Virginia Woolf As/In/And Children’s Literature: an Overview

Abstract

This academic investigation scrutinizes a less-explored dimension of Virginia Woolf's literary legacy, examining her nuanced engagement with children's literature and culture. Focused on comprehending Woolf within the realm of children's literature, our study selects representative works to explore the author's radical and challenging modernist contributions to this genre. Primary sources for analysis include two short stories, "The Widow and the Parrot" (1988) and "Nurse Lugton’s Curtain" (1991), originally penned for her nephews and posthumously adapted into widely accessible picturebooks for children globally. Extending beyond Woolf's direct creations for her family, our exploration delves into various artistic representations of her in works such as Kyo Maclear and Isabelle Arsenault's fictional picturebook Virginia Wolf (2012) and Michèle Gazier and Bernard Ciccolini's graphic novel Virginia Woolf (2011). Furthermore, her life is vividly portrayed in Zena Alkayat and Nina Cosford's illustrated biography, Virginia Woolf: An Illustrated Biography (2015). Significantly, Woolf's bestselling novel and biographical experiment, Flush (1933), regains prominence through a recent illustrated edition. Our article does not seek exhaustive coverage of Woolf's entire foray into children's literature but rather aims to dissect specific facets represented by carefully chosen literary works.