The Virginia Woolf Podcast

Send us Fan MailThis podcast is all about the wonderful Jane Harrison, the inimitable classicist who was a significant influence on Virginia Woolf. To discuss Jane's life and legacy we have Ann Kennedy Smith. Ann is a writer, researcher, and literary critic. Her essays and reviews have been published in the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, Slightly Foxed magazine, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Journal of Victorian Culture, English Review and History Today. She has given lectures for Cambridge University Library, Literature Cambridge (with Dr Trudi Tate) and Cambridge alumni associations, and in January 2023 she was a guest on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Freethinking’ programme, talking about women in higher education. She is currently working on a book about the Cambridge Ladies’ Dining Society 1890-1914. She is a member of Clare Hall Art Committee.You can access her excellent substack, 'The Cambridge Ladies’ Dining Society' through the following link:https://akennedysmith.substack.com/?utm_source=global-searchTo learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailFrances Spalding discusses her thoughts on Bloomsbury, a meeting with Duncan Grant, and the wonderful Stevie Smith. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Karina speaks with Urmila Seshagiri about 'The Life of Violet,' a previously unpublished manuscript by Virginia Woolf that has just been released by Princeton University Press. Urmila is Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Professor of English at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is the author of Race and the Modernist Imagination (Cornell UP), and is the editor of Virginia Woolf’s The Life of Violet (Princeton UP), Jacob’s Room (Oxford UP), and To the Lighthouse (W. W. Norton; in preparation), and she is preparing the first scholarly edition of Woolf’s memoir, A Sketch of the PastTo learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailThis is episode is all about writers' rooms - where do writers really work, and why are we so invested in the romance of the writing process? Academic and author, Katie da Cunha Lewin has thought a great deal about this subject, and her recent book 'The Writer's Room' explores it in depth. In this episode, Karina chats to Katie about the politics and practicalities of authorship, and (of course) about Virginia Woolf's own writing process. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailOur previous episode on Katherine Mansfield was so successful that we've prepared this sequel entirely dedicated to her life and work. In this episode, Karina speaks with Dr Gerri Kimber about her new biography, 'Katherine Mansfield: A Hidden Life,' an incredibly rich examination of the wild and dangerous legacy left  by one of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. Woolf said that Mansfield was the only writer she was jealous of, and in many ways it's easy to see why.  The book is available from Reaction from Nov 1st 2025. You can see Gerri speak at the Oxford Literary Festival and at Hatchard's Piccadilly, and follow her on instagram at @gerri_kimberhttps://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/katherine-mansfieldTo learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIt is officially 100yrs since the publication of Mrs Dalloway. To celebrate, we have just released a podcast episode with Prof Mark Hussey on his new 'biography' of the novel. In the course of this interview we discussed the evolution of Mrs Dalloway, Woolf's various sources of inspiration, and the novel's many afterlives.  We also talked about how re-reading the novel across a lifetime grants it a new kind of biography, an autobiography mapped on to our own lives and experiences. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Karina speaks with Professor Maggie Humm about her new book, 'The Bloomsbury Photographs.' They discuss the importance of photography to the Bloomsbury members, the cameras they used, and the role of photograph albums in the curation of their intimate, creative lives. http://www.maggiehumm.net/ https://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2024/10/25/the-bloomsbury-photographs/To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailHarriet Baker joins Karina to discuss her new book, 'Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann.' Together they explore how rural living affected the work of these three innovative authors, and profoundly shaped their personal and political lives. The book is available from Allen Lane publishers and all good bookshops. https://www.qmul.ac.uk/sed/english/staff/phd/profiles/bakerh.htmlhttps://www.waterstones.com/book/rural-hours/harriet-baker/9780241540510To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn the second part of our series on Woolf in Japan, Karina visits Etc bookshop, a feminist bookshop in Tokyo. There, she speaks to the bookshop's founder, Akiko Matsuo, who believes Woolf's work is inspiring a whole community of Japanese feminists. Karina also speaks to the novelist and translator Aoko Matsuda, who discusses what it means to 'think back through our mothers' if we are women. Her book 'Eko no Mori' is partly inspired by Mrs Dalloway.You can find more about Etc books and Aoko Matsuda below:https://www.instagram.com/etc.books_bookshop/https://www.instagram.com/matsudaoko/ The episode was funded by The Daiwa Foundation. The translator and co-producer was Aki Katyama.