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Posts Tagged ‘Fernham’

I must be crazy.

I already spend too much time on my laptop — way too much on some days. And now I’ve gone and opened a Tumblr blog.

I can only guess what this will do to my free time. Whatever that is.

What got into me? Good question. I took a look at the Tumblr blogs of Hearts Asunder, Megan Branch and Ann Fernald, clicked on the archive link of each, and I was hooked. It just looks so cool.

See what I mean?

My new Tumblr blog, Woolfwriter, will give me a place to post small bits about Woolf, as well as miscellaneous stuff I come across that I want to share.

Besides what I post on Facebook and Twitter, I mean.

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I am enjoying a snow evening. Not a snow day, just a snow evening.

My university cancelled evening classes because of the snow, which means I don’t have to teach tonight. So instead of standing in front of a classroom, I am sitting at home on a sofa.

The unexpected free time feels especially fine. Outdoors I can hear my neighbor running his snow blower. In the kitchen, the tea kettle sounds ready to boil. The only jarring note is the TV, but it is the news hour, and my husband does have it tuned to PBS.

Meanwhile, with Jim Lehrer in the background, I pull together Woolf notes:

  • From Anne Fernald of Fernham, comes a tweet advising us to read “Always A Rambling Post on Common Readers, Classes and the Noise of Poetry,” which extols the virtues of Woolf, “a poet who wrote novels.”
  • S. Shulman shared a story about a Princeton exhibit in the Firestone Library’s Main Gallery called “The Author’s Portrait.” The exhibit runs through July 5 and includes a 1928 portrait of Woolf.
  • She also sent a link to a Londonist story, “Which is the Best London Novel?” Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway is tied for the number three spot on the list. And Ian McEwan’s Saturday, inspired by Mrs. D, is number nine.
  • In an article in the London Times, Naomi Wolf cites Virginia Woolf in her article, Sleep is a Feminist Issue.
  • On The Walrus Blog, a post called “Ghost Stories” argues that the cult of authors may result in ” fancy editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s grocery lists, or leather-bound copies of Virginia Woolf’s to-do reminders.”
  • A note from the Literary Gift Co. illustrates our fetishization of authors. The company offers “Virginia Woolf Parcel Tape” to seal your special packages. It is emblazoned with a Woolf quotation, “Life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope which surrounds us from the beginning of conciousness to the end,” from her essay  “Modern Fiction.”
  • A VWoolf Listserv conversation about Woolf’s mental state generated tips for further reading. They include:
  • And if you need a chuckle after all this serious talk, take a look at the Punch cartoon whose link was sent by Stuart N. Clarke in response to the discussion on the VWoolf Listserv regarding Woolf and weather, a topic obviously dear to my heart.

Which leads me full circle to the topic with which I began: I am enjoying a snow evening. And it is pure white bliss.

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From Fernham’s way comes news of a play inspired by Virginia Woolf. Titled Among Roses and the Ash, it will be staged  in New York City Jan. 27-31.

According to the play’s Web site, the play is a “meditation on the power, beauty, and limitations of the English language, seen through the eyes of an author. It is described as incorporating “movement, sound and image to explore the work of a literary artist.”

Performances are at 8 p.m. Jan. 27 to 30 and at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Jan. 31 at the WOW Cafe Theater, 59-61 E. Fourth St. 
on the fourth floor. Tickets are $10 at door, or online at fabnyc.org.

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cheeful weather for the weddingJust out in a Persephone Books paperback is Julia Strachey’s 1932 novella, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding.

The light comedy of manners was originally published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press.

A Cleveland Plain Dealer mini-review says it “mimics Mrs. Dalloway in its method of unveiling lives through a single afternoon, in this case during an English wedding.” An NPR review extolls its “comic high anxiety and unexpected imagery.” You can read more enchanting prose about the little volume and Persephone Books itself at Fernham.

The book is also available as a Persephone Classic and on cassette tape.

If you don’t live in London, where Persephone Books is located, don’t despair. You can find ordering information here

While you are on the Persephone site, take time to look around. You  may not want to leave.

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