This special course concentrates on the selected works of four famous authors and links them with the history of Eastbourne New Town.
With Sanditon, we’ll explore Jane Austen’s impressions of the joys and struggles of building a fashionable seaside resort and compare them with the growth of Eastbourne New Town. With Staying at the Seaside, we’ll enjoy H. G. Wells’ satirical observations of seaside life while exploring the new phenomenon of early Eastbourne holidays. For Virginia Woolf’s Unwritten Novel, we’ll consider first impressions and the change a train makes to a collection of hamlets. In the Crowded Hour, we’ll join Arthur Conan Doyle for a medley of highwaymen, hotels and cricket in the early days of Eastbourne New Town.
You’ll be invited to read the stories before we meet so we can discuss them in session before exploring aspects of Eastbourne history together. Writings in the sessions will be based on your observations of the literature and local historical narratives.
9th September- Jane Austen’s Sanditon and the Empress of Watering Places
14th October - H. G. Wells’ Art of Staying at the Seaside: A Guide to Eastbourne Holidays
11th November - Virginia Woolf’s Unwritten Novel on the Train to Eastbourne
9th December - Arthur Conan Doyle’s Crowded Hour: Pirates and Googlies