The History of Literature – Episode 756

“Newly Discovered Stories by Virginia Woolf (with Urmila Seshagiri) | My Last Book with Jake Poller”
Host: Jacke Wilson
Date: December 8, 2025

Main Theme

In this episode, Jacke Wilson explores a remarkable literary discovery: three early, previously little-known stories written by a young Virginia Woolf, recently edited and published by Professor Urmila Seshagiri as The Life of Violet. Professor Seshagiri joins Jacke to discuss the historical context, literary value, and surprising tone of these works. In a bonus segment, biographer Jake Poller shares his thoughts on what book he’d like to read last in his life, reflecting on how tastes evolve with age.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Discovery: How “The Life of Violet” Emerged

• Background: The newly edited book collects three stories written in 1907 by the 25-year-old Virginia Woolf (then Virginia Stephen), long before her iconic novels.
  • These stories reveal "a whole new side of Virginia Woolf" (03:36), described as fantastical, satirical, and full of laughter.
• Previous Knowledge: Scholars knew of the stories under the title "Friendship’s Gallery," but only in a rough, incomplete form, previously believed to be curiosities or private jokes among friends.
• Seshagiri’s Role: Professor Seshagiri’s accidental discovery of a more complete, revised version at Longleat House (unknown even to Woolf scholars worldwide) recontextualized the works and showcased Woolf’s deliberate revision and care.
  • “It was serendipitous. It was just something that happened when I was in the archives, I wasn't looking for it. I was looking for something else entirely.” (18:42)
• Revision Blazes a Trail: The professional typing and extensive revisions in the Longleat manuscript demonstrate Woolf’s commitment and seriousness about these stories.
  • “Her investment in these stories is very serious. Even though she never tried to publish them, her investment in the craft... took the time to do them.” (23:09, 23:56)

Virginia Woolf, Violet Dickinson, and Beginnings

• Woolf’s Life Stage: Woolf as a young adult, not yet married, newly independent, just starting her professional writing life (reviewing/essays, not yet fiction). (05:01)
• Violet Dickinson: Tall (over 6 ft)—unconventional, “odd looking” in her social context, and socially ineligible; she embraced friendship as her “career” and became Woolf’s deep confidante and mentor.
• Nature of Stories: These are "mock biographies," simultaneously tributes and satires centered on their circle of aristocratic women, here highlighting how fondness, wit, and inside jokes played into Woolf’s experimental narratives even then.
  • “They are a mock biography of Violet. And she spoofs...the lives of several of their mutual friends...sharply satirical.” (06:46)
• Transformative Friendship: Violet is cast both as a surrogate maternal figure (after Woolf lost her mother and sister) and as a catalyst for Woolf’s intellectual ambitions:
  • “It’s also a profoundly intellectual [friendship]... it gives Virginia the space to be a writer in these masses of letters that she sends to her friend.” (11:07)
  • “She really kept such a complete record of her life in the letters that she writes to her friend.” (11:45)
• Inspiration for Rebellion: Dickinson’s unconventional life model, supportiveness, and “difference” gave Woolf the courage to reject societal expectations, forge a new artistic identity, and explore alternative forms of womanhood. (13:28)

What's in the Stories? Form, Tone, and Innovations

• Tone & Content: Highly unusual for Woolf—zany, “defiance of gravity,” slapstick, flights of fancy, and wild humor. The stories include a giantess protagonist, sea monsters, magical gardens, and utopian societies (28:10–29:06).
  • “We don’t expect Woolf to deal in slapstick comedy...but not like this. So, yes, it’s very unusual in our associations with Virginia Woolf.” (29:23)
• The Three Stories:
  • Friendship’s Gallery: Violet’s outlandish childhood and adventures as a ‘giantess’ (rescues cook, fixes the kitchen, broad humor).
  • The Magic Garden: Violet builds a cottage, drawing in an eclectic community. “Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a cottage of one’s own?” (39:14)
  • A Story to Make You Sleep: A mock-Japanese fairy tale; utopian themes.
• Heritage and Progression: These themes of alternative femininity, the importance of friendship, and claiming space and laughter for women feed directly into later masterpieces, like “A Room of One’s Own.”
  • “Violet finds joy in building a cottage of one’s own. Can we draw a line from these stories to the famous essay ‘A Room of One’s Own’?” – “Absolutely, absolutely. This is a point of origin.” (39:14–39:47)
• Theme of Biography: Woolf’s early urge to rescript biography—from “the lives of great men” to the hidden, communal essence of women’s experiences, laughter, and creativity.
  • “She is restlessly always trying to break apart the idea that...accomplishments...is the best or the only...to tell a life...life exists as fully in what is thought small as in what is thought big.” (43:03–44:32)

