At Tavistock Square, close to the house where she lived and wrote many of her novels from 1924 to 1939, stands a bronze bust of the prominent British writer Virginia Woolf. The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain erected it on June 26th, 2004, creating a replica of the bust that Stephen Tomlin had sculpted in 1931, which still stands in the National Portrait Gallery.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and an early proponent of stream-of-consciousness storytelling. From a young age, she was an avid reader and writer. Attending the Ladies’ Department of King’s College London (1897-1901) introduced her to women’s rights and equality and influenced her views and writing.
During her lifetime, Woolf published dozens of novels, short stories, essays, dramas, memoirs, and autobiographical writing.
Family tragedies and mental illness caused her to be institutionalized several times, and by the age of 59, Woolf took her own life by drowning herself in the River Ouse at Lewes.
Years after her death, her work influenced and helped define the feminist movement of the 1970s, especially following the groundbreaking book A Room of One’s Own. Her writings are still being studied in universities and inspiring notable authors.
The statue’s location is at the Bloomsbury district, known as the intellectual and literary hub for London, where in the first half of the 20th century, Woolf created and worked, along with the Bloomsbury Group of associated English intellectuals, philosophers, and artists. There are several educational institutions in the area, such as the University College London and the University of London. You can also visit the British Museum and continue to Russell Square and Covent Garden, which are not far.
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