Editorial Preface for the Iris Murdoch Review issue 15
It is a truism to say that each time we publish the Iris Murdoch Review, the diversity of material contained within the latest edition feels the most wide-ranging. Whilst each issue celebrates new publications and events, the variety is heightened this year with the focus on Murdoch’s love of conviviality and, especially, beermats. Originally planned for publication as a standalone work on this subject, I am delighted that we were able to include the majority of pieces here. The inclusion of these, and so many other wonderful articles and reviews, makes this year’s edition of the Review the most expansive yet. It is also pleasing to be able to republish Murdoch’s own reflection on drinking in her essay ‘A Woman Don’s Delight’, which is unavailable online and rare in physical copy, as well as her unpublished after-dinner speech for J. B. Priestley on the occasion of his 76th birthday. I must thank Anne Rowe for all her diligence in undertaking this project with me, Daniel Read for his work on pubs in Murdoch’s fiction, and Dayna Miller for providing not only an overview of Murdoch’s tegestology but the image which adorns the front cover – just a few of the many beermats that are now housed at the Kingston University archives. This section of the Review also benefits from essays on the same subject by Elin Svenneby and Rivka Isaacson for which we are most grateful. Both essays highlight the importance of alcohol in Murdoch’s work, and by extension her life, including the social benefits and medical pitfalls of indulgence. One of the most important publications of this year, Gary Browning’s Iris Murdoch and the Political, is highlighted by Gary’s own essay on Murdoch’s lived political experience. A review of his work is forthcoming in the next edition of the Iris Murdoch Review.
Our reviews section carries substantial reflections on three new monographs by Frances White, Lesley Jamieson, and Matthew Congdon – all of which come highly recommended by their respective reviewers – as well as a report on Luey Graves’ exhibition earlier this year in London: we’re delighted to be able to reproduce some of her artwork here. As highlighted in last year’s Review, there has been an upsurge of interest by visual artists working in a range of media on Murdoch’s fiction and philosophy. Currently there is an exhibition of artwork by Kevin Petrie at the University of Kingston, as well as the recent exhibition ‘(Un)Real Ireland’ at the University of Galway, which included visual and filmic work focused on Murdoch. Reviews of both exhibitions will be featured in the next edition of the Review. Wendy Vaizey has kindly reviewed the Iris Murdoch Podcast series as it reached its 50th episode since starting in 2020. As I write this editorial it has now reached 60 episodes, with plans in place to produce many more. These can be accessed via the Society website.
The reports section covers a range of symposia, conferences, one-day events, talks and lectures from around the world, from Oxford to Japan, Paris to Ireland and beyond. I was fortunate to be at a substantial number of these and can confirm that the reports here chime with my own experience. It was a pleasure to have so many of our members with us recently for the Eleventh Biennial Conference at Chichester, although perhaps the most notable was the unveiling of the English Heritage Blue Plaque at Murdoch’s former home in Cornwall Gardens, London. This brings the total number of plaques dedicated to Murdoch in Great Britain and Ireland to four, all of which have been installed since her centenary in 2019. She is surely now a permanent fixture – literal and literary – in the Anglo-Irish Canon.
In the past year we sadly lost two important Murdochians. The first, Dame Antonia Byatt, is best known as a prize-winning novelist, short story writer and public intellectual; however, we also know her through her academic criticism, particularly Degrees of Freedom: The Early Novels of Iris Murdoch. Her friend and Murdoch’s biographer, Peter J. Conradi, reflects on her life, work and relationship with Dame Iris here. We also remember Barbara Stevens Heusel, who did so much for the founding and early life of the Iris Murdoch Society and, in recent years, has supported early-career scholars through the annual research fund. Her husband, the academic Dennis Moore, writes movingly about her life.
Finally, we are grateful to Luey Graves for the use of her artwork; to the University of Bradford Archives for permission to reproduce Murdoch’s After-Dinner Speech for J.B. Priestley; to Heather Robbins for her hard work and dedication in typesetting and designing this issue; to our hardworking editorial team of Rebecca Moden and Lucy Oulton; our authors, reviewers and reporters; and, as ever, to our Society members and readers, whose constant support allows us to continue to thrive.
University of Chichester
October 2024