Virginia Woolf and the Natural world

The summer course in 2026 will run twice: first, live online, then in person in Cambridge. This is the page for the Cambridge course.

Summer course photos are by Jeremy Peters, 2024, 2025.
Jackdaw cyanotypes are by Deborah Parkin.

Our 2026 Virginia Woolf course will explore the theme of Virginia Woolf and the Natural World

All of Woolf’s books are deeply interested in the presence of nature and with human relations with the natural world. We will explore her interest in the sea, woods, clouds, trees, gardens, birds, and much else. Nature is woven into all her books, even those set largely in cities, such as The Years (1937). Woolf has an extraordinary eye for detail, partly as a result of her close study of nature in her childhood. She was always very observant of the natural world around her, from the vista of the sea, sky, fields, and flocks of birds to tiny details of an individual plant or animal.

The summer course has 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) in the morning. In the afternoon there are walks, talks and visits in Cambridge. .

Course dates: 2-7 August 2026. Arrive in Cambridge Sunday afternoon 2 August, depart Saturday morning 8 August 2026.

Immediately after the course, we also offer an optional trip to Charleston farm house in East Sussex, where Woolf’s sister Vanessa Bell lived for many years and Woolf visited regularly. This will be on Saturday 8 August.. There is an additional charge for the Charleston trip. Booking page for Charleston is here. You might also need to book an extra night at Selwyn, and depart Sunday 9 August.

Lectures

Monday 3 August 2026. Alison Hennegan, Women and Nature in Jacob’s Room (1922)
Tuesday 4 August 2026. Karina Jakubowicz, The Artist’s Garden in To the Lighthouse (1927)
Wednesday 5 August 2026. Hollie Wells, Hollie Wells, Land and Sea in The Waves (1931)
Thursday 6 August 2026. Trudi Tate, The Weather in History: The Years (1937)
Friday 7 August 2026. Ellie Mitchell, Earth and Sky in Between the Acts (1941)

Supervisions

After each lecture, there will be 15 minutes’ question time, then we have a break for a cup of tea. Then you will have a 1-hour supervision.

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.

The supervision is one of the most rewarding elements of the course. Read about supervisions in a blog post by Diana Grosser, who has attended several summer courses.

Visits (details to be confirmed)

• Afternoon tea and talk at the Orchard Tea Room in Grantchester, much loved by Woolf, Rupert Brooke, Bertrand Russell, John Maynard Keynes, and others

• Afternoon tea and talk at Waterstone’s Bookshop, Cambridge

• Visit to one or two Cambridge Colleges
… and more

Talks and Readings

• Ann Kennedy Smith, Virginia Woolf, Rupert Brooke and the ‘neo-pagans’
• Harriet Baker on Nature Writing in Virginia Woolf’s Diary.
• Claudia Tobin on Monks House and Garden (tbc)
• Bonnie Lander Johnson on Vanishing Landscapes: Saffron
Further talks and readings to be confirmed.

Set Reading

Woolf, Jacob’s Room (1922)
Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927)
Woolf, The Waves (1931)
Woolf, The Years (1937)
Woolf, Between the Acts (1941)

If possible, please buy the most recent Oxford World’s Classics editions of the novels, so we can all be on the same page in discussions. But if that’s difficult, don’t worry; any good edition will do. Please support local and independent bookshops, or Bookshop.org or Hive.co.uk when buying books for our courses. Thank you.

Optional Further Reading

Woolf, ‘A Sketch of the Past’ in Moments of Being
Woolf, Diary. Read any sections which interest you, especially those from the times she is writing To the Lighthouse or The Waves.
Harriet Baker, Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann (Allen Lane, 2024).
Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (biography, 1996)
Michael Whitworth, Virginia Woolf: Authors in Context (2005)
Virginia Woolf, Kew Gardens and Other Short Fiction, ed. Bryony Randall (2022)

Editions: we recommend the Oxford World’s Classics edition, so we can all be on the same page in discussions. But if that’s difficult, any good edition will be fine. If possible, please buy your books from independent bookshops, or use Hive or bookshop.org, which support independent booksellers. Thank you.

Links

• Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.
• Monk's House, National Trust.
• Charleston, National Trust.
• Paula Maggio, Blogging Woolf.
• Notes on Leonard Woolf.

Blog posts
• Gertrud Fahlin on the 2024 summer course in Cambridge
• What is a Supervision? Diana Grosser describes the experience
• Photo gallery: a visit to Newnham College, 2025

Course fees

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

All fees include VAT of 20%.

Optional trip to Charleston on 8 August 2026

Early bird booking by 10 January 2026: £140.00
Booking after 10 January 2026: £160.00
Places are limited

To book for the summer course in Cambridge, click on Jackdaws image below.

To book for the trip to Charleston, click here.