Happy 45th birthday, Virago! Forty five years ago, on 21 June, 1973, Virago held its first board meeting, with directors Carmen Callil, Rosie Boycott and Marsha Rowe. Virago was founded as a feminist publishing company, with the aim of championing women’s writing for the widest possible audience and I’m proud to say we are still…
Linda Grant describes the atmostpheric London flats that led her to a cast of characters living in a tuberculosis sanatorium in post-war Britain . . . The road I live on runs down to the main railway line from the north to King’s Cross. The road was built up at the turn of the last century to provide handsome…
To celebrate the long-standing heritage of Virago Modern Classics and the designers who made the hardback range such a success, in Autumn 2015 we launched three sets of mugs and notebooks based on some of our best loved classics. We’ve now added three new designs to the collection for 2016 – Angela Carter’s The Magic…
A London Lies Beneath guided London Walk from Trafalgar Square to East Street Market The celebrate the publication of London Lies Beneath, Stella Duffy takes us on a guided London walk from Trafalgar Square to East Street Market… The first chapter of London Lies Beneath is a speedy spin through the beginnings of London, from swamp to…
Her Chapter 1 Babygirl’s Gun 13 Third Avenue, New York City, 1982 She said he gave her the little gun because it was classy and elegant, like her. A feminine twist of metal and pearl. Lethal, like her. She kept it under her pillow “just in case.” Her bed was, is, and always will…
The Freeze–Dried Groom The next thing is that his car won’t start. It’s the fault of the freak cold snap, caused by the polar vortex – a term that’s already spawned a bunch of online jokes by stand-up comics about their wives’ vaginas. Sam can relate to that. Before she finally cut him off,…
To celebrate the publication of The Heart Goes Last in paperback, we asked the Virago team to tell us about some of their other favourite Margaret Atwood books… About The Heart Goes Last: Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of economic and social collapse. Living in their…
In light of recent events, we’re celebrating cultures outside of the UK that contribute to our diverse range of front list and Virago Modern Classic titles. In Diamond Square, first published in 1962, is relatively unknown out of Spain, yet it is the most acclaimed Catalan novel of all time. Set in Barcelona during…
Peacocks A short story from Foreign Brides – an extract The strangest thing about this house is that the boiler is in the attic. Whenever the heating goes off, which happens quite often, Vera has to climb up the old aluminium ladder, squeeze through the narrow square opening in the floorboards and relight the pilot….
