Reflections on Dorothy Wordsworth's Closest Relationships

Dorothy Wordsworth has been described as having ‘a genius for friendship’. She was a lively correspondent and maintained life-long relationships through her letters, especially with her female friends. Dorothy was her brother William’s first reader, co-writer, editor, critic and dearest friend. Dorothy’s writings, and the reflections of those who knew her, paint the picture of an empathetic and much-loved woman who placed great value on her relationships.
On 24 February 2022 Lucy Newlyn, Samantha Frank and Jeff Cowton explored some of Dorothy’s most important personal relationships, from her creative collaboration with William to her well-documented friendships with people such as Jane Pollard, Lady Beaumont, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Drawing upon Lucy’s books Vital Stream and All in Each Other, Samantha’s work with members of the aroace community on a project for the Dorothy: Writer, Sister, Friend exhibition, and close-up exploration of manuscripts from our collection, they reflected on Dorothy’s relationships and what we can learn from her today.
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About the speakers
Lucy Newlyn is a poet and emeritus fellow in English, St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In addition to studies of the Romantic poets, she has published five collections of poetry, Ginnel, Earth’s Almanac, Vital Stream, The Marriage Hearse, and The Craft of Poetry. Her most recent book is William and Dorothy Wordsworth: ‘All in each other’. She lives near Truro, UK.
Samantha Frank is a writer and reader from Illinois, USA. She was a recent collaborator on the Dorothy: Writer, Sister, Friend exhibition at Wordsworth Grasmere. She is currently working on a paper about Dorothy Wordsworth, friendship, and aromantic asexuality.
Jeff Cowton is Principal Curator & Head of Learning at Wordsworth Grasmere.

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Nice