Virginia Woolf

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" is the first line of one of the finest novels of the 20th century; Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, which tracks a single day in June as the wife of an MP organises a party and reflects on her life and a war veteran visits the park. The novel is celebrated each year in mid June with events for "Dalloway Day" organised by the Royal Society of Literature and this year it's 100 years since the book was published. In Words and Music we'll hear a selection of readings from Woolf’s writing, including a recently discovered poem probably written for her niece and nephew, Angelica and Quentin Bell, an extract from biographies by Quentin Bell and Hermione Lee, and reminiscences of Cecil Beaton and Duncan Grant. Music inspired by her work includes Max Richter’s ballet score called Woolf Works, and there are pieces she had in her own record collection. Like Mrs Dalloway, we move from day to night, from Virginia’s youth, to her later musings.
Our readers are Adjoa Andoh and Emma D’Arcy

Producer in Salford: Jessica Treen