20/20 Vision

The 1920s was an important decade for English literature, with the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Agatha Christie’s first outing for Hercule Poirot and A. A. Milne’s modernist masterpiece, Winnie-the-Pooh, to name only a few innovations. Meeting once a month, this reading group will trace a literary trend from 1920-2020.

The first season is six months, beginning with This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald and following a trail of autobiographical fiction across the century. Through these six novels we will pick at the limits of fiction and ask: who gets to tell stories?

March – This Side of Paradise by F Scott Fitzgerald (1920)

April – Jonah’s Gourd Vine by Zora Neale Hurston (1934)

Hurston’s semi-autobiographical debut follows the migration of a family from Alabama to a small town in Florida. The story unfolds in the trenches of American racial politics and asks whether we are ever able to escape the consequences of our worst flaws. 

May –  Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)
June – Oranges are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson (1985)
July –  The Years – Annie Ernaux (2008)
August – The Topeka School – Ben Lerner  (PB July 2020)

The 20/20 Vision reading group meets on the second Wednesday of every month. There will be two groups running simultaneously so if you’d like to be in the same group as a friend, try to arrive together! A place at the reading group is £5 and this voucher can be used on the night of the event against the purchase of any book in the shop.