Calendar of
literature sessions
Image: Jeremy Peters, Newnham College
2025 Summer Course
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 2.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 2. Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman’s Honeymoon (1937), with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 3.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 3. Agatha Christie, Five Little Pigs (1942) with Alison Hennegan. Live online course. SOLD OUT.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 4.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 4. Margery Allingham, Tiger in the Smoke (1952) with Alison Hennegan. Live online course. SOLD OUT.
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.
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.
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).
Women Writers of the 1920s. Summer Course Live Online
We will run the Summer Course twice in 2027 - once live online, 22-26 July, and again as an in-person course in Cambridge, 5-10 September. Our theme is Women Writers of the 1920s. This page will link to the live online course.
We will study five novels by five different writers, all brilliant and interesting in their different ways.
Elizabeth Bowen, Winifred Holtby, Rosamond Lehmann, Katherine Mansfield, and Sylvia Townsend Warner.
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.
Golden Age Detective Fiction. Lecture 1.
We study four great detective novels from the 1920s and 30s, all written by women. Lecture 1: Gladys Mitchell, Speedy Death (1929) with Alison Hennegan. Live online course.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).