David Bradshaw, professor of English literature at Worcester College at Oxford University and a plenary speaker at the 26th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf held June 16-19 at Leeds Trinity University, died Sept. 13. He had been ill with cancer.
David Bradshaw giving his plenary talk at this year’s Virginia Woolf conference at Leeds Trinity University.
At the conference, Mr. Bradshaw gave a talk titled “‘The Very Centre of the Very Centre’: Herbert Fisher, Oxbridge and ‘That Great Patriarchal Machine’.” In his talk, he quoted Woolf as saying that her contact with Fisher “brought back my parents more than anyone else I knew.”
Vara Neverow, editor of the Virginia Woolf Miscellany, invites those who knew Mr. Bradshaw to share their memories of him for that publication. “The publication of such recollections would be much valued by others, whether they knew David himself or knew only his scholarship,” she wrote in a message to the VWoolf Listserv.
Tributes to Mr. Bradshaw, who has been called “one of the great recent scholars of modernism,” prevailed on the list after news of his death was announced. Here are just a few:
I miss him already – Bonnie Scott
Just joining in the chorus of sorry over this sad news. I had heard he was ill but, I regret to say that I cherished the luxury of denial. I’m just so very very sad. He was such a funny, warm, silly, vital, brilliant, generous person. It was always a joy to see him and I learned so much from him. To this day, whenever I give a paper I remember his admonishment to himself once–“don’t get distracted, David,”–which he uttered aloud to great effect years ago. Sharing his digressive streak, I loved that so much. And, of course, almost every note of his Dalloway appears, with credit, in my edition. I owe him so much. What a terrible loss. – Anne Fernald
His plenary at Leeds was special. I have often and continue to teach from his considerable body of work. This is a terribly sad loss. My heart goes out to his family and many friends. – Jean Mills
Such an unbelievably sad loss. A superb scholar and wonderfully witty and generous man. – Maggie Humm
His colleagues in the Complete Works of Evelyn Waugh project also posted their tributes on the Waugh and Words blog on the University of Leicester website.
Mr. Bradshaw specialized in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature and had written many articles on literature, politics and ideas in the period 1880-1945, especially in relation to the work of Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Aldous Huxley and W. B. Yeats, according to the Worcester College website.
His current projects included an edition of Woolf’s Jacob’s Room (CUP) with Stuart N. Clarke and a monograph “in train” that he said “will examine the ways in which Woolf, Waugh and Huxley challenged the culture of their time through their provocative engagement with the obscene.”
His books related to Woolf include:
- (Ed.) Virginia Woolf, The Waves, `Oxford’s World’s Classics’ series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015).
- (Ed., with Stuart N. Clarke) Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own, Shakespeare Head Press Edition of Virginia Woolf (Chichester and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015).
- (Ed., with Ian Blyth) Virginia Woolf, The Years, Shakespeare Head Press Edition of Virginia Woolf (Chichester and Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012).
- (Ed.) Virginia Woolf, Selected Essays, `Oxford’s World’s Classics’ series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008).
- (Ed.) The Cambridge Companion to E. M. Forster (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007). I also contributed the chapter on `Howards End’ (see below).
- (Ed.) Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse, `Oxford’s World’s Classics’ series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
- (Ed.) Virginia Woolf, Carlyle’s House and Other Sketches (London: Hesperus, 2003). Incorporated into the 2nd, rev. ed. ofA Passionate Apprentice: The Early Journals of Virginia Woolf, ed. Mitchell A. Leaska (London: Pimlico, 2004).
- Winking, Buzzing, Carpet-Beating: Reading `Jacob’s Room’, 4th Annual Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain Birthday Lecture (Southport: Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, 2003).
- (Ed.) Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, `Oxford’s World’s Classics’ series (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
His articles related to Woolf include:
- ‘Virginia Woolf and London’, ‘“Discovering Literature” Online Digital Learning Resource’, British Library. Posted 25 May 2016, 2000 words. https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/virginia-woolfs-london
- ‘Mrs Dalloway and the First World War’, ‘“Discovering Literature” Online Digital Learning Resource’, British Library. Posted 25 May 2016, 2500 words. https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/mrs-dalloway-and-the-first-world-war
David Bradshaw (center front) with colleagues at the 26th Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, held June 16-19 at Leeds Trinity University
