Orlando

'Better was it to go unknown and leave behind you an arch, then to burn like a meteor and leave no dust.' Mason Alexander Park reads Orlando: A Biography, a dazzling, genre-defying journey through time and identity. Spanning over three hundred years, Orlando tells the story of a young poet and nobleman who mysteriously switches genders. Living through centuries of English history, our charming titular character becomes intertwined with key historical figures, such as Elizabeth I, King Charles II, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift amongst others. A spirited and vibrant coming-of-age tale, we see Orlando evade unwanted marriage proposals, pursue a dazzling literary career and explore their sexuality, all the while navigating an identity constantly in flux. Blending fantasy and satire, Woolf's novel challenges conventional boundaries of gender, time and narrative form. Inspired by her relationship with friend and lover Vita Sackville-West, Orlando remains a bold, witty and visionary work that feels startlingly modern. Virginia Woolf (1882 – 1941) was one of the most significant novelists of the twentieth century. A modernist writer and progressive thinker, she is known for her stream of consciousness narrative style and influence on feminist criticism. Her works have been translated into over fifty languages and are widely read and adapted to this day.