“Woolf Watch” at Smith College

November 2001 Acquisition: Mortimer Rare Book Room acquires bronze bust of Virginia Woolf, sculpted from life by Stephen Tomlin. One of twenty-two cast from the original plaster, including one at Woolf's gravesite at her country home in Rodmell, Sussex, UK.

September 2002 Acquisition: Painting of Virginia Woolf by Vanessa Bell is contributed to the Museum of Art by Ann Safford Mandel '53.

October 2002 Kahn Institute faculty weekend seminar led by Cornelia Pearsall, Associate Professor of English: The Sensual Woolf.

On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf, introduction by Hermione Lee is published by Paris Press, Ashfield, MA. This is a reprint of Woolf's 1930 essay with a reproduction of original cover art by Vanessa Bell. Publication is associated with Mortimer Rare Book Room and conference.

December 2002 Acquisition: Mortimer Rare Book Room acquires 1923 first edition of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," handprinted by Virginia and Leonard Woolf at the Hogarth Press.

January 2003 Film of "The Hours," from Michael Cunningham's novel about Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway, is screened for the Smith College community.

Acquisition: Mortimer Rare Book Room acquires 1939 letter from Virginia Woolf to Vita Sackville-West. One of four letters recently discovered in Vita's desk drawer in Sissinghurst Castle.

Spring 2003 Special Studies: 2-credit class, Virginia Woolf in the Real World, taught by Robert Hosmer, Senior Lecturer, English Department, tied to the conference; students will participate in the conference in June.

March and April Lecture Series: Woolf in the Valley

Three 5-College lectures organized by Marilyn Schwinn Smith:

"Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf," a seminar led by L. Brown Kennedy, Professor of Literature, School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies, Hampshire College; at the Renaissance Center, Amherst, MA, March 6 at 4 p.m.

"The Company of Books: The Women of the Hampshire Bookshop." Dr. Barbara Brannon, College of Arts and Science, University of North Carolina at Wilmington will speak on Northampton's late beloved cultural institution, the Hampshire Bookshop. She will illuminate the connections between Woolf, the Bloomsbury Group, and the bookshop. Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College, March 13 at 4 p.m.

"A Celebration of Valley Feminists," panel discussion moderated by Lee Edwards, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Massachusetts. Discussion will focus on Woolf's influence on local feminists of the 60’s and 70’s. Smith College Browsing Room, April 4 at 4 p.m.

May Neilson Library: Opening of comprehensive exhibitions:

· Book Arts Gallery and Mortimer Rare Book Room: Woolf in the World: A Pen and a Press of Her Own. The exhibit will include original manuscripts, letters, first editions and the family photograph album of Woolf, as well as materials of Bloomsbury Group members.

· College Archives: "The Politics of Mind': Writing on Woolf, Teaching Woolf.

· Mortimer Rare Book Room: A Story of Their Own: Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, and Gloria Steinem; and "Her novels make mine possible": Virginia Woolf's Influence on Sylvia Plath; and "Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury."

Lyman Conservatory/Church Gallery: Virginia Woolf: A Botanical Perspective - opening of exhibition of photos and digital multimedia presentations of gardens of Woolf and Bloomsbury group members; relevant first editions from the Mortimer Rare Book Room. (Exhibition runs through September 30.)

Museum of Art: Vanessa Bell and Bloomsbury - opening of exhibition of the museum's three Vanessa Bell paintings and other works by members of the Bloomsbury Group; exhibit will include Virginia Woolf's writing desk. (Exhibition runs through June 15.)

Alumnae College, Reunion Sessions May 16 and 23: Virginia Woolf in Place and Time. (PDF file- scroll down for Woolf information.) Faculty presentations by Elizabeth von Klemperer, Robert Hosmer, and Cornelia Pearsall (all English Department faculty) and Ann Leone (French/Landscape Studies). Alumnae presentations by Marylin Bender Altchul '44 and Ann Pflaum '63.