Bloomsbury Books go Gleeful

Ok - this is just a quick post for those of you who haven't seen it. This video here by members of staff at Bloomsbury Publishing is possibly the best thing I have seen in years - how is it possible that I can spend five minutes cringing and grinning all at the same time? A work of genius. Enjoy!

Charleston Literary Festival - calm in the chaos

The Orchard at Charleston

Last weekend I escaped home to Sussex for some much needed peace and to see Carol Ann Duffy at The Charleston Festival. Duffy has been one of my favourite poets for a long time - alongside Alice Oswald - and I have heard her read her poems before but seeing her at Charleston was truly delightful. We all bundled into the marquee thankful that it wasn't the usual howling wind and rain accompanying the event. Just as Duffy started to read a poem, the cows in the neighbouring field decided to pipe up. I am not sure that such things happen at the slick Hay Festival but these messy, honest occurrences are what keep Charleston charming.

Going to Charleston is an annual event for me and my ritual is to have a slice of lemon drizzle cake with my tea before the event.

Lemon Drizzle at Charleston

The tea tent was bedecked in bunting this year and the cow parsley even more abundant than my memory of it from last year. Sitting in the orchard sipping on tea and scoffing cake is one of my favourite things and I look forward to it every year. May in Sussex is a perfect month as everything is fresh and abundant ahead of the withering power of the summer sun. The burnt tinge of August is a future concern and the countryside sparkles with shades of green.

I love the way that the trestle tables and chairs are scattered as if they naturally appear in the orchard.

Carol Ann Duffy read for nearly an hour and, along with the cows, held the audience spellbound as she read both old and new poems. Her dry humour and subtle delivery had us in paroxysms of mirth, particularly 'from Mrs Tiresias' which recounts the myth of Tiresias from the point of view of his wife - the poem is from the collection The World's Wife which I will talk more about in another post as I could write reams about the collection.

During the past week my life has turned completely topsy-turvy (self-inflicted I hasten to add) - I have set many exciting changes in motion which I will elaborate upon as time goes on and things become more certain. So, going to Charleston was a moment of peace before the (hopefully organised) chaos that the next couple of months will be. After my tea and cake I found something pink and fizzy with which to celebrate in the sunshine; heavenly.

Bloomsbury letters to go on sale

Letters of the Bloomsbury Group. Photo: Gorringes Auctioneers

A collection of letters between members of the Bloomsbury Group and Helen Anrep are to be auctioned on 3rd September. Helen Anrep, Roger Fry's partner from the 1920s until Fry's death in 1934, became a close friend of the Bloomsbury Group members despite not being an artist or an intellectual herself. She was extemely interested in the arts and the letters contain a broad range of topics from gardening to family issues.

The letters are estimated to fetch between £50,000 - £80,000. I am off to buy a lottery ticket.

Bloomsbury at the V&A

Tile Panel by Vanessa Bell, 1926

The Victoria and Albert Museum is a Bloomsbury treasure trove. On display in the 20th Century Galleries are the above tile panel, a stove by Duncan Grant and an Omega chair. The V&A has a huge collection of Bloomsbury and Omega objects, many of which are on display in the current exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery. Sadly, the majority of the collection is not on display but can be looked at online in the V&A's search the collection site.

The V&A is my favourite museum as it focuses on art and design and its collections range from Jewellery to Fashion, Sculpture to Ceramics and, my favourite, it is the home of the National Art Library. The V&A has a fantastic book collection and is a great place to go to find out more relating to the history and design of the book. The collection ranges from Medieval manuscipts to modern fine bindings and includes the following Book of Verse by William Morris.

Book of Verse, William Morris, 1870

The Persephone Reading Week Challenge

Persephone Books Reading Week

Exciting news for all Persephone Books fans!! Paperback Reader and The B Files have joined forces and have initiated a Persephone Reading Challenge. The designated reading week commences on 24 August 2009 and the rules of the challenge are simply to enjoy reading books published by Persephone Books - whether one or ten it does not matter.

I am looking forward to reading The Homemaker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher and re-reading some of Dorothy Whipple's fabulous novels. I also recommend Joanna Canaan's Princes in the Land.

Let me know how you get on!

The sale of a literary landmark

Godrevy Island, Cornwall

The beach that is said to have been featured in Virginia Woolf's seminal novel To the Lighthouse has been sold for £80,000. Upper Towans beach in Cornwall is located opposite Godrevy Island upon which sits the inspiring lighthouse.

Happily the new owner will not alter the beach in any way and it will remain accessible for all to enjoy.

Read more about the sale.

