34th Annual International Virginia Woolf Conference 2025: ‘Woolf and Dissidence’
King’s College London: July 4, 2025, and the University of Sussex: July 5-8, 2025 Co-organisers: Helen Tyson (Sussex), Clara Jones (King’s) and Anna Snaith (King’s).
Full programme
The full programme is now available to download (subject to final changes):
Latest version uploaded: 04 August 2025.
For sustainability and budget reasons, we will not be providing individual printed copies of the programme – schedule information will be displayed in the registration area throughout the conference. If you need a paper programme, we recommend you print the Full Programme PDF file, before you travel to the conference (NB. we recommend leaving this as late as possible, since the programme is still in the process of being finalised – see version information above).
Programme Overview
NB: some events require additional pre-booking (please see Registration).
Friday 4 July – Pre-conference events
| Time | Activity & location |
| 10am-2.30pm | King’s College London Archive Visits Pre-booking required. This event is now fully booked. Archives Reading Room, S3.02 Strand Building, King’s College London |
| 4-6pm | Virginia Woolf: Creative Engagements Panel event featuring: Uzma Hameed, Jo Hamya, Olivia Laing, Katie Mitchell, Kabe Wilson, chaired by Jon Day Pre-booking required. This event is now fully booked. Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus, King’s College London |
| 6pm | Drinks reception with music by the Woolf Quartet Strand Campus, King’s College London |
| 8pm | Coach Transfer back to Brighton Station and University of Sussex. Pre-booking required. The coach tickets have now sold out. For information about how to travel by train from KCL to Brighton and Sussex please follow this link. |
Saturday 5 July – Conference Day 1
| Time | Activity & location |
| 8am | Registration opens Tea, coffee & pastries Jubilee Building, University of Sussex |
| 9.30am-11am | Panels |
| 11am-11.30am | Break Tea, coffee & refreshments Jubilee Building |
| 11.30am-1pm | Panels |
| 1pm-2.45pm | Market Table Lunch Jubilee Building |
| Lunchtime Event, 2-2.30pm: Remembering Stuart N. Clarke Jubilee Lecture Theatre | |
| Exhibitors and Booksellers, Jubilee G30 & Foyer: Andrea Mindel, ‘Madame Defarge goes Bloomsbury’ Joshua Phillips, ‘The Digital “Anon”: a New Digital Edition of Virginia Woolf’s Final Essay Drafts’ Bloomsbury Heritage Series Edinburgh University Press | |
| Exhibition: Pressing Matters: Printing with Virginia Woolf Library Exchange, University of Sussex Library | |
| 2.45-4.15pm | Welcome & Keynote 1: Anne Fernald (Fordham University), ‘“Dangerous Days”: A Century with Clarissa Dalloway’ , chaired by Alice Staveley (Stanford) Jubilee Lecture Theatre |
| 4.15-4.30pm | Launch of Virginia Woolf—Variations with Derek Ryan (Series Editor) and Emily Sharp (Senior Commissioning Editor EUP) Jubilee Lecture Theatre |
| 4.30pm | Drinks reception sponsored by Edinburgh University Press Marquee/Jubilee Building |
| 5-6.45pm | Evening BBQ |
| 7.30pm (bar opens 6.30pm) | Between the Acts, adapted by Eleanor Lybeck and directed by Jen Heyes, followed by post-performance Q&A with Refugee Tales (Pious Keku and David Herd) and AVID (Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees) Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), University of Sussex. The ACCA bar will be open from 6.30pm. Pre-booking required. This event is now fully booked. |
Sunday 6 July – Conference Day 2
| Time | Activity & location |
| 8.30 am | Tea/coffee, cereal bars and biscuits Jubilee Building |
| 9am-10.30am | Panels |
| 10.30am-11am | Break Tea, coffee & refreshments Jubilee Building |
| 11am-12.30pm | Panels |
| 12.30pm-2pm | English picnic buffet & scones Marquee/Jubilee Building |
| Exhibitors and Booksellers, Jubilee G30 and Foyer Andrea Mindel, ‘Madame Defarge goes Bloomsbury’ Bloomsbury Heritage Series Edinburgh University Press | |
| Exhibition: Pressing Matters: Printing with Virginia Woolf Library Exchange, University of Sussex Library | |
| 2pm-3.30pm | Panels |
