Calendar of
literature sessions
Image: Jeremy Peters, Newnham College
2025 Summer Course
Close Reading Shelley 2 Session 2
Session 2 of 2. We study more of the great poetry of P. B. Shelley through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Doris Lessing course: Lecture 2
Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 2. Martha Quest (1952). Lecture 2 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.
Virginia Woolf Season. 1. Claire Davison on The Years
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 1. Claire Davison on The Years (1937) and the Streets of London.
Visions of Venice. 1 Byron, Dickens, Wordsworth
Session 1 of 5. We study writing about Venice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Live online course with Miles Leeson. Lecture 1: the 19th century: Byron, Wordsworth, Ruskin, Dickens.
Doris Lessing course: Lecture 3
Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 3. The Golden Notebook (1962). Lecture 3 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.
Brontes Season 2026-27. Wuthering Heights
Brontes Season 2026-27. Lecture 2. Trudi Tate on Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights (1847)
Please buy your books for our courses from your local bookshop or from Bookshop.org.
Image: Gary Butterfield Yorkshire, Unsplash
Visions of Venice. 2 Henry James, The Aspern Papers
Session 2 of 5. We study writing about Venice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Live online course with Miles Leeson. Lecture 2: Henry James The Aspern Papers (1888).
Milton, Paradise Lost
An introduction to Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, with Dr Fred Parker, University of Cambridge. Lecture 1 of 2. Live online.
Lecture for Peace: Poetry of the Irish Peace Process
Join Mariah Whelan for a 2-hour seminar on Close Reading Poetry of the Irish Peace Process. Part of our series Lectures for Peace. All proceeds go to charities working for peace and for refugees. Details will be published on the Lectures for Peace page. This session will be a 2-hour seminar, and won’t be recorded.
Doris Lessing course: Lecture 4
Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 4. The Summer Before Dark (1973). Lecture 4 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.
Milton, Paradise Lost
An introduction to Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, with Dr Fred Parker, University of Cambridge. Lecture 2 of 2. Live online.
Visions of Venice. 3. Mann, Death in Venice
Session 3 of 5. We study writing about Venice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Live online course with Miles Leeson. Lecture 3. Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (1912)
Virginia Woolf Season: Clara Jones on Night and Day
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 2. Clara Jones on Married Love in Night and Day (1919).
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 1.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 1 of 4 with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
Visions of Venice. 4 Highsmith, Those Who Walk Away
Session 4 of 5. We study writing about Venice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Live online course with Miles Leeson. Lecture 4. Patricia Highsmith, Those Who Walk Away (1967).
Brontes Season 2026-27. Emily Bronte, poetry
Brontes Season 2026-27. Lecture 3. Greta Colombani on the Poetry of Emily Bronte
Please use local bookshops when buying books for our courses, or buy through Bookshop.org which also supports local bookshops. Thank you.
Image: Gary Butterfield, Yorkshire, Unsplash
Close Reading Emily Dickinson Course 2
Session 1 of 2. This is our second course on the great poetry of American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) which we study through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 2.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 2 of 4 with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
Close Reading Emily Dickinson Course 2
Session 2 of 2. This is our second course on the great poetry of American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) which we study through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Visions of Venice. 5 Du Maurier, Don’t Look Now
Session 5 of 5. We study writing about Venice in the 19th and 20th centuries. Live online course with Miles Leeson. Lecture 5 Daphne du Maurier, Don't Look Now (1971).
Woolf Season: Mark Hussey on Between the Acts
Virginia Woolf Season VII. 2026-27
Mark Hussey on Woolf’s last novel, Between the Acts (1941). Live online lecture and seminar.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 3.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 3 of 4 with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
Close Reading Poems about Birds
Session 1 of 2. We study some great poems about birds through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Close Reading Poems about Birds
Session 2 of 2. We study some great poems about birds through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Iris Murdoch and the Gothic seminar
Iris Murdoch and the Gothic hybrid course. Four recorded lectures, followed by a live online seminar with Dr Miles Leeson, Director of the Iris Murdoch Resarch Centre.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 4.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 4 of 4 with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
Ali Smith Study Day in Cambridge
Join us in person in Cambridge for an intensive study afternoon on two of Ali Smith’s recent great novels. Led by Dr Alex Calder, University of Cambridge. Two lectures and a seminar over 3 hours. Tea and biscuits will be provided.
Virginia Woolf Season. Trudi Tate on Mrs Dalloway.
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 4. Trudi Tate on Mrs Dalloway (1925) and the Peace Treaties.
Anton Chekhov: An Introduction. Lecture 1
Lecture 1 of 4 on the plays and stories of Anton Chekhov, with Claire Davison and Trudi Tate.