Bloomsbury at work: The Omega Workshops

33 Fitzroy Square: home of the Omega Workshops

Last Thursday I went on an exclusive behind the scenes visit to 33 Fitzroy Square. The day was hosted and organised by the Events Manager and Curator of Charleston. It was fabulous to look inside the building - now a private house. Recently owned by the NHS, the building was in an unrecognisable state when the present owners bought it. For the past three and a half years they have been lovingly restoring the house to its former glory. Unfortunately, not too much remains of the Omega Workshops but the owners are replacing original features and are researching and using the Bloomsbury colours - Charleston grey being one of them.

The house is completely filled with light and you can gain a real sense of the artistic activity that took place there between 1913-1919 when the workshops were in operation. The present owners intend to open the house within the next couple of years as an events venue so we could all have our wedding receptions, birthdays and bar mitzvahs in rooms where Grant, Fry, Bell and numerous others were hard at work designing furniture, textiles and ceramics which have informed so much of 20th century design.

The picture above was taken some time ago as all the layers of magnolia paint have been removed from the exterior, exposing the wonderful portland stone facade. Fitzroy Square is a short walk from Bloomsbury 'proper' and is a must-see for anyone interested in the Bloomsbury Group.

Beyond Bloomsbury Private View

Roger Fry in the Omega Studio

Last Wednesday I attended the Private View for Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-19 at the Courtauld Gallery.

The exhibition is extremely well curated and provides a rare chance to see sketches of the designs from the workshops. A positive Bloomsbury treasure trove - the rooms are crammed with drawings, paintings, ceramics and rugs. The exhibition highlights just how varied and dynamic the creative output from the workshops was in such a short time.

It is fascinating to see the sketch and the finished piece side by side. The rug for Lady Ian Hamilton, designed by Vanessa Bell, is placed next to the preliminary design offering a unique chance to draw comparisons. This is also true of the painted silk with peacocks by Roger Fry; the Peacock Stole - the silk is brighter and less concentrated whereas the sketch is actually more dynamic.

The wonderful, messy structure of White the furnishing fabric designed by Vanessa Bell, is not to be missed and a true gem within the exhibition is the Omega signboard, designed and painted by Duncan Grant. A glossy mess of colour and intense design, the signboard articulates the liberation through abstract design that defined the work of the designers.

The exhibition paves the way for further exploration of the designs of the Bloomsbury Group and their influence over modern creative practitioners.

The following, characteristically pertinent, quote from Virginia Woolf is as meaningful today as it was during the uncertain early 20th century: "[Omega is] a beacon of civilisation in the midst of chaos" - for us in the midst of global recession we need 'beacons of civilisation' in our lives, so go to the Courtauld Gallery for a reminder that civilisation was and still is, in operation.

'Recession busting nostalgia'

Nostalgia for propaganda, A war poster by Frank Newbould

In the last post I mentioned that Bloomsbury publishers are reprinting a series of nostalgic reads to be collectively known as 'The Bloomsbury Group'. This brought to my mind the following extract from E.M. Forster's Howards End

'England was alive, throbbing through all her estuaries, crying for joy through the mouths of all her gulls, and the north wind, with contrary motion, blew stronger against her rising seas. What did it mean? For what end are her fair complexities, her changes of soil, her sinuous coast? Does she belong to those who have moulded her and made her feared by other lands, or to those who have added nothing to her power, but have somehow seen her, seen the whole Island at once, lying as a jewel in a silver sea, sailing as a ship of souls, with all the brave world’s fleet accompanying her towards eternity?'

Forster’s vision of England ‘lying as a jewel in a silver sea’ is inherited from Shakespeare’s Richard The Second. In a long speech, John of Gaunt presents an exalted vision of England, ‘This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall.’ In using the image of ‘This precious stone,’ Forster is demonstrating the importance of cultural inheritance; he is emphasizing continuity by re-using established cultural sources.

Cultural inheritance is important in any art form. It seems that publishers are looking back to literature from a bygone age to reprint - it will be interesting to know how the sales for 'The Bloomsbury Group' will compare with some contemporary authors on their list. Writers already look back to other authors, Ian McEwan looked to Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway as inspiration for his novel Saturday as he charted one day in London. In fact he went further, into the realms of Matthew Arnold and the belief in the transformative power of culture.

In a time of such economic uncertainty and change this extract from Howards End is extremely poignant as Forster questions who 'owns' England. Those who 'moulded her and made her feared by other lands' or those who are part of the rich and diverse cultural make up of Britain who are not the politicians or bankers who 'added to her power'?

Nostalgia has its place but society changes and that is what makes it exciting, as McEwan achieved in Saturday, readers and writers should look back only in order to move forward and explore current issues. With this in mind, I will be reading 'The Bloomsbury Group' as well as contemporary fiction which may expose the grittier aspects of the way we live now. As much as I may want to, I can't bury my head.

