Join Woolf Salon No. 28: “Reading the Russians” on Friday, July 26, 2-4 p.m. EST.
Hosts: Georgy Liseyev and the Salon Conspirators Date: Friday, July 26 Time: 2–4 p.m. EST (New York) / 11 a.m.–1 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 3–5 p.m. Brasilia / 7–9 p.m. BST (London) / 8–10 p.m. CEST (Paris) / 9–11 p.m. Ankara / Sat 3 a.m.–5 a.m. JST (Tokyo) / Sat 4 a.m.–6 a.m. AEST (Sydney). Please double check time zone conversions. Where: On Zoom How: Contact woolfsalonproject@gmail.com to sign up for the email list and receive the Zoom link.
The readings
The group looks forward to discussing two of Woolf’s many essays on Russian literature with you: “The Russian Point of View” and “The Novels of Turgenev”! Georgy will also share some translations that he’s been working on.
Please let the Salon Conspirators know if you have trouble accessing these texts. (Please note: the version of “The Novels of Turgenev” that appears on The Yale Review website differs substantially from theversion noted above; The Yale Review version is included in an Appendix to Essays [vol. 6].)
Anyone can join the group, which meets 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 — Benjamin 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.
Dalloway Day, the day when fans of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway celebrate Clarissa Dalloway’s walk on a fine day “in the middle of June,” is being celebrated around the globe. Today, we will share details of Turkey’s all-day event.
What: Dalloway Day 2024 in Turkey
When: Wednesday, June 26, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. The exhibition will last one week.
Where: Adnan Ötüken Public Library (1922), Turkey’s first national library, Ankara, Turkey
Why: You are invited to the celebration of “Dalloway Day,” where you can richly explore Virginia Woolf’s house of fiction. This special event, created, curated and directed by Prof. Dr. Mine Özyurt Kılıç, will feature a seminar, an exhibition of Woolf books in Turkish, and an interactive reading marathon.
How: This free face-to-face event will be open to everyone ready to cherish arts and literature. The event will be in Turkish.
The Seminar
Immerse yourself in expert views on both the novel and its eponymous character in terms of their reception and evolution.
• Prof. Dr. Mine Özyurt Kılıç, along with Atahan Mahir Karabiber and Tuğba Çanakçı –the graduate students with research expertise in Woolf’s works– will present “Mrs. Dalloway and Mrs. Dalloways,” highlighting the evolution of the character.
• Assoc. Dr. Z. Gizem Yılmaz will delve into the depths of the novel and its film adaptation with a comparative analysis in her “Mrs. Dalloway: A Book and a Film.”
• Artist/Curator Can Akgümüş will discuss Woolf’s afterlife with an exploration of her
influence on contemporary art in Turkey in his “Virginia Woolf in Contemporary Arts.”
The Exhibition
• Witness Woolf’s literary journey in Turkish through a special curation of her books and discover the historical evolution of Mrs. Dalloway. This special exhibition will be available one week, starting June 26.
The Reading Marathon
Bring the novel to life by being one of the voices in Mrs. Dalloway.
Dalloway Day, the day when fans of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway celebrate Clarissa Dalloway’s walk on a fine day “in the middle of June,” is being celebrated around the globe. Today, we will share details of Dalloway Day plans in London.
What: DallowayDay in London: “Mrs Dalloway in Town and Country.”
Why: The group will kick off with a Bloomsbury Walk: guided by Clara Jones (Virginia Woolf: Ambivalent Activist) they will saunter in the streets and squares of Virginia Woolf’s beloved Bloomsbury. Then they will move to Hatchards Piccadilly for “Mrs Dalloway in Town,” a conversation with two walkers and writers to reflect on walking in London both in Mrs Dalloway’s 1920s and today: John Rogers (This Other London: Adventures in the Overlooked City) and Matthew Beaumont (The Walker: On Finding and Losing Yourself in the Modern City). Then for ‘Mrs Dalloway in the Country’ we welcome Alexandra Harris (The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape) and Harriet Baker (Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann) to discuss walking in the country for Virginia Woolf and other writers, including Harriet and Alexandra themselves.
How: You can book for either or both of the discussion panels, or for all events. Places for the walk are limited, and are only available with an all-event ticket. Tickets available from Eventbrite (discounts for VWSGB members).
