The Oscar Wilde Newsletter
This is a free and occasional roundup of Oscar Wilde happenings in case you may have missed a Blog Post, or links to other features in the Archive.
Regular blog postings will continue to appear but The Newsletter is a separate, and less frequent, way to stay updated with discoveries, news, and literary commentary.
VISIT THE WEB SITE
The website has been redesigned as a hub for the documentary archive Oscar Wilde In America, as well as Wilde’s relationship with Dress, the Oscar Wilde Blog, and a wealth of additional material.
www.oscarwilde.us
FROM THE BLOG
Dive into the barrel-load of Basils from recent postings beginning with how the character of Basil Hallward from The Picture of Dorian Gray was not going to let the mere fact of a frenzied knife attack, fatal though it was, prevent him from conducting his own secondary existence.
You also find the story continues with:
FROM THE BLOG
In Wilde’s play, The Importance Of Being Earnest, why do Lady Bracknell and Jack Worthing bid each other a “good morning” if they’re having tea at five o’clock in the afternoon?
FROM THE NEWS
To mark the 25th anniversary, watch Christine Nelson, in conversation with Philip Palmer as they recall the exhibition at the Morgan Library in New York scheduled for the morning of 9/11.
FROM THE NEWS
NEW YORK CITY CENTER: MAINSTAGE
Oscar© : A new ballet by Christopher Wheeldon
Oct 8 – 11, 2026
From the Australian Ballet, the tragic story of Oscar Wilde is brought to the stage, set to live music played by the 48-piece Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
FROM THE AUTHOR
Late Victorians began to contemplate a bold, astonishing idea: that perhaps women might simply be free to dress... freely. Amidst an unlikely confederation of physicians, clothing designers, feminists, sexologists, actors and artists this wild notion found its most eloquent proponent in Oscar Wilde.
Praise
The serious, the thoughtful Oscar Wilde is all too often hidden behind his trademark wit and humour, but his multiple reflections on ‘Dress’, here brilliantly assembled and edited by John Cooper, now rectify some of that imbalance in his reputation. A must-read for all committed Wildeans.
Merlin Holland
Author: After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal (Europa Editions)
FROM THE ARCHIVE: FAKE QUOTATIONS
You’ve seen them everywhere: things Oscar Wilde never said.
Suggest your entries for the growing Oscar Wilde Fake Quotes Archive.
john@oscarwilde.us