Orlando and the Politics of Biography
Virginia Woolf Season 2024-25: Woolf and Politics
Lecture 8. 12 April 2025. Orlando and the Politics of Biography with Varsha Panjwani
Marginal Biographies
How should one write a biography of a person at the margins of society? What should a biographer do in the face of the patchy records of such lives? If a life is not lived typically, can a standard cradle-to-grave biography do it justice? What are the political stakes of writing biographies of overlooked lives? These are some of the questions posed by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography.
Orlando begins in the 16th century and ends in the early 20th century – the book’s present. Taking cue from this structure, my lecture will also concentrate on the 16th century, the early 20th century, and our present. It will examine Woolf’s strategies in moulding the genre of biography and think about the politics of such innovations.
I will discuss how Woolf uses fiction to present biographical cameos of mainstream historical figures such as Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, how she writes biographies of fictional characters, and the ways in which she combines fact and fiction to write biographies of people often marginalized in 16th century historical records such as foreigners, queer people, and women.
I will also rehearse Woolf’s frustrations with biographical writing in the early 20thcentury, her thoughts on reforming the structure of biography, and the way in which she put her views into practice by synthesizing genres to write Orlando based on the life of her lover, Vita Sackville-West.
Perhaps the capaciousness of the biographical form that Woolf crafts in this book is the reason for its enduring legacy. The lecture will end by looking at trans activist Paul B. Preciado’s film, Orlando, My Political Biography which uses Woolf’s character to fill in the biographies of twenty-six modern-day Orlandos of all ages who wear the Elizabethan ruff to articulate their stories.
Woolf knew that biography should not be a one-size-fits-all genre; and she knew that diversifying biographical writing to suit the needs of people on the margins is a political act.
Live online lecture and seminar with Varsha Panjwani
Saturday 12 April 2025
18.00-20.00 British Summer Time
19.00-21.00 Central European Summer Time
Morning/lunchtime in the Americas
£32.00 full price
£27.00 students and CAMcard holders
£27.00 members of the VWSGB
Virginia Woolf Season 2024-25: Woolf and Politics
Lecture 8. 12 April 2025. Orlando and the Politics of Biography with Varsha Panjwani
Marginal Biographies
How should one write a biography of a person at the margins of society? What should a biographer do in the face of the patchy records of such lives? If a life is not lived typically, can a standard cradle-to-grave biography do it justice? What are the political stakes of writing biographies of overlooked lives? These are some of the questions posed by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography.
Orlando begins in the 16th century and ends in the early 20th century – the book’s present. Taking cue from this structure, my lecture will also concentrate on the 16th century, the early 20th century, and our present. It will examine Woolf’s strategies in moulding the genre of biography and think about the politics of such innovations.
I will discuss how Woolf uses fiction to present biographical cameos of mainstream historical figures such as Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, how she writes biographies of fictional characters, and the ways in which she combines fact and fiction to write biographies of people often marginalized in 16th century historical records such as foreigners, queer people, and women.
I will also rehearse Woolf’s frustrations with biographical writing in the early 20thcentury, her thoughts on reforming the structure of biography, and the way in which she put her views into practice by synthesizing genres to write Orlando based on the life of her lover, Vita Sackville-West.
Perhaps the capaciousness of the biographical form that Woolf crafts in this book is the reason for its enduring legacy. The lecture will end by looking at trans activist Paul B. Preciado’s film, Orlando, My Political Biography which uses Woolf’s character to fill in the biographies of twenty-six modern-day Orlandos of all ages who wear the Elizabethan ruff to articulate their stories.
Woolf knew that biography should not be a one-size-fits-all genre; and she knew that diversifying biographical writing to suit the needs of people on the margins is a political act.
Live online lecture and seminar with Varsha Panjwani
Saturday 12 April 2025
18.00-20.00 British Summer Time
19.00-21.00 Central European Summer Time
Morning/lunchtime in the Americas
£32.00 full price
£27.00 students and CAMcard holders
£27.00 members of the VWSGB
Virginia Woolf Season 2024-25: Woolf and Politics
Lecture 8. 12 April 2025. Orlando and the Politics of Biography with Varsha Panjwani
Marginal Biographies
How should one write a biography of a person at the margins of society? What should a biographer do in the face of the patchy records of such lives? If a life is not lived typically, can a standard cradle-to-grave biography do it justice? What are the political stakes of writing biographies of overlooked lives? These are some of the questions posed by Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A Biography.
Orlando begins in the 16th century and ends in the early 20th century – the book’s present. Taking cue from this structure, my lecture will also concentrate on the 16th century, the early 20th century, and our present. It will examine Woolf’s strategies in moulding the genre of biography and think about the politics of such innovations.
I will discuss how Woolf uses fiction to present biographical cameos of mainstream historical figures such as Shakespeare and Elizabeth I, how she writes biographies of fictional characters, and the ways in which she combines fact and fiction to write biographies of people often marginalized in 16th century historical records such as foreigners, queer people, and women.
I will also rehearse Woolf’s frustrations with biographical writing in the early 20thcentury, her thoughts on reforming the structure of biography, and the way in which she put her views into practice by synthesizing genres to write Orlando based on the life of her lover, Vita Sackville-West.
Perhaps the capaciousness of the biographical form that Woolf crafts in this book is the reason for its enduring legacy. The lecture will end by looking at trans activist Paul B. Preciado’s film, Orlando, My Political Biography which uses Woolf’s character to fill in the biographies of twenty-six modern-day Orlandos of all ages who wear the Elizabethan ruff to articulate their stories.
Woolf knew that biography should not be a one-size-fits-all genre; and she knew that diversifying biographical writing to suit the needs of people on the margins is a political act.
Live online lecture and seminar with Varsha Panjwani
Saturday 12 April 2025
18.00-20.00 British Summer Time
19.00-21.00 Central European Summer Time
Morning/lunchtime in the Americas
£32.00 full price
£27.00 students and CAMcard holders
£27.00 members of the VWSGB