DallowayDay events are also open to non-members, so please book soon!
Dalloway Day, the day when fans of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway celebrate Clarissa Dalloway’s walk on a fine day “in the middle of June,” is being celebrated around the globe. Today, we will start with New York.
What: DallowayDay in New York: A Celebration of Virginia Woolf and Mrs Dalloway
When: Thursday, June 20,2024, 5–9 p.m.
Where: The Center at West Park (86th and Amsterdam in Manhattan)
Why: Come celebrate Virginia Woolf and her acclaimed 1925 novel Mrs Dalloway at the beautiful and historic Center at West Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. DallowayDay will include a lively mini-conference and discussion session beginning at 5pm, with scholars and enthusiasts sharing their thoughts about Woolf and her work. At 7pm, we will have a film screening (either Mrs Dalloway or The Hours).
I took a walk through Virginia Woolf’s words last week. I moved slowly, quietly. I felt reverent at the silence and the sight of her poetry flowing from the rafters in the light-filled Ellipse Gallery in the tower of the Fresno State Library.
Ane Thon Knutsen watches as conference goers walk through her “Kew Gardens” installation.
I was there early in the morning on Saturday, June 8, to experience Ane Thon Knutsen’s breathtaking installation of “Kew Gardens” at the 33rd Annual International Conference on Virginia Woolf, June 5-9 at Fresno State University.
I was among dozens of other conference participants, each of us lost in our own experience of the unique art installation, each of us feeling lucky to be there, as our view of the installation almost did not happen.
Catastrophe averted
The day before the conference began, the library’s air conditioning stopped working properly — and Fresno was in the middle of a heat wave. That meant that our visit to the installation had to be rescheduled and reformatted.
Our viewing of Ane’s brilliant art installation transformed itself from an elaborate evening arts event with refreshments, poetry, and two keynote talks to a one-hour early morning walk-through in awesome silence.
Kudos to conference organizer J. Ashley Foster for being able to turn on a dime with humor and grace. And kudos to everyone on campus — from librarian Melissa to academic deans and library and student center staff — who made the change possible.
Angling for a view
As I walked through the installation, I was struck by how much I had to use my body to view the art and read the words. I had to read with my legs, feet, torso, and arms, as well as my mind, eyes, and hands.
Sitting to read Woolf’s words.
I had to sway, walk, crouch, take a step backwards, step sideways, step forwards. I also had to stand still and wait patiently for the bright morning sunlight to change slightly and for the strips to still themselves in the shifting air so I could read Woolf’s words.
I watched as other viewers did the same. They stood still. They craned their necks upwards. They crouched. They bent. They sat down. Some even lay down, quietly giggling as the words wafted over their heads and their bodies, ruffled by the wispy breeze generated by weak air conditioning and the movements of those walking by.
About the “Kew Gardens” installation
J. Ashley Foster, conference organizer and associate professor at Fresno State University, and Jane Goldman, reader at the University of Glasgow, at the installation viewing.
Ane spent five years planning her adaptation of Woolf’s short story. It consists of 1,514 letterpress-printed sheets on translucent 18 gms kozo, a Japanese paper.
The sheets are arranged in 94 chains. each 18 sheets long, and they include all the words and punctuation marks that compose Woolf’s short story “Kew Gardens.” The printed words follow the colors named in the story, changing as each color is mentioned.
Ane explains the installation as an “organic book allowing you to walk through the pages, like insects in a flowerbed.”
Later, after the viewing, she said the installation no longer felt like it was just hers, as she had now shared it with dozens of people who love Woolf’s words.
About Ane Thon Knutsen
This was not Ane’s first exhibit focused on Woolf’s words. The associate professor of graphic design at the Oslo Academy of the Arts is internationally known for her letterpress-focused installations and artists’ books. She has won numerous awards for her work and owns and works from her private letterpress studio in Oslo.
Ane gave an artist talk on Friday evening during the conference.
In “Printed Works,” she adapted a selection of Virginia Woolf’s self-published short stories. The exhibit focused on Woolf’s poetic short stories “Blue” and “Green.” The printed pages were collected and are being stored in book form in FGCU Bradshaw Library’s Archives and Special Collections.
