Feast of Orwellian Writing To Dip Into

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George Orwell Studies

(Volume 9, Number 2)

The extraordinary richness, breadth and depth of current Orwellian scholarship is reflected in the latest, 203-page issue of George Orwell Studies which incorporates academic papers, articles, an interview, short stories, book reviews, review essays and a diary column.

The front cover features a striking image of Orwell produced by David Ryan using AI. He writes: ‘If technology can bring us new variations of these – with colour in his cheeks, or the illusion of a modern studio setting – then I’m all for it.’

Papers include G. Alexander Denning on the significance of Goldstein in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Peter Marks and Simon J. Potter on Orwell’s 1947 BBC radio adaptation of Animal Farm, Patrick Homes applies the theories of Mark Fisher to an understanding of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Tim Crook considers Tom Hopkinson’s early assessment of Orwell while Nathan Waddell studies Orwell in relation to Wyndham Lewis.

Darcy Moore continues to unearth important new documents: here, he examines 13 letters sent by Orwell to Siegfried Charoux. Paul W.B. Marsden explains how he came to write his new novel which imagines George Orwell’s stay with Arthur Koestler in Blaenau Ffestiniog around Christmas 1945. And Jan-Boje Frauen discovers a hidden, carefully constructed pattern in Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece revolving around the mystical number eleven.

Nathan Waddell, author of the forthcoming and highly original A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell, is interviewed by Les Hurst while the Louth-based Rob Joyson contributes five fine poems inspired by Orwell. Ann Kronbergs has composed a number of moving short stories under the title Holding Up His Sky: Stories of Women in the Life of George Orwell and here appear the first two: others in the collection will be carried in future issues of the journal. Finally, the book reviews section includes two long essays by John Newsinger and Paul Flewers.

So a feast of Orwellian writing to dip into – not to be missed.

Subscription details for George Orwell Studies, which is completely independent of The Orwell Society and edited by Richard Lance Keeble and Tim Crook, are at http://www.abramis.co.uk/george-orwell-studies/.