Live online course
Sundays, 15 March to 10 May 2026, 6.00 to 8.00 pm British Time

‘Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and feel the wind blowing.’

Our annual Iris Murdoch course for 2026 will focus on the natural world in her novels. A source of constant inspiration for her art, her philosophy, and her life, the natural world is important in all of Murdoch’s writing. In this course we will focus on five key novels from across her career: The Unicorn (1963), the Booker Prize-winning The Sea, The Sea (1978), Nuns and Soldiers (1980), The Good Apprentice (1985), and The Message to the Planet (1989).

These five books explore a wide range of themes and scenes connected with the natural world, from the dangerous landscape of the west Coast of Ireland in The Unicorn, the rugged North Sea in The Sea, The Sea, the Alpilles of Provence in Nuns and Soldiers, the enchanted woods of The Good Apprentice, monoliths and sorcery in The Message to the Planet and much else besides. We will explore the brilliant world of Murdoch’s real and imagined landscapes and seascapes across these five works.

The course will also draw upon Murdoch’s letters, journals, poetry, non-fiction and travel writing to give a real sense of a novelist’s craft in action. The Iris Murdoch courses usually sell out, so you might want to book early.

Live online course: five lectures and seminars with Miles Leeson, Sundays, fortnightly, 15 March to 10 May 2026, 6.00 to 8.00 pm.

Dr Miles Leeson is Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre at the University of Chichester, UK. He has previously led courses on Murdoch's London, Murdoch's Gothic, and Murdoch and Love for Literature Cambridge. This is our fifth annual Murdoch course.