(Note from England #3!)
Lewis Carroll visited Twyford School, which was attended by his younger brothers and cousin, and took the earliest known photographs of it and its pupils. This year, the school celebrates the 200th anniversary of its current site with various events including the Lewis Carroll Photography exhibition (previously shown at Dimbola Lodge and the Playhouse, Oxford). The official opening of the exhibition includes a lecture by Edward Wakeling on Lewis Carroll and his Twyford experiences, followed by a dinner which will continue the Lewis Carroll theme.

There is a £20 charge for the dinner and lecture, and tickets must be purchased in advance.

(Note from England #2)
The Roger Lancelyn Green Memorial Lecture: John Vernon Lord – Illustrating Wonderland
Friday, 20 March 2009, London, U.K.

John Vernon Lord’s stunning illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are due to be published this Spring by Artists’ Choice Editions, creators of beautifully printed and very collectable books, under the guidance of Dennis Hall. A former Professor of Illustration at the University of Brighton, Lord is the writer and illustrator of many works including the hugely successful The Giant Jam Sandwich. His illustrations to The Hunting of the Snark were extremely well received, particularly by members of the Lewis Carroll Society. The artist will talk about the challenges and the opportunities the book presents to an illustrator and discuss his personal response to them.

The Roger Lancelyn Green Memorial Lecture is an occasional series of special talks hosted by the Lewis Carroll Society (LCS U.K.) in memory of one of the pioneers of Carroll scholarship. Guests are welcome at the lecture, for which there is no charge, but they do request that non-members contact the society to reserve places.

(Note from England #1:)
You don’t have to win a Rhodes Scholarship to go to Oxford. The university’s Department for Continuing Education runs a summer program called The Oxford Experience that is open to everyone. No special knowledge or qualifications are required, just an interest in the chosen subject.

In fact, the residential program of one-week courses is enormously popular with vacationing Americans, since it provides the opportunity to stay and study in Christ Church—founded in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey—which is one of the most prestigious and beautiful of Oxford colleges. Participants reside in rooms where English prime ministers and poets once lived and dine on High Table in the impressive Hall made famous in Harry Potter films.

The Oxford Experience will take place next summer, during five weeks from July 5 to August 8. The 50-plus courses offered include “Alice’s Adventures in Oxford” (taught by Edward Wakeling from July 5 to 11)…There are no tests, no papers, but small groups (maximum 12 to a class) taught by friendly tutors. Participants range in age from thirty-something to ninety-something, with many active retirees.

The best news right now is that due to the stronger dollar, a one week course that cost $1,900 last summer, costs only $1,485 for summer 2009 (calculated at today’s rate, 1GBP = US$1.49)! Included in the price are tuition, accommodations and all meals—a full English breakfast, buffet lunch and served three-course dinner. Once a week each participant is invited to dine on High Table and on the final night everyone gathers for champagne in the flower-filled Cathedral Garden and a festive farewell dinner in Hall.

Most courses provide excursions to (for example) stately homes, cathedrals and museums, and on some afternoons tours of Christ Church and the city of Oxford are offered. In the evening there might be a pub crawl, a special lecture, wine and croquet in the Master’s Garden, Evensong in the college chapel (which is also the Oxford Cathedral), and occasionally the bizarre-but-traditional Morris Dancers perform.

The deadline for registration online is May 15, 2009, by mail May 1, 2009, but early application is recommended as courses fill quickly (and who knows if the exchange rate will remain favorable). For more information, visit www.conted.ox.ac.uk/oxfordexperience or write to The Oxford Experience, OUDCE, 1 Wellington Square , Oxford , OX1 2JA , U.K.

Since this blog will be a year old on Saturday, and is nearing its 100th post, and okay, just because I’m thinking about it, this seems a good time to give the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA) a plug. I don’t think I’m biased at all when I highly recommend joining. Not only does your membership support free-to-the-public, twice-annual meetings in interesting places with fascinating, often world-renowned speakers, but members also receive the bi-annual Knight Letter journal and an annual publication not available anywhere else. (Don’t miss Mahendra Singh’s review of the most recent, Lewis Carroll: Voices From France by Elizabeth Sewell.)

The best part may be the interesting people one meets. Our meetings take place in the United States, but we have members in many countries who often find a way to join us. In addition, since Lewis Carroll was a mathematician, logician, photographer, inventor, and, oh yeah, author, and his works were/are then transferred to the stage, song, music, film, radio play, video game, opera, advertisements and commercials, music videos, comic book, textbooks, parodies, pastiches, mashups… I could go on for another three lines and someone would still let me know I’d forgotten something so I’ll stop now and get to my point: with such a wide variety of Carrollian topics, there is a wide variety of Carrollian enthusiasts interested in meeting and talking (and eating!) with fellow enthusiasts.

So if you haven’t already, tell yourself how much you love you and give yourself a LCSNA membership for Valentine’s Day!