Richard Jefferies—Events Sponsored by the Edward Thomas Fellowship

Martin Haggerty has told us about two events sponsored by the Edward Thomas Fellowship which will be of interest to those interested in William Morris. The first, "Fields of Vision," an informal study-day devoted to the lives and writings of Richard Jefferies and Edward Thomas, is a collaboration between the Edward Thomas Fellowship and the Richard Jefferies Society. It will examine both writers, particularly their shared interests and concerns, and the Wiltshire landscape that they both knew and wrote about. Jem Poster, the distinguished poet, novelist and literary scholar, who is currently preparing a new edition of Richard Jefferies: His Life and Work by Edward Thomas for Oxford University Press, will be the keynote speaker. His lecture is entitled "First Known When Lost: Edward Thomas, Richard Jefferies, and the Rural World." There will also be talks by Richard Emeny (chairman of the Edward Thomas Fellowship, who has written and lectured prolifically on Thomas and various related authors) and Terry Lloyd (a Swindonian, and since childhood an enthusiast for the works of Thomas and Jefferies, who has thoroughly explored their landscapes on foot).

Saturday, 8 May 2010

10.30 a.m.–4.30 p.m.

Luddington Village Hall

Liddington, Wiltshire UK

www.edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk

Participants may bring a lunch or eat in the Village Inn nearby. During lunchtime, publications and other merchandise from the Edward Thomas Fellowship and the Richard Jefferies Society will be offered for sale in the Village Hall, where there will probably also be a second-hand book stall.

Places at the study-day cost £15 (£5 for students and unemployed people), which include refreshments but not lunch. Bookings must be made before 1 May. A booking-form can be downloaded from the Fellowship's website at www.edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk.

At the end of the afternoon, there will be an opportunity, using car-share, to visit St James's Church at Eastbury, Berkshire, which features an impressive engraved-glass window by Laurence Whistler, commemorating Edward and Helen Thomas, and where Helen is buried in the churchyard.

For more information about the study-day, contact its co-ordinator, Martin Haggerty, (01723) 375533.

The next day, Sunday, 9 May, there will be a guided tour, "In the Footsteps of Richard Jefferies."
Andrew Rossabi, a former President of the Richard Jefferies Society, who has written introductions to several new imprints of Jefferies' works and is currently working on a new biography of this writer, will lead a guided walk (with readings) along the east side of Coate Water, over Cicely’s Bridge, to the Gamekeeper’s Cottage at Hodson, where walkers may look around the garden and view the old thatched cottage, as well as the bluebells in Hodson Woods. The return route takes in the west side of Coate Water, where a picnic lunch may be eaten (alternatively eat at the Sun Inn, Coate). In the afternoon, until 4.30 p.m., everyone will be welcome to explore Richard Jefferies's home, watch the film Jefferies Land, and share readings from Edward Thomas's and Jefferies's works.

Sunday, 9 May 2010

10.30 a.m.–4.30 p.m.

Richard Jefferies Museum

Coate, near Swindon, Wiltshire
www.edward-thomas-fellowship.org.uk