Literature Class
Oscar Wilde: Collected Writings
Literature Course Summer 2026
Come and read, enjoy, discuss, and share your views on the writings of Oscar Wilde. We’ll be exploring the variety of his writings ranging from his early poems, essays, and dialogues to his witty comedies of manners.
The course tracks the development of the Wilde’s career chronologically, selecting his greatest works from each phase of artistic achievement in turn. We’ll also be examining his short stories, fairy stories, letters, and extracts from The Picture of Dorian Gray to appreciate fully the range of his talents and legacy.
We shall consider important contexts, such as Aestheticism, the Decadence, ‘Dandyism’, the changing social customs of the fin de siècle, and Wilde’s politics, national identity, and sexuality.
Enrolment Details
Courses are open to all. New participants are welcome.
Classes run on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 10:00 to 12:00 in The Shaw Room.
Course fees are £120, if paid before 10 March, £125 thereafter.
Term will start on 21 & 22 April. We will break for half-term week on 26 & 27 May, resume on 2 June & 3 and end on 30 June and 1 July.
Contextual or critical resources will be provided as photocopies.
Text Editions
Please purchase: The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Collins Classics, ISBN 978-00071444365
For further information and enquiries please send an email to the address below:
alexander@thatliteratureguy.com
To book the course transfer £125 (or £120 before 10 March) to:
Alexander Fairburn-Dixon
Monzo Business Account
Sort Code: 04-00-04
Account Number: 43715503
Feel free to contact me if you wish to make alternative arrangements for payment.
Summer Study Days 2026
Once again, we are pleased to offer a series of Summer Study Days. They are relaxed opportunities to read and discuss a range of works and themes and are open to everyone.
The three Course Leaders are well-known to participants who have attended these days in the past, they are Rosalind Adler, Alexander Fairbairn-Dixon and Susan Hamlyn.
These study days are open to all and take place at The Questors Theatre in the Emmet Room. You can attend any combination of days you wish, you do not have to attend all.
The fee for each Study Day is £47.50 which can be paid in advance by bank transfer or by cash or cheque on the day.
We hugely look forward to sharing the days with as many of you as possible – bring your friends! Please send any queries to:
1suehamlyn@gmail.com
Click on the links below to find out more details. Contact 1suehamlyn@gmail.com to book.
Rosalind Adler's Study Days
Rosalind will offer three courses – the first is another in her series of clear-eyed looks at Jane Austen’s characters and the second and third are days in our Play in A Day series.
Susan Hamlyn's Study Days
Susan's three Study Days will centre on William Tyndale, the translator of the first English Bible.
Alexander Fairbairn-Dixon
