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VIRGINIA WOOLF LITERARY PIONEER

FULL NAME: Adeline Virginia Stephen Woolf

BORN: JANUARY 25, 1882, LONDON, U.K.

DIED: MARCH 28, 1941, NEAR LEWES, EAST SUSSEX, U.K.

NATIONALITY: BRITISH

“A woman must have money and a room of her own …”

VIRGINIA WOOLF

A FAMILY OF ARTISTS

Virginia Woolf is considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. She helped kick-start modernism—a major art movement that rejected traditional ideas and instead focused on brand-new concepts that fit better in the modern, industrial world. Modernism included every art form—from painting to novels, music to architecture—and continues to influence styles of art today.

Adeline Virginia Stephen was born into a very artistic family (including her great aunt, the famous portrait photographer Julia Margaret Cameron—see here). One of eight children, young Virginia was especially close to her sister Vanessa (later the famous painter Vanessa Bell). Writerly from childhood, at the age of nine Virginia founded the family newspaper, the Hyde Park News. The family suffered a series of tragedies, with the death of Virginia’s mother, followed by that of two of her siblings and her father. These sadnesses contributed to Virginia’s depression, but they would also later be channeled into her writing.

THE BLOOMSBURY BOHEMIANS

Around 1907, Virginia and Vanessa moved to Bloomsbury, in London, where they held informal gatherings of bohemian artists and thinkers. Virginia met Leonard Woolf, who would become her husband and chief supporter for the rest of her life. The group quickly became the “Bloomsbury Group”—a talented group of artists, writers, and philosophers with a strong influence over the London art scene. Virginia and her writing were in the middle of it all.

The Bloomsbury Group of like-minded artists and writers lived in this square in Bloomsbury, London. The area was a hive of creativity for a number of years.

Virginia had unique thoughts on how to construct a novel. She liked the idea of not plotting a story from A to B, but instead following her natural flow of thoughts (a technique known as “stream-of-consciousness”). She also wrote about everyday, domestic happenings rather than great, dramatic events. Her first novels, including The Voyage Out, were more traditional, but the more she wrote, the more she experimented. In the course of her life, Virginia wrote reviews, essays, diaries, letters, and novels and became one of the most influential and respected writers of the era.

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

In 1917, Virginia and Leonard started a publishing company, called the Hogarth Press. It soon became a major publisher of modernist works and published over 500 books. In addition to being a writer, Virginia was a social activist and later feminist icon, exploring themes of class, war, women’s rights, and politics in her writing. The 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own contains Virginia’s most famous feminist remark, which became a slogan for later feminists aiming to achieve success in all areas: “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

Virginia’s mental health grew worse over the years, and in 1941 she committed suicide. In spite of such a tragic end, at the age of only 59, the great writer’s works live on larger than life. Her most famous novels, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, and Jacob’s Room, remain classics of modern literature. Virginia’s voice was unique and ahead of its time. Her style has influenced generations of writers, as well as artists and film-makers.