Study 1: Flush & Freshwater, 9-12 April 2026
Study 2: Between the Acts, 16-19 April 2026
In spring, as nature unfurls anew, we offer studies of Virginia Woolf’s writing in Alfriston, a village in the heart of Woolf’s beloved Sussex countryside close to the country home she shared with Leonard Woolf until her tragic death, and Charleston, the rural base of the celebrated Bloomsbury group. Where better to read this extraordinary author’s work than in the county that in many ways became her spiritual home?
As one of the key members of the Bloomsbury Group, Woolf is often seen as a London writer, but she and her husband Leonard had an abiding love for the South Downs. Together they purchased Monk’s House near Rodmell in 1919 and used it as their writer’s retreat. Virginia wrote some of her major works there and the Sussex landscape was integral to her writing as she tried to capture what she saw as its unsurpassable beauty.
There are a number of other Bloomsbury outposts in the area: in 1916 Virginia’s sister, the artist Vanessa Bell, moved to Charleston Farmhouse with the painter Duncan Grant, while John Maynard Keynes and his wife Lydia Lopokova also settled locally. Today there is also a new permanent cultural centre, Charleston in Lewes, providing exhibition and workshop space inspired by the Bloomsbury group.
Over two long weekends in April 2026 (9-12 and 16-19 April) we will offer an opportunity to enjoy the locale and join with other readers in reading and discussing Woolf’s work. Please click on the links in the study titles above to find out more and register if you would like to join us.
