7 months ago
Virginia Woolf's 'On Being Ill' Turns 100
Virginia Woolf wrote an essay called 'On Being Ill' in 1926.
She said that books and poems about being sick are rare because we don't have good words to describe illness.
She thought this was important because sickness is a big part of life.
The essay was first published in a literary magazine and later in a special printed book.
Today, people are still talking about her essay, especially during the COVID pandemic.
An artist even printed one sentence from the essay every day during lockdown.
In 2026, there will be a big campaign to get more people reading, and Woolf's essay will be part of that.
Virginia Woolf's essay 'On Being Ill' was published in January 1926 in The New Criterion.
Woolf argued that literature lacks adequate representation and language for illness.
The essay was initially criticized by T.S. Eliot but was later revised and republished.
A special edition of the essay was hand-printed by The Hogarth Press in 1930.
The essay's themes resonate today, especially during the COVID pandemic, inspiring projects like Pandemic Pages and an artist's daily printing of its sentences.
- Who
- Virginia Woolf
- What
- Publication of the essay 'On Being Ill'
- Where
- The New Criterion
- When
- January 1926
- Why
- To highlight the lack of literature on illness and the poverty of language in describing sickness
Key facts
- Author
- Virginia Woolf
- Publication Year
- 1926
- Original Publication
- The New Criterion
- Revised Title
- Illness: An Unexploited Mine
- Printing Press
- The Hogarth Press
- Podcast
- Pandemic Pages
- Artist
- Ane Thon Knutsen
- Year of Reading
- 2026
Quotes
Virginia Woolf
British writer and essayist
“Illness is the great confessional”
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“Books on influenza, poetry on pneumonia and tomes on toothache and typhoid are null, negligible and non-existent”
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Ane Thon Knutsen
Associate professor of Graphic Design from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and letterpress print artist
“A couple of days into the pandemic, I read On Being Ill. I’d read it before and I had planned to work on it, but I read it again and I was just like, my God, this essay is about just what’s happening right now.”
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