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.
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.
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.
Writers stamp themselves upon their possessions more indelibly than other people, making the table, the chair, the curtain, the carpet into their own image. – Virginia Woolf, “Great Men’s Houses (1911)
That is the lovely quote that begins the introduction to Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write (2022)– and the fact that it was written by VirginiaWoolf adds a special boost to this post.
The book answers the question, “Where do you write?” for authors ranging from Maya Angelou to William Wordsworth — 50 in all. It describes their writing environments — from attics and studies to billiard rooms and bathtubs — in words written by Alex Johnson and illustrations in charming water colors by James Oses.
As the book blurb explains, it “explores the unique spaces, habits and rituals in which famous writers created their most notable works.”
Virginia Woolf’s writing lodge at Monk’s House in Rodmell, East Sussex
In addition, it details each author’s writing methods, routines and habits, as well as their ink, paper, and pencil preferences.
It also includes information on each of the locations described, many of which are private and not open to visitors.
Of particular note to readers of Blogging Woolf are the rooms used by Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. The book covers each with a four-page spread.
The tower at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, where Vita Sackville-West’s writing room is located.
Woolf’s, of course, depicts the interior of her writing lodge at Monk’s House, along with her view from the lodge. Vita’s shows the interior of her tower room at Sissinghurst Castle, as well as a long view of the tower exterior.
Lucky for us, both Monk’s House and Sissinghurst Castle are open to visitors.
However, as I recall my last visit to Monk’s House in July of 2019, we were not permitted inside the space where Woolf wrote in her lodge. We had to view it through a window. The photo below shows that view.
In June of 2018, I got a look at Vita’s lofty writing space in the Sissinghurst tower from a doorway, after climbing the stairway that led to it. The doorway was blocked by a grille to preserve the fragile contents within. You can see what I saw in the photo below, including just some of the room’s 2,700 books.
Despite such limitations, each is certainly worth a visit.
Virginia Woolf’s desk in her writing lodge at Monk’s House, 2019. Woolfs’ tortoiseshell glasses, as well as her folders for her manuscripts, are on the table. While the Woolfs converted an old tool shed in their garden into a writing room for Virginia in 1921, by 1934 they built this new lodge with French windows. I took this photo through a window, as entry was not permitted.
Vita Sackville-West’s writing room in the high tower at Sissinghurst Castle, 2018. It appears as it was upon her death in 1962. It is lit as a night scene to prevent damage from light and reflects the fact that Vita usually wrote by lamplight in the evening. I took this photo through a grille in the doorway at the top of the stairs, as entry was not allowed.
Virginia Woolf: A shed of one’s own, p 178-9, Virginia Woolf: A shed of one’s own, p 178-9, Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write
Virginia Woolf: A shed of her own, p. 180-81, Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write
Vita Sackville West: A room to celebrate love(s), p. 138-9, Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write
Vita Sackville West: A room to celebrate love(s), p. 140-1, Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write
If you will be in London in October, make time for a new opera based on Virginia Woolf’s 1931 novel The Waves. It runs from Oct 16-19 at the OSO Arts Centre.
The chamber opera comes direct from its world premiere at the Oslo Opera Festival 2024 and is produced by acclaimed Norwegian Director Einar Bjorge and composed by the award-winning Louis Manderre.
It reimagines Woolf’s work as the first-ever operatic adaptation of Woolf’s profound meditation on friendship, identity, and unrequited love among Bernard, Neville, Louis, Susan, Jinny, and Rhoda.
Proposals for critical papers on any topic concerning Woolf’s work are welcome. A specific panel theme may be chosen, depending on the proposals received. Please note that this panel may be virtual.
How to submit
Please submit by email a cover page with name, email address, mailing address, phone number, professional affiliation, and title of paper, and a second anonymous page containing a 250-word paper proposal, with title, to Emily M. Hinnov, ehinnov@ccsnh.edu, by Monday, Aug. 26.
