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Archive for the ‘Leonard Woolf’ Category

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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Leonard Woolf bus is on the road in Brighton

Posted in Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, tagged , , , on Wednesday 17 July 2024| 2 Comments »

It’s official. The Leonard Woolf bus is traveling the streets of Brighton, and members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain celebrated its launch on June 27.

In the Brighton tradition, it joins buses named after other remarkable residents, including Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.

Members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain get ready to hop aboard the Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton. Photo by Marielle O’Neill.

“It was with great pleasure that members of the VWSGB celebrated the newly-named Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton yesterday, ” said Claire Nicholson, society chair, the day after the group’s bus ride.

“Congratulations to Marielle O’Neill who led the campaign to have a bus dedicated to Leonard, which now joins its partner, the Virginia Woolf bus. If you visit Brighton, perhaps you might catch one of them!”

Thanks go out

The society thanks Maria Caulfield MP, Cllr Paul Mellor and the Board of Deputies of British Jews for their valuable support and to Brighton and Hove Bus Company for honouring Leonard Woolf. Thanks also go to Suren Paul, Chair of the Leonard Woolf Society, and Claire Nicholson for their encouragement.

“Leonard Woolf’s influence on politics from international relations with the League of Nations to local community activism in Brighton is significant,” O’Neill pointed out.

The cover of Issue No. 72 – January 2023 of the Virginia Woolf Bulletin features the Brighton & Hove Virginia Woolf bus.

“His pioneering publishing work with the Hogarth Press is also to be admired. I’m delighted to see the Leonard Woolf bus, which seems a suitable way of honouring Leonard given his commitment to community service and environmental sustainability.”

About the buses and routes

The bus is one of the brand new accessible Coaster buses that have two wheelchair bays, dementia friendly flooring and seating, audio and visual next-stop announcements and an onboard loop system.

The bus number is changeable but is most likely to be doing either 12/12A/12X or 14/14C routes. These buses all serve Sealife Centre, Old Steine, North Street and Brighton Station.

 

Members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain raise a glass to the new Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton. Photo by Marielle O’Neill, second from right.

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Brighton to put Leonard Woolf bus on the road

Posted in Leonard Woolf, Virginia Woolf on Tuesday 27 February 2024| Leave a Comment »

Leonard Woolf bust at Monk’s House in Rodmell, Sussex, England

On behalf of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, Marielle O’Neill led the successful campaign for a Brighton bus to be named in honor of Leonard Woolf.

The bus will be named in the next four to eight weeks, and details will be added to the Brighton bus website.

Inspired by a chance encounter with the Virginia Woolf bus by society member Stephen Barkway, as reported in the January 2023 issue of the Virginia Woolf Bulletin, the campaign for a bus named after Leonard Woolf was led by Marielle O’Neill, who is undertaking a PhD. on Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s political activism.

Acknowledgements

O’Neill acknowledges the backing of the society, especially that of Claire Nicholson (chair), and Suren Paul (chair of the Leonard Woolf Society). Thanks also to Maria Caulfield MP, Cllr Paul Mellor and the Board of Deputies of British Jews for their valuable support.

The cover of Issue No. 72 – January 2023 of the Virginia Woolf Bulletin features the Brighton & Hove Virginia Woolf bus.

“It’s wonderful to see Leonard Woolf’s great contribution to politics and publishing recognised. Given Leonard Woolf’s activism in the local community and public-spirited nature it is particularly fitting that this tribute will benefit ordinary people in the Brighton area,” O’Neill said.

The bus to be named for Leonard Woolf is one of the brand new accessible Coaster buses, with two wheelchair bays, dementia-friendly flooring and seating, audio and visual next-stop announcements, and onboard loop system.

The Virginia and Vanessa buses

The Leonard Woolf bus will join existing buses named after Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Virginia’s bus, number 472, was named after her in March of 2021. Before that, her name adorned bus number 887 and 845, according to Barkway (35).

You can view both at the Brighton & Hove buses website.

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Lit Cambridge podcast features Leonard Woolf’s legacies

Posted in Leonard Woolf, Literature Cambridge, podcast, Virginia Woolf, tagged , , , , on Friday 13 October 2023| 3 Comments »

From the Virginia Woolf Podcast comes a new broadcast. This one features a discussion between Marielle O’Neill and Prof. Peter Stansky regarding the many legacies of Leonard Woolf — notably his anti-imperialism, socialism, and work in international politics. Karina Jakubowicz conducts the interview.

Karina Jacubowicz

Listen to Leonard Woolf’s Legacies.

About the podcast

The 17 episodes currently available online and on the podcast app as “The Virginia Woolf Podcast” features Jakubowicz’s interviews with writer, artists, and academics whose work has been influenced by Woolf.

The podcast is made in association with Literature Cambridge, an independent educational organisation that provides university-style lectures on a wide range of literary subjects.

About the experts

Peter Stansky is emeritus professor of history at Stanford University and the author of Leonard Woolf, Bloomsbury Socialist. His most recent publication is The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War.

As a distinguished historian, he has judged the Pulitzer Prize, among other book awards. Stansky was a finalist for the National Book Awards in 1967, 1973, and 1981. He has also served as a member of the Executive Council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has lectured in various parts of North America, Europe and Australia.

Marielle O’Neill is a PhD. candidate at Leeds Trinity University. Her research explores the political activism and partnership of Leonard and Virginia Woolf.

She serves on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. She has been active in politics on both sides of the Atlantic, working on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC and in the Houses of Parliament, London.

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Leonard Woolf’s “Coming to London” now online

Posted in Leonard Woolf, London, tagged , on Thursday 3 October 2019| Leave a Comment »

A piece by Leonard Woolf from the October 1955 issue (Vol. 2, No. 10) of The London Magazine is now online.

Titled “Coming to London — II,” it was reprinted in A Bloomsbury Group Reader edited by S.P. Rosenbaum and published by Blackwell Publishers in 1993.

In addition, much of it is incorporated in Leonard’s biography, according to the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.

In the “London Magazine”, it was part of a regular series that was published in book form by Phoenix House, London, 1957, and then by Books for Libraries Press, Freeport, NY, 1971. The other contributors were: William Plomer, V. S. Pritchett, George Barker, J. B. Priestley, Elizabeth Bowen, Geoffrey Grigson, John Middleton Murry, Christopher Isherwood, Alan Pryce-Jones, William Sansom, Jocelyn Brooke, Rose Macaulay, Edith Sitwell.

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