| 3.30pm-4pm | Break Tea, coffee & refreshments Jubilee Building |
| 4pm-5.30pm | Mrs. Dalloway at 100. This event reflects on the legacy of Woolf’s most influential novel a century after its publication. In a roundtable conversation with Mark Hussey, author of Mrs. Dalloway: Biography of a Novel (May 2025), participants will consider the novel’s afterlives in terms of popular culture, music, global reception, bibliomemoir, and more. This roundtable, chaired by Amy Smith, features Rachel Bowlby, Laura Cernat, Jeanne Dubino, Mark Hussey, Monica Latham, Brenda Silver, Katharine Smyth, Alice Staveley, and Emma Sutton. Jubilee Lecture Theatre |
Monday 7 July – Conference Day 3
| Time | Activity & location |
| 8.30am | Tea, coffee & pastries Jubilee Building, University of Sussex |
| 9am-11am | Workshops |
| 11am-11.30am | Break Tea, coffee & refreshments Jubilee Building |
| 11.30am-1pm | Keynote 2: Madelyn Detloff (Miami University), ‘Throwing a Brick Like a Grrrrl: When to Build, When to Break in Perilous Political Times,’ chaired by Shilo McGiff (Independent Scholar) and introduced by Natalia Cecire (University of Sussex) Jubilee Lecture Theatre |
| 1pm-2pm | Market Table Lunch Jubilee Building |
| 1.30-2pm: Conference Planning Meeting Jubilee G22 | |
| Exhibitors and Booksellers, Jubilee G30 & Foyer Nathalie Audrain, ‘Butterfly Powder’ Ella Bucknall Andrea Mindel, ‘Madame Defarge goes Bloomsbury’ Joshua Phillips, ‘The Digital “Anon”: a New Digital Edition of Virginia Woolf’s Final Essay Drafts’ Bloomsbury Heritage Series Edinburgh University Press Manchester University Press | |
| Exhibition: Pressing Matters: Printing with Virginia Woolf Library Exchange, University of Sussex Library | |
| 2pm-3.30pm | Panels |
| 3.30 pm-onwards Detailed timings will be circulated by email to those who have booked this excursion. | Charleston Visit and Dinner Pre-booking required. Owing to limited capacity at Charleston tickets for this visit have now sold out. To arrange your own separate visit to Charleston or Charleston in Lewes while you are in Sussex please consult their website for opening times and booking details (see conference emails for a special discount for conference participants). |
Tuesday 8 July – Conference Day 4
| Time | Activity & location |
| 8.30am | Tea, coffee & pastries Jubilee Building, University of Sussex |
| 9am-10.30am | Panels |
| 10.30am-11am | Break Tea, coffee & refreshments Jubilee Building |
| 11am-12.30pm | Panels |
| 12.30pm-2pm | Market Table Lunch Jubilee Building |
| 1-2pm: Lunchtime talk: A Sketch of the Past: Urmila Seshagiri and Derek Ryan in Conversation Jubilee Lecture Theatre | |
| 1-2pm: IVWS AGM Jubilee G22 | |
| Exhibitors and Booksellers, Jubilee G30 & Foyer: Nathalie Audrain, ‘Butterfly Powder’ Ella Bucknall Andrea Mindel, ‘Madame Defarge goes Bloomsbury’ Bloomsbury Heritage Series Edinburgh University Press Manchester University Press | |
| Exhibition: Pressing Matters: Printing with Virginia Woolf Library Exchange, University of Sussex Library | |
| 2-3.30pm | Panels |
| 3.30pm-4pm | Break Tea, coffee & cake Jubilee Building |
| 4pm-5.30pm | Exhibiting Modernism Today This panel discussion will focus on exhibiting modernism today. In a discussion chaired by Sophie Oliver, Darren Clarke, Charlie Porter and Hope Wolf will reflect on their own experiences as curators and explore different approaches to exhibiting modernism in the present day. Jubilee Lecture Theatre |
| 5.30pm | Closing drinks reception sponsored by Beak brewery Jubilee Building |
| 6.30pm | Conference closes |
Wednesday 9 July – Post-conference events
| Coaches depart from campus 10am, and return by 5pm. Detailed timings will be circulated by email to those who have booked this excursion. | Post-conference visit to Monk’s House and Sussex Modernism exhibition at Towner, Eastbourne. Coach transport included Pre-booking required. This visit has now sold out. To arrange your own separate visit to Monk’s House or Towner Eastbourne during your stay in Sussex, please visit their websites for opening times and booking details. |
Woolf 2025 