3. Gender

Available for over a year

‘Orlando had become a woman - there is no denying it.’ A century on from the publication of Mrs Dalloway, Fiona Shaw explores what Virginia Woolf has to say to us today. With Clarissa Dalloway as our guide, we discover how Woolf captured and critiqued a modern world that was transforming around her, treated mental health as a human experience rather than a medical condition, and challenged gender norms in ways that seem light years ahead of even our present day discourse. In this episode, Fiona Shaw speaks with authors, academics and artists inspired by Virginia Woolf, about the impact of Woolf’s ideas about gender, both on individuals and on culture. Fiona hears from authors Naomi Alderman and Michelle de Kretser; Woolf biographer Alexandra Harris; drag king Holly James Johnston; Eleanor Black from the National Trust; filmmaker Sally Potter; philosopher Paul Preciado; Professor of Comparative Literature, Rachel Bowlby; and Professor of English, Mark Hussey. Extracts read by Gwendoline Christie. Produced by Ellie Richold for BBC Audio