In his forthcoming novel, Barnhill, Norman Bissell explores the final years and possible thoughts of George Orwell. In this extract, exclusive to the Orwell Society, Bissell takes us into Orwell's last hours. * 21 January 1950, University College Hospital, London I fell asleep early last night and woke up again after midnight. Now I…Read more The Dark, Cold Day
Rebel? Prophet? Relic? Perspectives on George Orwell in 2019 University College London (UCL) 24-25 May 2019 Calls for papers. * Booking via Eventbrite *
In 1945 George Orwell reviewed his career and wrote notes to his literary executor: two of his novels should never be republished. The first was A Clergyman's Daughter. The other was Keep the Aspidistra Flying ('Aspidistra') which he described as a ‘silly potboiler’ he should never have written. By 1945 Aspidistra had already sunk without…Read more Keep The Aspidistra Flying
Our popular article on hop-picking as described by George Orwell and other authors has suffered some problems in its layout. Author Ron Bateman has supplied a new text and illustrations. This article first appeared in the Orwell Society Journal first issue. Members receive the Journal twice a year as part of their membership. * Writers…Read more Writers and Hop-Picking
Richard Lance Keeble describes the latest issue of George Orwell Studies. ‘Orwell and the arts’ is the theme of the latest bumper issue (Volume 3 Number 1) of George Orwell Studies. Six contrasting papers given at a symposium at Goldsmiths, University of London, on 30 May 2018, are carried in the journal which is completely…Read more Orwell and the Arts
Two books by Ernest Bramah (1868-1942), a writer whom George Orwell admired in print, have been re-issued this year As both have been particularly difficult to obtain these new editions allow us to fill in some of the gaps in Bramah's work, and to see how it changed during his writing career. “[Rather than…Read more Ernest Bramah 2018
The Orwell Society is pleased to be one of the organisations who have contributed to a discussion in the New York Times on factual works that have influenced a classic work of literature. We spoke about two influences on George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). The first work we identified was James Burnham's The…Read more Books and Influence?
