At Literature Cambridge, we want to do something to help the people suffering in Gaza, and to support those working for peace. All proceeds from this lecture will be shared between three charities:

• Oxfam Gaza
• Standing Together (Palestinian and Israeli Peace Campaign)
• Gatwick Detainees Support Group (UK charity helping refugees)

Trudi Tate will lecture on A Room of One’s Own (1929): After the First World War. Live online.

Close Reading Irish Poets: Eilean Ni Chuilleanain. Session 1 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan. Please note new dates.

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 5. Danell Jones on A Room of One’s Own and Black Britain

Close Reading Eilean Ni Chuilleanain. Session 2 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 1 of 7. Shakespeare, Othello.

Close Reading Anne Sexton. Session 1 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

… I am your daughter, your sweetmeat,
your priest, your mouth, and your bird,
and I will tell them all stories of you
until I am laid away forever…

– Anne Sexton, ‘The Sun’, 1962

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 2 of 7. Euripides, Helen.

Close Reading Anne Sexton. Session 2 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

… I am your daughter, your sweetmeat,
your priest, your mouth, and your bird,
and I will tell them all stories of you
until I am laid away forever…

– Anne Sexton, ‘The Sun’, 1962

Women Writers Season. Greta Colombani on Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818).

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 3 of 7. Euripides, Orestes.

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 4 of 7. Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 6. Natasha Periyan, Education in The Years (1937).

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 5 of 7. Sophocles, Philoctetes.

Lecture for Peace. Karina Jakubowicz on Planting Wonderland: Lewis Carroll’s Alice novels.. All proceeds from this lecture go to charities working for peace and to support refugees. Set reading: Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872).

• Standing Together: Palestinian and Jewish citizens of Israel working together for peace and justice
• Oxfam Gaza and Lebanon campaign: providing medical support and food to civilians under attack
• Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group: providing support to refugees in detention and afterwards in the UK

Join us for two sessions close reading selected poems of Sylvia Plath. Session 1 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 1 of 6 on the Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Women Writers Season. Alison Hennegan on Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813).

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker.

Lecture 6 of 7. Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

Join us for two sessions close reading selected poems of Sylvia Plath. Session 2 of 2 with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 2 of 6 on The Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Passion and Violence in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy with Fred Parker and Jan Parker. Lecture 7 of 7. Shakespeare, King Lear.

Lecture 3 of 6 on The Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 7. Trudi Tate on Mrs Dalloway (1925) and the Vote.

Lecture 4 of 6 on The Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Lecture 1 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Art with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch:

The Bell (1958)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
The Green Knight (1993)

Lecture 5 of 6 on The Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Women Writers Season. Corinna Russell on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh (1856).

Oscar Wilde: Man of Many Parts. Lecture 1 of 4. Live online course with Alison Hennegan, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 6 of 6 on The Bloomsbury Group: Art and Politics with Karina Jakubowicz.

Lecture 2 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Art with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch:

The Bell (1958)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
The Green Knight (1993)

Close Reading. Session 1 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of S. T. Coleridge through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Oscar Wilde: Man of Many Parts. Lecture 2 of 4. Live online course with Alison Hennegan, University of Cambridge.

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 8. Varsha Panjwani on The Politics of Orlando (1928).

Close Reading. Session 2 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of S. T. Coleridge through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 3 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Art with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch:

The Bell (1958)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
The Green Knight (1993)

Oscar Wilde: Man of Many Parts. Lecture 3 of 4. Live online course with Alison Hennegan, University of Cambridge.

Women Writers Season. Clare Walker Gore on George Eliot, Middlemarch (1872).

Lecture 4 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Art with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch:

The Bell (1958)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
The Green Knight (1993)

Course: Comedy and Irony in the Young Jane Austen. Lecture 1 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, weekly, with Fred Parker, University of Cambridge.

Oscar Wilde: Man of Many Parts. Lecture 4 of 4. Live online course with Alison Hennegan, University of Cambridge.

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 9. Angela Harris, The Politics of Jacob’s Room (1922).