Woolf’s Privacy and Publication

• Did Wolf Want These Shared? Early letters suggest reluctance for “immaturities...torn out of time” being preserved (47:08), but later entries express gratitude for the “record of her younger voice.” Her feelings are left unresolved, “in characteristically Wolfian style.” (48:12)
• Legacy: These stories reveal Woolf’s early mastery, risk-taking, humor, and the foundational role of female friendship and laughter in her vision of literary life.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Discovery:

  “It is a dream to be able to publish them now in this finished form for readers.”
  (21:33 – Urmila Seshagiri)

• On Violet’s Influence:

  “[Violet] was not deemed conventionally attractive...she cultivated a very beautiful social life and friendship became her career.”
  (08:16 – Urmila Seshagiri)

• On Woolf’s Revision:

  “Her investment in these stories is very serious. Even though she never tried to publish them, her investment in the craft of putting these stories together...she didn’t just mail her friend something that was a joke and then never return to it.”
  (23:09–24:25 – Urmila Seshagiri)

• On Unconventional Heroines:

  “It takes a lot of courage to say no to that life. And Violet was certainly a support system for her as she was resisting her older brothers.”
  (13:28 – Urmila Seshagiri)

• On Laughter as Rebellion:

  “The most enjoyable parts of these stories are those moments when the characters laugh together...so subversive and so pleasurable...”
  (41:43 – Urmila Seshagiri)

• On Female Achievement:

  “Let us not take it for granted that life exists more fully in what is commonly thought big than what is thought small.”
  (44:20 – Jacke Wilson referencing Woolf’s “Modern Fiction”)

Key Timestamps

• [04:43] – Urmila Seshagiri introduced; background on Woolf’s age, career stage, and social context when stories were written.
• [08:16] – Description of Violet Dickinson: her height, unconventional status, and her “career of friendship.”
• [14:44] – Explanation of what was new in this discovery vs. what was previously known.
• [18:42–21:57] – The story of Seshagiri’s archival pursuit and ultimate rediscovery at Longleat House.
• [28:10–30:43] – Analysis of the radically humorous, fantastical, slapstick nature of these stories.
• [39:14] – “A cottage of one’s own”—parallels to “A Room of One’s Own.”
• [47:08–48:12] – Would Woolf want these stories published? The enigma of her intentions.
• [50:05–58:03] – My Last Book segment with Jake Poller.

Bonus Segment: “My Last Book” with Jake Poller

[50:05–58:03]

• Question: What book would you want as your last?
• Poller’s Reflection: Counter to the cliché, Poller has become more adventurous as a reader with age, embracing science fiction and graphic novels after youthful literary snobbery.
  • “I was most conservative as a reader as a young man in my 20s...now in my early 50s, I’m a huge sci-fi fan...” (50:25)
• He desires: To encounter an “edgy work of science fiction by a young writer” as his last book instead of cozying up to the familiar or predictable.
  • “I’m all intent on reading books that start with a shot rang out.” (54:31–54:41)
• Observes: Openness to new genres and formats (including audiobooks), is part of keeping reading—and life—fresh to the end.

Episode Takeaways

• The Life of Violet stories are more than literary curiosities; they are crucial artifacts that illuminate Woolf’s developmental trajectory, her courage in humor, and the genesis of profound feminist themes.
• Their discovery is a testament to the power of archival research and the critical role of female friendship and nonconformity in literary innovation.
• Both Seshagiri’s and Poller’s segments underline the value of intellectual curiosity, openness to new forms, and the need to challenge prescribed boundaries—be they literary, social, or personal.

“Here’s what happens when communities form around shared laughter...these are the freedoms that are available to women who don’t fit the mold.”
—Urmila Seshagiri (42:22)

“The world is lucky you were the right person at the right time to sort of put that together and to follow it up...”
—Jacke Wilson (21:57)