Virginia Woolf: writing life

Our 2025 online Virginia Woolf course will explore the theme of Virginia Woolf: Writing Life. How does one write a life - a fictional life; a real life? We will look at the real and imaginary lives in five of her most brilliant novels.

We will explore how Woolf writes the lives of her great fictional characters: Clarissa Dalloway, Septimus Smith, Mrs Ramsay, the six characters in The Waves. We will study how she uses, and challenges, the traditions of biography in Orlando (1928) and Flush (1933). We will think about Woolf’s own life as a writer, and what that meant. And we will do a reading of her only play, Freshwater, which takes a comical look at the lives of her Victorian forebears.

There will be a rich programme of lectures, supervisions (tutorials), talks, visits, and discussions. Our teachers include leading Woolf scholars and experienced Cambridge supervisors. We will spend a week immersed in the great writings and ideas of Virginia Woolf.

The course is based on 5 books which we will study in close detail, one book per day. Each day, there is a lecture and a supervision (tutorial), plus talks, visits in Cambridge, two communal dinners, and more.

The supervisions are based loosely on the practice in Cambridge colleges, in which small groups of 3 or 4 people work with a skilled supervisor. This is a rare opportunity to look closely at Woolf’s writings, learn more about her historical and cultural context, and to improve your close reading skills.

Course dates: 20-25 July 2025.

Arrive in Cambridge Sunday afternoon 20 July, depart Saturday morning 26 July 2025.

To book, scroll down and click on image at the end of the page.

Lectures

Monday 21 July 2025. Trudi Tate, Life and Death in Mrs Dalloway (1925)
Tuesday 22 July 2025. Ellie Mitchell, To the Lighthouse (1927): Writing from Life, Writing to Life
Wednesday 23 July 2025. Karina Jakubowicz on The Life of Orlando (1928)
Thursday 24 July 2025. Claire Davison on The Ripple of Life in The Waves (1933)
Friday 25 July 2025. Alison Hennegan, Writing Flush (1933)

Supervisions

After each lecture, you will have a supervision. This is a small tutorial group with 3 or 4 students working closely with a supervisor on the book of the day. This is one of the most rewarding parts of the course.

Provisional list of Talks and Readings

• Visits to Cambridge colleges - details to follow
• Virginia Woolf: a life of writing
• Marielle O’Neill on The life writing of Leonard Woolf
• Group reading of Woolf’s only play, Freshwater, led by Ellie Mitchell
• Karina Jakubowicz, reading aloud from Woolf’s writing
• Beth Rigel Daugherty on Woolf’s essays on biography (tbc)
… and more

Set Reading

Mrs Dalloway (1925)
To the Lighthouse (1927)
Orlando (1928)
The Waves (1931)
Flush (1933)

Optional Further Reading

Virginia Woolf, essays: ’The New Biography’, ‘On Being Ill’, ‘Leslie Stephen’, ‘The Art of Biography’, all in Woolf, Selected Essays, ed. David Bradshaw (2008)

Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (biography, 1996)
Susan Sellers, ed., Cambridge Companion to VW (2010)
Susan Sellers, Vanessa and Virginia (novel, 2009)
Susan Sellers, Firebird (novel, 2022)
Michael Whitworth, Virginia Woolf: Authors in Context (2005)
Virginia Woolf, Kew Gardens and Other Short Fiction, ed. Bryony Randall (2022)
Virginia Woolf, Moments of Being (2002)

Links

• Marion Dell, biography (website) of Julia Prinsep Stephen, mother of Virginia Woolf.
• Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.
• Monk's House, National Trust.
• Charleston, National Trust.
• Paula Maggio, Blogging Woolf.
• Notes on Leonard Woolf.

Course fees

Full price £1300
Members VWSGB £1200
CAMcard holders £1200
Students on a low income £1150

Fees include VAT of 20%.

Photos by Jeremy Peters @jezpete

To book, scroll down and click on the image below.