Course: Comedy and Irony in the Young Jane Austen. Lecture 2 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, weekly, with Fred Parker, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 5 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Art with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch:

The Bell (1958)
An Unofficial Rose (1962)
The Nice and the Good (1968)
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974)
The Green Knight (1993)

Lecture 1 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Course: Comedy and Irony in the Young Jane Austen. Lecture 3 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, weekly, with Fred Parker, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 2 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Women Writers Season. Trudi Tate on Elizabeth Bowen, To the North (1932)

Course: Comedy and Irony in the Young Jane Austen. Lecture 4 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, weekly, with Fred Parker, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 3 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Close Reading. Session 1 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of Alfred Tennyson through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 4 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Close Reading. Session 2 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of Alfred Tennyson through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 5 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Woolf and Politics: live online season of lectures and seminars, one per month. Lecture 10. Claire Davison Body Politics and Clothing in Three Guineas (1938).

Lecture 6 of 6. Katherine Mansfield course 2: Stories of Life and Death, with Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison, Karina Jakubowicz and Trudi Tate

Repeated by popular demand. The Poetry of Mary Oliver. Session 1 of 2. We study the poetry of Mary Oliver through close reading. Live online with Mariah Whelan.

Women Writers Season. Lisa Mullen on Inez Holden, Night Shift (1941).

Repeated by popular demand. The Poetry of Mary Oliver. Session 2 of 2. We study the poetry of Mary Oliver through close reading. Live online with Mariah Whelan.

August Lectures 2025. We repeat some lectures from previous Woolf Seasons, in case you missed them. All live online.

Trudi Tate on Women in A Room of One’s Own (1929)

We are offering this at a time which we hope is convenient for people in Japan and Australia time zones. But you are welcome to join us, wherever you are in the world.

August Lectures 2025. We repeat some lectures from previous Woolf Seasons, in case you missed them. All live online.

Trudi Tate on War Trauma and Loss of Freedom in Mrs Dalloway (1925)

Woolf in August 2025. Mark Hussey on Politics in Mrs Dalloway (1925).

Claire Davison on Orts, Scraps and Fragments: Thoughts on Peace in Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts (1941). Part of our series Lectures for Peace. All proceeds go to charities working for peace and for refugees. Details on Lectures for Peace page.

Session 1 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of P. B. Shelley through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Lecture 1 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Fanny Burney, Evelina (1778).

Six live online sessions, fortnightly, from 10 Sept. to Nov. 2025.

Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 1. The Grass is Singing (1950). Lecture 1 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.

Session 2 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of P. B. Shelley through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Women and Power in twentieth-century fiction. We study five great writers of the mid- to late twentieth century: Elizabeth Taylor, Rumer Godden, Angela Carter, Alice Thomas Ellis and Anita Brookner.

Lecture 1 of 5 with Miles Leeson: Elizabeth Taylor, Angel (1957)

Women Writers Season. Lecture 7 of 10. Alison Hennegan on Sylvia Townsend Warner, Summer will Show (1936)

Lecture 2 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Charles Dickens, Great Expectations (1861)

Six sessions, fortnightly, from 10 Sept. to 19 Nov. 2025.

Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 2. Martha Quest (1952). Lecture 2 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.

Women and Power in twentieth-century fiction. We study five great writers of the mid- to late twentieth century: Elizabeth Taylor, Rumer Godden, Angela Carter, Alice Thomas Ellis and Anita Brookner.

Lecture 2 of 5 with Miles Leeson: Rumer Godden, In this House of Brede (1969)

Lecture 3 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891).

Six live online sessions, fortnightly, from 10 Sept. to 19 Nov. 2025.

Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 3. The Golden Notebook (1962). Lecture 3 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.

Women and Power in twentieth-century fiction. We study five great writers of the mid- to late twentieth century: Elizabeth Taylor, Rumer Godden, Angela Carter, Alice Thomas Ellis and Anita Brookner.

