Literary Diaries and Journals

Some literary diaries and journals to consider:

image from hmhbooks.com

Virginia Woolf, edited by Leonard Woolf.

“An invaluable guide to the art and mind of Virginia Woolf, drawn by her husband from the personal record she kept over a period of twenty-seven years. Included are entries that refer to her own writing, others that are clearly writing exercises; accounts of people and scenes relevant to the raw material of her work; and comments on books she was reading. Edited and with a Preface by Leonard Woolf; Indices” (www.hmhbooks.com).

Virginia Woolf also wrote A Room of One’s Own, a book length essay whose theme is women in writing.  It isn’t the easiest read (what of the Great Mrs. Woolf, is?), but it is remarkable.  If you’d like to read some of it, click on the image below!

image from http://www.smith.edu

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http://www.uspress.edu

Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1.

“‘I’ve struck it!” Mark Twain wrote in a 1904 letter to a friend. “And I will give it away—to you. You will never know how much enjoyment you have lost until you get to dictating your autobiography.” Thus, after dozens of false starts and hundreds of pages, Twain embarked on his “Final (and Right) Plan” for telling the story of his life. His innovative notion—to “talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment”—meant that his thoughts could range freely. The strict instruction that many of these texts remain unpublished for 100 years meant that when they came out, he would be “dead, and unaware, and indifferent,” and that he was therefore free to speak his “whole frank mind.” The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death. In celebration of this important milestone and in honor of the cherished tradition of publishing Mark Twain’s works, UC Press is proud to offer for the first time Mark Twain’s uncensored autobiography in its entirety and exactly as he left it. This major literary event brings to readers, admirers, and scholars the first of three volumes and presents Mark Twain’s authentic and unsuppressed voice, brimming with humor, ideas, and opinions, and speaking clearly from the grave as he intended.” (from http://www.ucpress.edu)

(click on the image for a link to a website with excerpts)

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