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Reading & Discussion Group: Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse
$35.00 – $115.00
The fees from ABC’s adult writing programs subsidize our free writing programs for kids, whose work is collected in a yearly anthology, and pay our adult workshop instructors. To remain as accessible as possible, participation in adult reading & discussion groups is based on a sliding scale. If you are looking for guidance as to which rate is right for you, this graphic is a helpful resource.
After reading To the Lighthouse, E.M. Forster called it Virginia Woolf’s “masterpiece.” In her introduction to the 1981 edition, Eudora Welty wrote, “Radiant as it is in its beauty, there could never be a mistake about it: here is a novel to the last degree severe and uncompromising. I think that beyond being about the very nature of reality, it is itself a vision of reality.” Long considered one of the greatest novels of consciousness, it is utterly modern, radical and yet beautifully anchored by formal constraints. Woolf’s inventive style, the novel’s unique structure, and her gorgeous prose combine to create an unparalleled and profound intimacy on the page. As Welty says, “There is nowhere in this radiant novel a shadow of detachment.” Think of this as a book club on steroids, for readers of all levels, and for readers who are also writers. There will be optional writing exercises inspired by Woolf’s brilliance.
Reading Schedule:
Session I: “The Window” Chapters 1 – 10 (pages 3 – 62)*
Session II: “The Window,” Chapters 11 – 19 (pages 62 – 124)
Session III: “Time Passes,” (pages 125 – 144)
Session IV: “The Lighthouse,” (pages 145 – 209)
*Note on Editions: Rose will be using the 1989 Harcourt edition with a wonderful introduction by Eudora Welty. Many other editions use the same page numbers for the text itself, with the first part of the novel (“The Window”) beginning on page 3, the middle part (“Time Passes”) beginning on page 125, and the final part (“The Lighthouse”) beginning on page 145; if your copy follows that pagination, no need to buy a new one. For participants who need a copy of the book, we recommend purchasing from BookWoman.
This Austin Bat Cave adult reading & discussion group is open to all and limited to 15 participants.
About the Instructor
Rose Smith
Rose Smith’s fiction and nonfiction can be found in The Missouri Review, Five Points and Narrative Magazine. She was the winner of The Missouri Review‘s 27th Annual Jeffrey E. Smith Editors’ Prize and was named a finalist for Narrative Magazine‘s 2018 Story Contest. She is an MFA candidate at the Warren Wilson Program for Writers (where she wrote her Master’s thesis on Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece, To the Lighthouse). Rose lives in Austin, Texas with her husband. She is currently at work on a novel.
