Masters of style: reading and writing Virginia Woolf

What is the course about?

In this one-day workshop you will explore how Virginia Woolf, one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, developed her unique style of fiction. You will also take Woolf’s attention to interiority as a starting point for your own writing practice, combining analysis of extracts from seminal texts, The New Dress (1924) and Solid Objects (1920) (with writing exercises to experiment with stream-of-consciousness prose.

This course is offered jointly by Literature and Creative Writing. You will be taught by a tutor from each department.

What will we cover?

-Read, analyse and discuss two short stories by Virginia Woolf, considering theme, character development,
imagery and the use of ‘stream of consciousness’ to convey internal and external realities.
- Explore Woolf’s connection to the ‘Bloomsbury’ group of writers and artists flourishing in the early decades of the 20th century.
- What is style and how to find yours as a writer
- How to express the minds of your characters.

What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...

- Understand the key features of Woolf’s literary style
- Understand the historical context of Woolf’s fiction
- Craft passages of character interiority in the style of Woolf, using your own writing voice.

What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?

This is an intermediate course suitable for those with some prior experience of creative writing and literary study. You should be an enthusiastic reader of fiction, comfortable sharing your ideas and writing, and fluent in English.

How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?

You will be taught by two tutors, Patricia Sweeney (Literature) and Thomas McMullan (Creative Writing). You will learn through a combination of short lectures, interactive tutor presentations, group and individual writing exercises. Please come to class having read the short stories assigned. The tutors will provide copies of the two stories to read in advance of the class.

City Lit Writing endeavours to create a safe and welcoming space for all and we strongly support the use of content notes in our classes. This means that learners are encouraged to make their tutor and classmates aware in advance if any writing they wish to share contains material that may be deemed sensitive. If you are unsure about what might constitute sensitive content, please ask your tutor for further clarification and read our expectations for participating in writing courses at City Lit.

Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?

No additional costs. Stories will be provided in advance. Please come to class having read the short stories
assigned. Please bring writing materials. You are welcome to bring a laptop or tablet for use during writing activities if it will help you.

When I've finished, what course can I do next?

Look up Literature courses in the prospectus under Humanities or on the website under History, Culture and Writing at www.citylit.ac.uk.

You may also be interested in taking a creative writing course at City Lit. Learn more about short stories in Reading for writers: the short story (a fortnightly course) and practice your skills in Short story writing.

All students are invited to join us at Late Lines, our regular performance night for City Lit writers. Students are also encouraged to submit their work to Between the Lines, our annual anthology of creative writing. For the latest news, courses and events, stay in touch with the Department on Facebook and Twitter.