General Meeting 20 March 1999 Photo by K.Okaya
After a shamefully long period of time, the country of her birth at last has a literary society devoted to its greatest writer of the twentieth century. We now realise that when we formed the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain in August 1998 our expectations were extremely modest. We hoped for 200 members in the first twelve months but anticipated a 'more realistic' figure of around 150. As I write in late July 1999, we have over 400 members from Britain, Europe and around the world. We take this as confirmation of Woolf's literary stature.
The first edition of the Society's journal, the 'Virginia Woolf Bulletin', was published on Woolf's 117th birthday, 25 January 1999. She was represented in this first issue by her previously unpublished short story entitled 'A Scene from the Past', as well as by two unpublished letters. The Bulletin was very warmly welcomed by members; the articles, reviews and society business made it essential reading. (See the list of contents.)
In March the Society's first Annual General Meeting was held in Gordon Square (the very heart of Bloomsbury), and forty members attended including several who travelled all the way from Japan and another from Germany. It proved to be a good opportunity for members to meet and get to know one another, and we are very grateful to all those who made the effort to attend. The Society was democratised and the Executive Council and Editorial Committee were elected. After a break for socialising and wine, members were rewarded with an enlightening talk by Sue Roe (editor of the Penguin edition of Jacob's Room) who spoke on Woolf's play 'Freshwater'.
The second issue of the Bulletin was published in July, and I would urge anyone who is interested in the life and work of Virginia Woolf to join the Society now. From 2000 the Society intends to publish three issues a year. Please note that membership runs for the calendar year in which you join. Subscriptions fall due on 1 January. All payments should be made in pounds sterling only (see membership details).
Stephen Barkway, Chair
106 Gloucester Road
Kingston-upon-Thames
Surrey KT1 3QN
August 1999