Brontes Season 2026-27. Jane Eyre
Brontes Season 2026-27.Lecture 4. Clare Walker Gore on Space and Place in Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)
Please use local bookshops when buying books for our courses, or buy through Bookshop.org which also supports local bookshops. Thank you.
Image: Gary Butterfield, Yorkshire, Unsplash
Iris Murdoch and Marriage Lecture 1
Lecture 1 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Marriage with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, January-March 2027.
Set reading:
• The Sandcastle
• A Severed Head
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• The Book and the Brotherhood
Anton Chekhov: An Introduction. Lecture 2
Lecture 2 of 4 on the plays and stories of Anton Chekhov, with Claire Davison and Trudi Tate.
Virginia Woolf Season. Beth Daugherty on Woolf’s Essays
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 5. Beth Rigel Daugherty on The Historian in Woolf’s Essays.
Anton Chekhov: An Introduction. Lecture 3
Lecture 3 of 4 on the plays and stories of Anton Chekhov, with Claire Davison and Trudi Tate.
Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain: VW Birthday Lecture
Annual Woolf Birthday Lecture with the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, London. Further information will be published on the VWSGB website.
Iris Murdoch and Marriage Lecture 2
Lecture 2 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Marriage with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, January-March 2027.
Set reading:
• The Sandcastle
• A Severed Head
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• The Book and the Brotherhood
Anton Chekhov: An Introduction. Lecture 4
Lecture 4 of 4 on the plays and stories of Anton Chekhov, with Claire Davison and Trudi Tate.
Virginia Woolf Season. Kabe Wilson on To the Lighthouse.
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 6. Kabe Wilson on To the Lighthouse (1927) and the Alphabet
Iris Murdoch and Marriage Lecture 3
Lecture 3 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Marriage with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, January-March 2027.
Set reading:
• The Sandcastle
• A Severed Head
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• The Book and the Brotherhood
Brontes Season 2026-27. Villette
Brontes Season 2026-27. Lecture 5. Corinna Russell on Charlotte Bronte, Villette (1853).
We recommend the Oxford World’s Classics edition of the novel. But if you don’t have this, any good edition will be fine.
Please buy books for our courses from your local bookshop or from Bookshop.org.
Image: Gary Butterfield, Yorkshire, Unsplash
Iris Murdoch and Marriage Lecture 4
Lecture 4 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Marriage with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, January-March 2027.
Set reading:
• The Sandcastle
• A Severed Head
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• The Book and the Brotherhood
Homer and Shakespeare
New course on the heroic world with Dr Fred Parker and Dr Jan Parker. Lecture 1 of 4. Jan Parker on Homer, The Iliad. Live online.
Homer and Shakespeare
New course on the heroic world with Dr Fred Parker and Dr Jan Parker. Lecture 2 of 4. Jan Parker on the Odyssey. Live online.
Virginia Woolf Season. Claire Nicholson on Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 7. Claire Nicholson on Mrs Dalloway (1925) and Fashion History
Iris Murdoch and Marriage Lecture 5
Lecture 5 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and Marriage with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, January-March 2027.
Set reading:
• The Sandcastle
• A Severed Head
• A Fairly Honourable Defeat
• The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
• The Book and the Brotherhood
Homer and Shakespeare
New course with Dr Fred Parker and Dr Jan Parker. Lecture 3 of 4. Fred Parker on Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra.
Brontes Season 2026-27. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Brontes Season 2026-27. Lecture 6. Alison Hennegan on Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848)
We recommend the Oxford World’s Classics edition of the novel. But if you don’t have this, any good edition will be fine.
Please buy books for our courses from your local bookshop or from Bookshop.org. Thank you.
Image: Gary Butterfield, Yorkshire, Unsplash
Homer and Shakespeare
New course with Dr Fred Parker and Dr Jan Parker. Lecture 4 of 4. Fred Parker on Shakespeare, Othello and Troilus and Cressida
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 1
Lecture 1 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 2
Lecture 2 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 3
Lecture 3 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Virginia Woolf Season: Ellie Mitchell on Three Guineas and LW, The Hotel
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 8. Ellie Mitchell on Three Guineas (1938) and Leonard Woolf, The Hotel (1939).
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 4
Lecture 4 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 5
Lecture 5 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Victorian Season 2027. Lecture 1
Lecture 1 in our new season of Victorian literature, live online.
Katherine Mansfield course 2027. Lecture 6
Lecture 6 of 6. Katherine Mansfield: Place and Displacement. Live online course, weekly, with various lecturers.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 1 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Virginia Woolf Season: Alison Hennegan on Orlando
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 9. Alison Hennegan on Orlando (1928) and Their Histories.