Persephone Books

Persephone Books is the most heavenly bookshop. The company reprints neglected 2oth century novels mostly written by women. In a time of economic meltdown nothing is more reassuring than sitting down with a good book and a cup of tea. The books printed by Persephone are ideal for those seeking a nostalgic read. You can order online but a trip to the bookshop on Lambs Conduit Street in Bloomsbury is well worth it. The shop is decorated with old WW2 posters, soft furnishings and lashings of books all over the walls, floors and tables. Persephone Books is what a bookshop should be.

One of their key authors is Dorothy Whipple. They have reprinted five of her wonderful books, so far. I have been reading my way through and I really do recommend all of them but particularly Someone at a Distance. Whipple's observations of human character are both astute and piercing. Someone at a Distance probes the great theme of love and portrays an ordinary family trying to cope with the apparent mid-life crisis and betrayal of the husband. For a searing account of human nature at its worst I recommend They Knew Mr Knight. Another family and another betrayal but of a very different nature.

I recently read an interesting blog posting on the impact of economic recession on fiction which supports the theory that we are looking for escapism through literature in these credit crunch times. It seems that Bloomsbury publishers have realised this and joined the Persephone bandwagon as they are publishing out of print titles that come under their term "recession-busting nostalgia". These will be published from July this year and they have called the collection of books 'The Bloomsbury Group'. I look forward to reading these.

Bloomsbury inspires Burberry

My favourite fashion house Burberry has unveiled its new advertising campaign featuring the Harry Potter star, Emma Watson. The new collection has been inspired by Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group. Emma is pictured above modelling the Woolf Bag which is a 'must have' for all Bloomsbury lovers. An ideal bag for carrying around plenty of reading material, it will set you back a hefty £1,095.

Read more about the new collection

Browse Burberry

Beyond Bloomsbury: Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-19

Design for a screen depicting Adam and Eve. Image courtesy of the Courtauld Gallery

This exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery opens on 18 June and is a major event for those interested in the Bloomsbury Group.

The Omega Workshop was established in 1913 by Roger Fry and was a progressive design collective with the intention of introducing the avant-garde into the modern Edwardian home. No artist was allowed to sign their work, instead they marked everything designed and produced with the Greek letter omega Ω. Members of the Omega Workshops included the Bloomsbury artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.

I am attending the Private View for Beyond Bloomsbury, which I am very excited about, so I will post a sneak preview review of the exhibition.

Much Ado Books - for true Bloomsbury lovers

Much Ado Books is a lovely independent bookshop in Alfriston, East Sussex, run by a very friendly and helpful couple from America. They sell both new and second hand books and have a great collection of books by and about the Bloomsbury Group.

I found several first edition Iris Murdoch's in there (I bought them all!) and they currently have a first edition copy of Virginia Woolf's Between the Acts; all reasonably priced. The decor is comforting, bookish, homeliness and the shelves have been decorated with patterns inspired by the work of the Bloomsbury artists, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.

Alfriston is a quaint Sussex village nestled in the South Downs and is packed full of tea shops and little independent boutiques. It also boasts the first property acquired by the National Trust, Clergy House, which is a beautiful house with a cottage garden and Medieval Hall.

Alfriston, Clergy House. Image courtesy of the National Trust.

Charleston Festival 2009

The Charleston Festival is a wonderful literary festival held at the Bloomsbury Group's country home in East Sussex. It is such a magical setting with the rolling South Downs overlooking the untainted farmhouse where the Bloomsbury Group used to paint, write, read, debate and, ultimately, work. http://www.charleston.org.uk/

It was the topic of work which led me to sit in a bustling marquee to listen to Alain de Botton talk about his latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work http://tiny.cc/L4dLV Alain never seemed to draw breath as he held the audience captive with tales of shipping goods across the world and the workings of a biscuit factory. For anyone who ever feels bored, frustrated or even numb in the workplace - this is the book for you. Alain does not provide the answers, instead he explores the modern workplace with all its complexities and absurdities and he presents it back to us in a digestible form - the lasting message? It is ok to turn off the Blackberry; work does not have to define who we are.

I also went to see Debo Mitford, otherwise known as, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. She is a stunning, bright and inspirational eighty-nine year old with a quicker wit than I think I have ever encountered before. Hearing her talk about her life is both hilarious and awe-inspiring. Having attended major events of the 20th century, such as Kennedy's inauguration and funeral, she is a true witness to the mind-boggling change that took place during the last century.

Lastly, the Charleston Festival is one of the best places in the known universe to get a cup of tea and a slice of lemon drizzle cake. The Charleston Tea Tent is situated in the orchard overlooking the Sussex countryside; peppered with cow parsley that skirts around the trestle tables and knarled apple trees, the orchard is where tea was made for drinking.