Milan and Covent Garden in London. Participation is €100. RSVP by email to info@gordonsquaresociety.net before 15 September.

Nov. 22, 23 and 24: The group’s first ‘Virginia Woolf & Bloomsbury Festival’ will take place, in several beautiful locations in Antwerp, with inspiring speakers, artistic performances and engaging debates.

46 Gordon Square, London, the early Victorian home that Virginia (Stephen) Woolf shared with her siblings, Vanessa, Thoby, and Adrian from 1905-1907.

Dec. 7: Post-festival, everyone is invited for a ‘High Tea Candlelight Reading with Virginia Woolf’, 7 December, with tea and cakes and readings from Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’.

Become a Member

Membership helps the group plan and hold events, where leading international speakers and performers are invited to speak and perform. There are three membership categories: Member, Young Member or Gordon Patron. Membership options begin at €20 per year, and each offers unique features.

You can find membership information at: www.gordonsquaresociety.net. Or send an email with the membership option of your choice to:  info@gordonsquaresociety.net.

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