This lecture will explore the relation between ‘History’ as usually understood now and the common 18thC use of the word to mean a novel. From the beginning ‘story’ was recognised as central both to historiography and fiction, something of which Woolf was well aware and with which she plays throughout Orlando.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 2 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 3 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Victorian Season 2027. Lecture 2
Lecture 2 in our new season of Victorian literature, live online.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 4 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 5 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women. Live online course with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Röhmhild. Lecture 1 of 4. The Benefactress (1901). Free digital copy available on Project Gutenberg. JR.
Close Reading The Waves
Session 6 of 6. Join us for six x 2-hour sessions, close reading Virginia Woolf’s lyrical novel, The Waves (1931). Live online with Dr Ellie Mitchell, University of St Andrews.
Virginia Woolf Season: Varsha Panjwani on A Room of One’s Own
Virginia Woolf Season 2026-27. Lecture 10. Varsha Panjwani, A Room of One’s Own (1929): An Inspiration Manual for Feminist History.
The lecture will trace how A Room of One’s Own has explicitly inspired feminist history projects in Shakespeare studies and beyond - from exhibitions that recover early modern women’s writing, to podcasts recording women's labour, to creative historiographies that imagine women’s lives into the archive - and show how Woolf’s essay still offers untapped tools for doing feminist historical work today.
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women. Live online course with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Röhmhild. Lecture 2 of 4. Introduction to Sally (1925; British Library, 2023).
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women. Live online course with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Röhmhild. Lecture 3 of 4. JR on Fraulein Schmidt & Mr Anstruther (1907). Virago ebook or Virago paperback.
Victorian Season 2027. Lecture 3
Lecture 3 in our new season of Victorian literature, live online. Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou on Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton (1848).
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women
Elizabeth von Arnim: Extraordinary Women. Live online course with Isobel Maddison and Juliane Röhmhild. Lecture 4 of 4. IM on Love (1925; Virago paperback).
Victorian Season 2027. Lecture 4
Lecture 4 in our new season of Victorian literature, live online.
Summer Course in Cambridge: Women Writers of the 1920s
Women Writers of the 1920s. Summer Course in Cambridge 2027. Details to follow shortly.
Close Reading Shelley 2 Session 1
Session 1 of 2. We study more of the great poetry of P. B. Shelley through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
Brontes Season 2026-27. Juvenilia
Brontes Season 2026-27. Lecture 1. Kate Eliot on the Juvenilia of the four Brontë children.
Image: Gary Butterfield, Yorkshire, Unsplash
Doris Lessing: Women and Destiny course
Doris Lessing Course: Women and Destiny. 1. The Grass is Singing (1950). Lecture 1 of 4 fortnightly sessions, live online with Anne-Laure Brevet.
2026 Summer Course in Cambridge: Virginia Woolf and the Natural World
Summer Course in Cambridge. Five days’ intensive study on Virginia Woolf and the Natural World. This course takes place in person in Cambridge, Monday 3 August to Friday 7 August 2026. Arrive in Cambridge Sunday late afternoon for a welcome dinner and lecture.
We study: Jacob’s Room, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, The Years, and Between the Acts. Plus talks, visits, and more.
Participants arrive in the afternoon of Sunday 2 August and depart on the morning of Saturday 8 August 2026. OR stay an extra day for an optional trip to Monk’s House and Charleston on Saturday 8 August; depart Sunday 9 August. Details on the booking page.
Women and Power in the mid-20thC. Live online seminar to conclude the course.
This hybrid course provides 4 x 60-minute lectures as video recordings, and ends with a live online seminar with Dr Miles Leeson. We will study:
• Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr Ripley (1955)
• Barbara Comyns, The Vet's Daughter (1959)
• Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)
• Brigid Brophy, The Snow Ball (1964).
Virginia Woolf and the Natural World. Summer Course Live Online
We will run the Woolf Summer Course twice in 2026 - once live online in July, and again as an in-person course in Cambridge in August. Our theme is Virginia Woolf and the Natural World. This is the page linking to the live online course.
We will study five novels by Woolf: Jacob’s Room, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, The Years, Between the Acts.
The live online course has 5 days of lectures, seminar, supervisions, talks and more, Thursday to Monday, including the weekend. An intense and memorable experience. Do join us.
Close Reading the Poetry of Seamus Heaney
Join us for two x two-hourly sessions, studying the poetry of Seamus Heaney through close reading. With Mariah Whelan. Session 2 of 2.
Close Reading the Poetry of Seamus Heaney
Join us for two x two-hourly sessions, studying the poetry of Seamus Heaney through close reading. With Mariah Whelan. Session 1 of 2.
