On Thursday and Friday evenings this week Wodehouse expert, Tony Ring, is giving two talks at the British Library: The Wit and Wisdom of PG Wodehouse. Both are sold out but you may be interested in two related events.
Until 24th February in the Sir John Ritblat, Treasures Gallery, at the British Library there is an exhibition, PG Wodehouse: The Man and His Work tracing the development of Wodehouse as a writer. The best time to go is at 6.00 pm on Thursday 21st February when the BL is usually closed. Then at 7.00 pm, you could go to PG Wodehouse: What Ho! also at the BL. Tickets go on sale on Friday 7th December here.
What Ho! will be a night of readings, music and stories linking Wodehouse’s life and work, as inspired by his personal items on display in the British Library Treasures gallery such as his Warwickshire cricket club tie with links to a real bowler called Jeeves. With Robert McCrum, journalist and author of Wodehouse: A Life, and singer Hal Cazalet, Wodehouse’s step great-
Matthew is a broadcaster and former BBC executive. He has presented programmes on BBC Radios 1, 2, 4, 5Live, Local Radio and the World Service, where for the last 10 years he hosted the human interest interview programme Outlook. He currently presents Radio 4’s obituary programme Last Word and his own podcast Folk on Foot. He is a lifelong Wodehouse fan and collects first editions of his work.
It is on at the BL Knowledge Centre, an auditorium that seats 255, but early booking is advisable as it’s sure to be popular.
I have almost all PG Wodehouse’s books, some duplicates in the Everyman’s Library edition and much Wodehousiana. They are fixtures on my shelves but other books have to transition to Oxfam to make room for new arrivals. Here are the latest to be discarded: The Roy Strong Diaries 1967 – 1987 and The Complete Works of O Henry.