led by Peter Orner
Following his courses on Joyce’s Ulysses and Melville’s Moby Dick, Peter Orner Presents a popup course on To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Over three weeks, and with one bonus session, participants will read Woolf’s novel in full with illumination and guidance from Author and Dartmouth Professor Peter Orner.
From Peter:
Dear friends,
I’m delighted to be leading a pop up course on Woolf’s To The Lighthouse. For me no book has ever made me feel the weight of time like this one. We are going to read it slowly, sentence by sentence. For this course all you need is the text. The novel will break your heart if it hasn’t already. But it will also make your heart soar if it hasn’t already. All readers are welcome, whether you are new to the book or you’ve immersed yourself in it many times. Like the waves it often describes, no one reading is ever like another. I once wrote an essay about how much I mourned not being able to read this book again for the first time.
Please join us as we read To The Lighthouse.
-Peter Orner
Dates & Times: Online Sundays November 8 to 22. Main sessions run from 4 pm to 6 pm (Pacific) with optional discussion groups to follow.
- Sunday, November 8, 2026
- Sunday, November 15, 2026
- Sunday, November 22, 2026
- BONUS SESSION: Sunday, November 29, 2026 4:00-6:00 PT / 7:00-9:00 ET
Note: For those who are interested, intimate Zoom discussion groups (Virtual Houses) will meet after each session.
Course Texts
For this course, our texts will be
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf – Mariner Books Classics
ISBN: 9780156907392
Participants who don’t own the text are asked to purchase at least the required text, if possible, before November 8. It is best to use the same text even if you already own a different copy. That way we can reference specific pagination and move quickly through this large book. If you cannot get your copy of the book in time for the first session, reach out to us and we will assist you.
Handouts for each session will be posted online. Additional reading materials, including essays and short fiction will be added.
Leadership
Born in Chicago, Peter Orner is the author of eight acclaimed books, including Maggie Brown & Others; Love and Shame and Love; Esther Stories, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; and Am I Alone Here?, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His most recent novel, The Gossip Columnist’s Daughter was published by Little Brown in August. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Rome Prize, he has published work in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The Best American Short Stories, and has been awarded four Pushcart Prizes. With Yvette Benavides, he’s the co-host of podcast “The Lonely Voice” on Texas Public Radio. He teaches at Dartmouth College in Hanover New Hampshire.
What to Expect:
- Three, two-hour weekly sessions online with assigned reading.
- A bonus seventh session to recap, commiserate or cover anything that we couldn’t in the previous three sessions.
- In the first 60 or 70 minutes, Peter will explore and supply background on the previously assigned readings.
- In the second part, Peter will address questions and widen the discussion. Participant questions and comments will be submitted in the chat.
- Optional small (8-10 person) discussion groups will be available to those with the energy and interest after the formal session is over. Discussion guides will be provided.
- These sessions will be recorded, and will be available for later viewing by registered participants for 30 days following the final session
Tuition:
- Early Bird Tuition is $108. Early Bird Tuition Deadline: November 4 at Midnight PDT.
- Standard Tuition is $120.
- Limited financial aid available. Please contact us if needed.
- Returnee discount available. If you forgot your returnee discount code, email hunter@communityofwriters.org
The Writers Annex
Online, and year-round, The Writers’ Annex is composed of short courses, seminars, workshops, and more. Our vision is to bring the creative insight and experience of our staff poets and prose writers to our community in all seasons, not just in the summertime, and not just here in our Valley. Our online offerings will address such topics as eco-poetics, translation, and generative sessions. Some will be one or two days, some will be weekend intensives, and some will meet weekly for a month or two. In addition, we hope these offerings will help offset the tremendous expenses we face as an organization for our traditional in-person events in Olympic Valley.