Virginia Woolf Season. The Waves
Virginia Woolf Season 2025-26: Woolf’s Rooms. Lecture 10. Ellie Mitchell on Rooms in The Waves (1931).
Toni Morrison Course 2026. Lecture 4
Toni Morrison. Lecture 4 of 4. Jazz (1992). Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Alex Calder, University of Cambridge.
Toni Morrison Course 2026. Lecture 3
Toni Morrison. Lecture 3 of 4. Beloved (1987). Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Alex Calder, University of Cambridge.
The Poetry of Iris Murdoch
Join us for a one-off lecture and discussion of the poetry of Iris Murdoch Miles Leeson, who has just co-edited a new Selected Poems 1936-95 of Iris Murdoch.
Available from:
Bookshop.org.uk: in the UK.
Toni Morrison Course 2026. Lecture 2
Toni Morrison. Lecture 2 of 4. Song of Solomon. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Alex Calder, University of Cambridge.
Jane Austen Course 2026. Lecture 4
Jane Austen’s Families. Lecture 4 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Tom Zille, University of Cambridge.
Lecture 4. The Smooth Surface of Family Union: Persuasion (1818)
Toni Morrison Course 2026. Lecture 1
Toni Morrison. Lecture 1 of 4: The Bluest Eye. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Alex Calder, University of Cambridge.
Odysseus and Storytelling 3
Lecture 3 of 3, live online. In this year of Christopher Nolan’s new film of the Odyssey, join us with expert Dr Jan Parker to study Homer’s great work of storytelling.
Virginia Woolf Season. The Years
Virginia Woolf Season 2025-26: Woolf’s Rooms. Lecture 9. Trudi Tate on Rooms in The Years (1937).
Odysseus and Storytelling 2
Lecture 2 of 3, live online. In this year of Christopher Nolan’s new film of the Odyssey, join us with expert Dr Jan Parker to study Homer’s great work of storytelling.
Iris Murdoch and the natural world. Lecture 5
Lecture 5 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and the Natural World with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, March - May 2026.
Set reading:
The Unicorn
The Sea, The Sea
Nuns and Soldiers
The Good Apprentice
The Message to the Planet
Jane Austen Course 2026. Lecture 3
Jane Austen’s Families. Lecture 3 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Tom Zille, University of Cambridge.
Lecture 3. Distant Relations: Mansfield Park (1814)
Odysseus and Storytelling 1
Lecture 1 of 3, live online. In this year of Christopher Nolan’s new film of the Odyssey, join us with expert Dr Jan Parker to study Homer’s great work of storytelling.
Iris Murdoch and the natural world. Lecture 4
Lecture 4 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and the Natural World with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, March - May 2026.
Set reading:
The Unicorn
The Sea, The Sea
Nuns and Soldiers
The Good Apprentice
The Message to the Planet
Jane Austen Course 2026. Lecture 2
Jane Austen’s Families. Lecture 2 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Tom Zille, University of Cambridge.
Lecture 2. The Family Circle: Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Katherine Mansfield course 2026. Lecture 6
Lecture 6 of 6. Katherine Mansfield and Love. With Claire Davison, Alison Hennegan, Gerri Kimber, Ellie Mitchell, Trudi Tate, and Kate Eliot.
Close Reading Terrance Hayes
Session 2 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of American poet Terrance Hayes (b. 1971) through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
New Yorker Radio programme on Hayes.
Poetry Foundation on Hayes with some of his sonnets.
Virginia Woolf Season. Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf Season 2025-26: Woolf’s Rooms. Lecture 8. Angela Harris on Rooms in Mrs Dalloway (1925).
Katherine Mansfield course 2026. Lecture 5
Lecture 5 of 6. Katherine Mansfield and Love with Claire Davison, Alison Hennegan, Gerri Kimber, Ellie Mitchell, Trudi Tate, and Kate Eliot.
Iris Murdoch and the natural world. Lecture 3
Lecture 3 of 5 on Iris Murdoch and the Natural World with Miles Leeson. We study five great novels by Murdoch, March - May 2026.
Set reading:
The Unicorn
The Sea, The Sea
Nuns and Soldiers
The Good Apprentice
The Message to the Planet
Close Reading Terrance Hayes
Session 1 of 2. We study some of the great poetry of American poet Terrance Hayes (b. 1971) through close reading. Live online sessions with poet and lecturer Mariah Whelan.
New Yorker Radio programme on Hayes.
Poetry Foundation on Hayes with some of his sonnets.
Jane Austen Course 2026. Lecture 1
Jane Austen’s Families. Lecture 1 of 4. Live online lectures and seminars, fortnightly, with Tom Zille, University of Cambridge.
Lecture 1. Dependants: Sense and Sensibility (1811)