Susan Catherine Sellers

Susan Sellers studied in London and Paris, receiving a DEA from the Sorbonne and a PhD from the University of London. While in Paris she worked closely with leading French feminist writers, particularly Hélène Cixous. She has written several books including Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women's Writingand Hélène Cixous: Authorship, Autobiography and Love. In 2008 she published Vanessa and Virginia, a fictional account of the sibling rivalry between Virginia Woolf and the painter Vanessa Bell, which has been translated into numerous languages. She is co-editor of the Cambridge University Press edition of Woolf's writing and volume editor of Woolf's novel The Waves.

My work falls into three main areas: creative writing, modernist and contemporary women's fiction and literary and feminist theory. I run the Cambridge University Press scholarly edition of the writings of Virginia Woolf, and am volume editor of Woolf’s novel The Waves. My novel exploring the sibling relationship between Woolf and the painter Vanessa Bell, Vanessa and Virginia, has been translated into multiple languages and adapted for the stage. I have also published widely in the general area of feminist literary theory, including Language and Sexual Difference, Myth and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Women’s Fiction, and several studies of the pioneering French feminist philosopher and writer Hélène Cixous.

French to English literary translation

Experience of running workshops in creative writing

Readings and literary discussions to a wide general audience

Media experience

I have read and discussed my novel at various literary festivals and on the radio. I have also filmed for the Arts Council.

In 2011 I am working with Cambridgeshire Libraries to take Virginia Woolf and 'difficult writing' to a wide audience.