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn 1910 a young Virginia Woolf engaged in a prank now known as The Dreadnought Hoax. The episode, which involved her pretending to be an Abyssinian Prince and wearing blackface, has divided and embarrassed scholars of her work, many of whom prefer not to dwell on it.Danell Jones, author of 'The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, Race, and The Dreadnaught Hoax' is the first researcher to deeply consider this moment in Woolf's biography while also engaging with the Black experience in Britain, including the stories of real princes to Caribbean writers and South African activists. Karina asks Danell what really happened during the Hoax and what legacies it leaves. The book can be purchased through multiple outlets including: https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-girl-prince/For a discount, use promo code  THEGIRLPRINCE25https://danelljones.com/the-girl-prince-virginia-woolf-race-and-the-dreadnought-hoax/To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Karina speaks with Mansfield expert Gerri Kimber about the author's infamous connection with Virginia Woolf. They discuss what they had in common, what they didn't, and whether she was really a member of the Bloomsbury Group.Gerri is the founder of the Katherine Mansfield Society. She is the author of Katherine Mansfield: The Early Years (2016), Katherine Mansfield and the Art of the Short Story (2015), and Katherine Mansfield: The View from France (2008). She is the Series Editor of the 4-volume Edinburgh Edition of the Collected Works of Katherine Mansfield (2012-16). To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailThis is the first part of a mini-series on Woolf in Japan. In this episode, Karina is joined by Prof Aki Katyama, the Japanese translator of A Room of One's Own. Together they discuss the success of this text in Japan, and the importance of Woolf's feminist essay to contemporary Japanese gender politics. They speak with students at Dokkyo University in Soka, and with Ryoko Takeuchi, a publisher at Heibonsha Publishers in Tokyo. The episode is funded by The Daiwa Foundation.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Karina interviews the excellent Kabe Wilson, an artist and scholar who has recently been artist in residence at the University of Sussex. They discuss his long relationship with Woolf's work and go in search of a lighthouse with some strange connections between his own paintings to those of Vanessa Bell. Kabe is known in the Woolf community for his imaginative interventions in Woolf's writing. His many projects on Woolf include: Of One Woman or So, The Dreadlock Hoax, and On Being Still. His work has recently been chosen to illustrate the Norton Critical Edition of To the Lighthouse .To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailThis episode celebrates the opening of an exhibition at Charleston's new museum in Lewes, Sussex. The exhibition is titled Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and Fashion and is running until January 7th 2025. In order to discuss the Bloomsbury Group and their innovative approach to clothing, Karina is joined by the exhibition's curator, Charlie Porter, and Woolf and fashion scholar Claire Nicholson.Charlie is a writer, fashion critic and curator. He has written for The Financial Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, GQ, Luncheon, i-D and Fantastic Man, and has been described as one of the most influential fashion journalists of his time. Porter co-runs the London queer rave Chapter 10, and is a trustee of the Friends of Arnold Circus, where he is also a volunteer gardener. He is the author of What Artists Wear and of a book inspired by his work with Charleston, titled Bring No Clothes.Claire has taught English in Cambridge for many years. Her interest in fashion history was combined with literary analysis in her dissertation In Woolf’s Clothing: Clothes and Fashion in Virginia Woolf’s Fiction. She is Chair of the Virginia Woolf Society.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailMarielle O'Neill and Prof. Peter Stansky discuss the many legacies of Leonard Woolf, notably his anti-imperialism, socialism, and work in international politics.Peter Stansky is a professor of History at Stanford University and the author of Leonard Woolf, Bloomsbury Socialist. His most recent publication is The Socialist Patriot: George Orwell and War. As a distinguished historian, he has judged the Pulitzer Prize, among other book awards. Peter was a finalist for the National Book Awards in 1967, 1973, and 1981. He has also served as a member of the Executive Council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has lectured in various parts of North America, Europe and Australia. Marielle is a PhD candidate at Leeds Trinity University. Her research explores the political activism and partnership of Leonard and Virginia Woolf. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain. She has been active in politics on both sides of the Atlantic, working on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC and in the Houses of Parliament, London. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailThis is the second of two episodes created to celebrate 100yrs since the first 'Dalloway day.' In this episode, Professor Dame Gillian Beer gives a wonderful lecture titled, 'For There She Was: Love and Presence in Mrs Dalloway'To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailThis is the first of two episodes created to celebrate 100yrs since the day on which Mrs Dalloway is set. This episode focuses on a mysterious painting by Vanessa Bell and explores its possible connection to Mrs Dalloway. Karina speaks with the painting's owner, Howard Ginsberg, and the bestselling author of Bloomsbury Pie, Regina Marler in order to think about paintings and parties in 1920s Bloomsbury. With thanks to Howard Ginsberg for his permission to use an image of the artwork. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailKarina speaks with Prof Mark Hussey about an often misunderstood  member of the Bloomsbury Group, Clive Bell. Hussey touches on Bell's pacifism, his love affairs, and his powerful influence on Bloomsbury thought. Prof Hussey is the author of Bell's biography, 'Clive Bell and the Making of Modernism' and has edited 'The Selected Letters of Clive Bell: Art, Love, and War in Bloomsbury.'You can purchase copies and learn more at:https://www.markhusseybooks.comFor a 30% discount on The Letters of Clive Bell:See https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-selected-letters-of-clive-bell.htmlCode NEW30 gets a 30% discount. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailA new theatrical adaptation of Orlando has just premiered in the West End. The play is by Neil Bartlett and features Emma Corrin in the title role. Karina interviews Dr Angela Harris, Neil Bartlett, and a group of fantastic students from Florida State University, London Campus. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailAfter 5 years of planning, Woolf's statue was finally unveiled in Richmond, Surrey. This episode features interviews with those who attended the event, including Woolf's great great niece, Sophie Partridge, and author and Woolf expert, Professor Maggie Humm. The unveiling Blogging Woolf.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn the first episode of Season 2, Karina celebrates the centenary of Jacob's Room by visiting King's College, Cambridge. While there, we get a sense of where some of the Bloomsbury members lived while they studied at Cambridge, and explore the novel's relationship with death, memory, and the Great War.  Karina speaks with novelist, Prof Susan Sellers and King's archivist, Peter Jones.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailKarina interviews Tanya Shadrick about Woolf's influence on her wonderful memoir, 'A Cure for Sleep'. The book explores what it means to have a near-death experience, the joy of having a second chance, and the power and labour of writing.The interview takes place by Pells Pool in Lewes, Sussex, not far from where Woolf once lived. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailKarina interviews drag king Holly James Johnston, who created a drag act entirely based on Woolf's character, Orlando. She regularly performs as Orlando and has spoken about what it means to apply Woolf's novel to the art of drag and dress. Her photographs for 'Adventures in Time and Gender' vividly reimagined what Orlando would have looked like during the 2020 lockdown.https://adventuresintimeandgender.org/wormholes/orlando/https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/news/profile-holly-james-johnston/To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this interview, Karina talks to Shakespeare scholar and creator of the Women in Shakespeare podcast, Dr Varsha Panjwani. We discuss Shakespeare's huge impact on Woolf and her ambivalence about  masculine influence. We also dig into that mysterious character of 'Shakespeare's sister,' and ask whether such a figure could have existed in Shakespeare's day. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailKarina talks with Prof Susan Sellers about her newest novel, Firebird, which documents the extraordinary life of ballerina and Bloomsbury icon, Lydia Lopokova. You can find a review of Firebird on the Literature Cambridge website.Susan is an academic, writer, and translator. She the author of Vanessa and Virginia, a novel that gives a fictionalised account of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. The work was adapted into a stage play by Elizabeth Wright. You can find an episode all about the novel in this series of the VW podcast. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast, writer Peter Fullagar and sculptor Laury Dizengremel talk to Karina Jakubowicz about the campaign to place a life-sized statue of Virginia Woolf at Richmond. The campaign was founded by Aurora Metro Arts and Media organisation. Recorded in spring 2021.To support this campaign, head over to their fundraising page. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailKarina talks with Prof Emma Sutton about the myriad of ways that classical music is relevant to Woolf's life and work. They discuss how innovations in early twentieth century music influenced changes in modern literature and how this music impacted on Woolf's writing process.  Prof Emma Sutton a professor of English at the University of St Andrews, and has published widely on the relationships among music, literature and fine art in the nineteenth and twentieth century. She is author of Aubrey Beardsley and British Wagnerism in the 1890s (Oxford, 2002), Virginia Woolf and Classical Music (Edinburgh, 2013). She is also Founding Director of the Woolf and Music project.  To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan Mail Karina talks with Prof Maggie Humm's about her debut novel, Talland House.  Talland House builds on Woolf's famous novel To the Lighthouse, exploring the Cornish art scene in the 1920s, expanding on the character of Lily Briscoe, and asking the ultimate question - who killed Mrs Ramsay? Maggie Humm is an Emeritus Professor at the University of East London in the UK. An international Woolf scholar, she is the author/editor of fourteen books, the last three of which focused on Woolf and the arts. Talland House was shortlisted for the Impress and Fresher Fiction prizes (as Who Killed Mrs. Ramsay?) and the Retreat West and Eyelands prizes. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailIn this episode Karina chats with Prof Susan Sellers about her novel, Vanessa and Virginia, which explores the fascinating relationship between Virginia Woolf and her sister, the artist Vanessa Bell. Susan is Professor of English and Related Literature at the University of St Andrews, where she teaches modernist and contemporary literature and creative writing. She won the Canongate Prize for Short Story Writing and her first novel, Vanessa and Virginia, has been translated into 16 languages and was adapted for the stage. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailWhat would it be like to live in Monk's House, former home of Virginia Woolf? Caroline Zoob and her husband Jonathan are some of the few people who know the answer to that question. They lived in Monk's House as tenants for the National Trust for over a decade, and in this episode they talk with Karina about what it was like to share their home with Woolf's legacy, dozens of volunteers, and seven and a half thousand visitors a year.Caroline Zoob is an embroider and designer, she is also the author of Virginia Woolf's Garden: The Story of the Garden at Monk's House, which is published by Jaqui Small. To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb

Send us Fan MailSarah M. Hall, writer and editor, talks to Karina about her book, Before Leonard: The Early Suitors of Virginia Woolf. Sarah is on the Council of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain and is a regular contributor to the Virginia Woolf Bulletin. You can buy Sarah's book from the Charleston Farmhouse bookshop.To learn more about Literature Cambridge, go to https://www.literaturecambridge.co.uk or follow them on:https://litcamb.substack.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/literature-cambridgeand Instagram @litcamb