Talks & Lectures

Lit & Phil 200

These talks are organised by the Lit & Phil (you don't need to be a member in order to attend any of their public events), and tickets cost £5 per talk, from the Lit & Phil Library, 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE, in person or over the phone (0191) 232 0192. It is advisable to book seats in advance; if you reserve a ticket and are subsequently unable to attend, please let us know as we often have a waiting list.

Oscar Wilde

Tuesday 22nd July | 6.00 pm

Standing out even among the catalogue of great and good, worthy and famous speakers who have graced the Lit & Phil is the name of Oscar Wilde, who lectured there on "The House Beautiful" in 1883.

This illustrated talk will contextualise Wilde as public speaker within the larger pattern of his career as poet, novelist, arbiter of taste, playwright, aesthete and promoter of his own image. In his Victorian environment Wilde's conduct as a gay man saw him flirting with danger to the point of destroying his own career, but with the posthumous result of being hailed as an iconic figure and martyr to the cause. His paradoxical relationship with celebrity and visibility remains as fascinating as the style and wit of his writings and opinions and his shifting place in both Victorian and modern literary history.

A LIVE Lit & Phil Event  |  £5: online booking