Inaugural Lecture: '"The only good writer of a decade or more": George Orwell, Wyndham Lewis and the Politics of the Novel'

"The only good writer of a decade or more": George Orwell, Wyndham Lewis and the Politics of the Novel

Inaugural Lecture, Visiting Fellow Dr Nathan Waddell

In this lecture, Dr Nathan Waddell looks at one of the first extended criticisms of George Orwell, which was offered in 1952 by the modernist painter and writer Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957). Lewis rated Orwell very highly, but he wasn’t convinced by his attempts to make literature political. His critique of Orwell’s writing tells us a lot not only about early perceptions of Orwell after his death, but also about how the novel itself, as a literary form, could be viewed in the post-war period.  

About the Speaker

Dr Nathan Waddell is a teacher and researcher of early twentieth-century literature, with a core emphasis on the life, work and controversies of the painter and writer Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957).

He is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in the University of Birmingham’s Department of English Literature, where he has worked since October 2017. In September 2023 he begins a three-year Visiting Fellowship at Northumbria University. 

This lecture will take place on campus, in Lecture Theatre 002, Business & Law Building, City Campus East (full address at the bottom of the page). Refreshments will be served from 12.30pm outside of the lecture theatre. The lecture will also be available to stream online - please register for the event and a link will be sent to you to access the live stream.