Lecture 3 of 5 with Miles Leeson: Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber (1979)

Lecture, seminar and book launch. Join us to celebrate the centenary of the first publication of Mrs Dalloway, and to launch the new Oxford World’s Classics edition of the novel, edited by Trudi Tate.

In person, Waterstones bookshop, Cambridge 2.00-4.30 pm (TBC), Sunday 19 October 2025. Bookings open soon.

Lecture 4 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent (1907).

Six lectures, fortnightly, from 10 September 2025.

Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 4. The Summer Before Dark (1973). Lecture 4 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.

Women Writers Season. Valerie Waterhouse on Malachi Whitaker, The Journey Home and Other Stories

Women and Power in twentieth-century fiction. We study five great writers of the mid- to late twentieth century: Elizabeth Taylor, Rumer Godden, Angela Carter, Alice Thomas Ellis and Anita Brookner.

Lecture 4 of 5 with Miles Leeson: Alice Thomas Ellis, The Birds of the Air (1980)

Elizabeth von Arnim course: Men, Women, and Dogs with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Römhild. Lecture 1 of 4: The Caravaners (1909).

Lecture 5 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway (1925).

Six lectures, fortnightly, from 10 September 2025.

Women and Power in twentieth-century fiction. We study five great writers of the mid- to late twentieth century: Elizabeth Taylor, Rumer Godden, Angela Carter, Alice Thomas Ellis and Anita Brookner.

Lecture 5 of 5 with Miles Leeson: Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac (1984)

Elizabeth von Arnim course: Men, Women, and Dogs with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Römhild. Lecture 2 of 4:

Vera (1921).

Session 1 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of John Keats through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Repeated by popular demand.

Lecture 1 of 5 on George Orwell: Power, Freedom, Decency. Live online with Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 1. Love and money: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
Lecture 2. Truth and lies: Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Lecture 3. Home and memory: Coming up for Air (1939)
Lecture 4. Equality and humanity: Animal Farm (1945)
Lecture 5. Freedom and fear: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

Lecture 6 of 6 on London in Literature with Angela Harris. Elizabeth Bowen, The Heat of the Day (1948).

Women Writers Season. Claire Davison on Vita Sackville-West, The Edwardians (1930)

Session 2 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of John Keats through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.

Course repeated by popular demand.

Lecture 2 of 5 on George Orwell: Power, Freedom, Decency. Live online with Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 1. Love and money: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
Lecture 2. Truth and lies: Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Lecture 3. Home and memory: Coming up for Air (1939)
Lecture 4. Equality and humanity: Animal Farm (1945)
Lecture 5. Freedom and fear: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

Elizabeth von Arnim course: Men, Women, and Dogs with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Römhild. Lecture 3 of 4:

All the Dogs of my Life (1937).

Course repeated by popular demand.

Lecture 3 of 5 on George Orwell: Power, Freedom, Decency. Live online with Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 1. Love and money: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
Lecture 2. Truth and lies: Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Lecture 3. Home and memory: Coming up for Air (1939)
Lecture 4. Equality and humanity: Animal Farm (1945)
Lecture 5. Freedom and fear: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

Course repeated by popular demand.

Lecture 4 of 5 on George Orwell: Power, Freedom, Decency. Live online with Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 1. Love and money: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
Lecture 2. Truth and lies: Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Lecture 3. Home and memory: Coming up for Air (1939)
Lecture 4. Equality and humanity: Animal Farm (1945)
Lecture 5. Freedom and fear: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)

Elizabeth von Arnim course: Men, Women, and Dogs with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Römhild. Lecture 4 of 4: Mr Skeffington (1940). 

Women Writers Season. Karina Jakubowicz on Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Course repeated by popular demand.

Lecture 5 of 5 on George Orwell: Power, Freedom, Decency. Live online with Lisa Mullen, University of Cambridge.

Lecture 1. Love and money: Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936)
Lecture 2. Truth and lies: Homage to Catalonia (1938)
Lecture 3. Home and memory: Coming up for Air (1939)
Lecture 4. Equality and humanity: Animal Farm (1945)
Lecture 5. Freedom and fear: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949)