The Curious Case of the Changeling Chairs

13 May 2016

The Curious Case of the Changeling Chairs

Spring is a time of change and natural miracles. Just to walk around Hawarden is to be faced with ample evidence of this: the leaves are new-green, lambs hop in the fields, and country strolls frequently feature herds of cows who enjoy slobbering on my hands and terrorising my taurophobic co-worker.

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Gladstone's Library, commuting and Kung Fu

11 May 2016

Gladstone's Library, commuting and Kung Fu

I am asked frequently by visitors to Gladstone’s Library, and by my friends, what it is that I do during my time here. This blog will give a bit of insight into my routine as the only non-residential intern currently on the team at Gladstone’s Library.

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Snowdonia by Amy Liptrot

4 May 2016

Snowdonia by Amy Liptrot

This morning I put my swimsuit on under my clothes and drove from the Library to Snowdonia. On the way, I stopped at a Holy Well (‘The Welsh Lourdes’, 1 pound entry) where they displayed the crutches of pilgrims, no longer needed after taking the Holy Water.

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Exploring the sexual revolution with Timothy Sedgwick

21 April 2016

Exploring the sexual revolution with Timothy Sedgwick

In June we welcome Timothy Sedgwick of the Virginia Theological Seminary to deliver a course exploring just that. Considering a history of the transformation of desire, body and society, and the aftermath of the revolution, this course runs 13th – 14th June 2016 and will be an open forum for ideas and discussion.

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The Writing Process by Susan Barker

13 April 2016

The Writing Process by Susan Barker

A writer I like, Mohsin Hamed, wrote an essay for the New York Times a couple of years ago, in which he described the DNA of fiction as a double-helix: one strand comprised of what the writer knows, and the other strand comprised of what the writer wants to know.

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A day in the life of a Library Intern

1 April 2016

A day in the life of a Library Intern

Just what do our interns do all day? In her final blog, outgoing intern Kirsten-Rose Brooks bids farewell to the Library and provides an insight into life on the Library team.

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Guest blog: Writing Echo Hall at Gladstone's Library

21 March 2016

Guest blog: Writing Echo Hall at Gladstone's Library

I first heard about Gladstone’s Library in 2011 when I picked up a leaflet at the Hay Festival. I am a huge fan of William Gladstone, a Prime Minister who, for all his failings, really tried to improve the lot of ordinary people. So I was delighted to discover his library existed, and furthermore that it was possible to stay there. I was in the midst of writing my novel Echo Hall at the time and the idea of a writing retreat at Hawarden was very tempting. But, it’s a long way from Oxford and being a busy working parent it wasn’t until 2013 that I finally managed to make the trip.

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What We're Reading...Kirsten-Rose Brooks, Library Intern

18 March 2016

What We're Reading...Kirsten-Rose Brooks, Library Intern

Welcome to a new series on the Volume blog, What We’re Reading, in which members of the Library team divulge their current reads and what they think of them. This week, it’s my turn: Kirsten-Rose Brooks, one of the three library interns, avid reader and aspiring writer. 

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A blog by Rebecca Farmer

16 March 2016

A blog by Rebecca Farmer

If you are lucky enough to stay at Gladstone’s Library for a whole month, and I was, it is almost inevitable that, by the end of your stay, there will be things that get left behind and other things you will take away. I could get metaphysical about leaving behind a month of my life that had now become the past but, instead, I’ll tell you about the washing I left. Now is not the time for intimate detail but you’ll be relieved to know the washing was clean and had been left hanging on a rack. I was soon reunited with it when it arrived in the post neatly parcelled up as a kind of living proof that my stay at the Library hadn’t all been a dream…(cue wavy images, floaty music…). 

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Dear W.E.G. - a blog by intern Mary

11 March 2016

Dear W.E.G. - a blog by intern Mary

Dear W.E.G.,

Let me introduce myself: I’m Mary, the greenest Intern in Gladstone’s Library, having begun 10 days ago. You may remember me from the 2am chat I had with you on the eve of my interview, when nerves stopped me sleeping and your portrait kept side-eyeing me. As I learn more about this place, I feel I’m getting to know you; let me reciprocate, then, by telling you about my first week here.

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