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England in the Footsteps of Virginia WoolfAlthough primarily studied as a novelist, Woolf wrote a huge amount of non-fiction, including book reviews, essays, memoirs, letters, and diaries. These non-fiction writings not only allow insight into her literary practice as a novelist but also make fascinating reading on their own. Below is a selection of nonfiction that would be especially valuable to have read before the trip. You'll find links where there is more information about a text on the Woolf seminar site.
A Room of One’s Own (24 Oct 1929) – a landmark in feminist criticism, especially significant for documenting the importance of material culture in women’s literary success. Written about the same time as the three novels studied, AROO was originally given as a series of lectures, and then much expanded for publication. Woolf argues that for a woman writer to succeed she must have money and a room of her own. The most often excerpted part of this is the story of “Shakespeare’s Sister,” an imaginary character who illustrates why a woman with Shakespeare’s talent could not have succeeded in the age of Shakespeare.
A Writer’s Diary (published UK 1953) –selected diary entries, mostly about books Woolf was writing or her thoughts on writing. Her complete diaries were published in 5 volumes in the 1970s and are fascinating reading.
Moments of Being (published US 1976) – collected autobiographical writings. Woolf always intended to write a formal autobiography, but never did. She was a member of a group called the Memoir Club, who read autobiographical pieces to each other. Several of the essays here were written for that group. Of greatest interest are “Reminiscences,” begun in 1907, ostensibly as a memoir of Woolf’s sister Vanessa, and “A Sketch of the Past” (begun in 1938), which gives a mature view of that same family history and also introduces the concept “moments of being.”
Congenial Spirits: The Selected Letters of Virginia Woolf , ed. Joanne Trautmann Banks (1989). Woolf’s collected letters fill six volumes and are as interesting as her diaries. Banks edited those volumes with Nigel Nicholson (Vita Sackville-West’s son) and published them 1975-80. Since then more letters have been found, for a total of over 4000. The selection of letters in Congenial Spirits includes a few new ones, restored passages from letters that had previously been censored to protected the feelings of people then living, and a generous selection of what Banks felt to be the best letters.