https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1ZYuK-Yd8&list=PLxCcZw1m4oIUQwUMlmLkmyTJ73ceagYLt

Maeve says: “Accident of Birth came from my reflecting on the role of chance in one’s birth and life chances. And it concludes with the reflection that, notwithstanding these many differences, more unites us than divides us.”

To read more about Maeve, see her article in the August 2025 issue of The Oxford Writer, entitled ‘Rocking in my 70s’.

You can find this in the Newsletter pages of this website.

Fot the individual videos:

Picasso Postcards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ihxdUP6DoQ&pp=ygUMbWFldmVhbmRwZXRl0gcJCdoKAYcqIYzv

The Conversation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK1ZYuK-Yd8&pp=ygUMbWFldmVhbmRwZXRl

Accident Of Birth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vr_c4UchEg&pp=ygUMbWFldmVhbmRwZXRl

Sisterly relationships feature prominently in some of our best-loved
classic literature. From Jane and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice
to Hasina and Nazneen in Brick Lane, they have provided inspiration for
novelists over the centuries.

Sisters can be best friends, mother figures, rivals, heroes, sounding
boards or partners in crime, depending on literary genre, era, or the
demands of plot. They can bring into focus the changing roles of
women in society, especially in literature that predates the twentieth
century, such as Middlemarch, The Woman in White and The Old Wives’
Tale. Their bonds with younger or older siblings, like those of Meg, Jo,
Beth and Amy in Little Women, are often complex and nuanced, and
occasionally devastating.

Covering childhood, adventure, affairs of the heart and mental health,
this book explores the role of sisters in twenty individual entries, each
one providing a synopsis and analysis of the work in question. Including
writers as diverse as Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, J.D. Salinger, Toni
Morrison and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, it makes the perfect read for
book-loving sisters whatever their connection.

Available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Janet+Phillips+Literary+sisters&i=stripbooks&crid=120Q0745RU4Y2&sprefix=janet+phillips+literary+sisters%2Cstripbooks%2C100&ref=nb_sb_noss

JANET PHILLIPS is the author of Great Literary Friendships (Bodleian
Library Publishing, 2022).

11.30am-5pm every day except Mondays and 24-27 June, until 5 July

Free exhibition

13 examples of modern figurative sculpture, from all over the world, including a Gormley and a Frink, disposed exquisitely around Worcester’s beautiful gardens.

Alumni and University card-holders may visit at any time; everyone else must book.

Full details and free ticket applications here: https://www.worc.ox.ac.uk/college-life/art/sculpture-in-the-garden

Image: Anderson Borba/Fisher Studios

Thursday, July 2  •  6:30 PM – 7:30 PM

The workshop will help independent authors with how to market and brand themselves and their books, with lots of practical tips to take away.

Tickets £10 at:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-and-branding-for-independent-authors-tickets-1987309988673

Cowley Library, Temple Road, OX4 2EZ

WiO member Alison Baxter launches her new historical novel, A Fatal Choice, with free refreshments.

Open event, but register here: A literary evening with Alison Baxter Tickets, Wednesday, July 1  •  5:15 PM – 6:45 PM | Eventbrite

Baptist Chapel, 34 Witney St, Burford OX18 4SN

Of the many events at this conducive local festival, we have selected ‘Tea and Books’ as the most appealing to WiO members: three authors, Eve Smith, Jasper Fforde and Anne Youngson, will talk about the books they would recommend and discuss their own and each other’s recommendations.

Tickets £10, including afternoon tea, from www.ticketsource.co.uk/burford-festival.