The EWS has posted the most recent issue of Evelyn Waugh Studies. This is No. 57.1 (Spring 2026). An email describing the issue as well as a link to the text is posted below:
“I trust you’ve all had an excellent summer. Just in time to alleviate the back-to-school blues, I’m delighted to present you with Evelyn Waugh Studies 57.1
Edited as ever by Yuexi Liu and Jonathan Pitcher, this is – as Yuexi points out – something of a religion special. We’re very pleased to lead with the winning entry of the John H. Wilson Jr. Evelyn Waugh Undergraduate Essay Contest, by Camille Floyd. Camille’s essay takes a fascinating look at Brideshead Revisited through the lens of negative theology, which ‘exposes the failure of both understanding and naming what constitutes the divine. Humans understand the idea of a divine and infinite being through negation.’ The result sheds new light on Waugh’s stated intention for one of his major works.
George McCartney has written a fascinating piece about one of my own favourite elements of Waugh’s life – his all-too-brief friendship with Orwell. Waugh visited Orwell while he was convalescing in the Cotswolds, towards the end of his life, and Orwell famously said: ‘Waugh is about as good a novelist as one can be while holding untenable opinions.’ Many people in publishing circles thought Orwell’s positions were untenable too – for example, his attacks on Stalin. As McCartney demonstrates, he and Waugh had more in common than it might appear. (And Helena in Room 101 is, I’m sure you’ll agree, an excellent title.)
By pleasing co-incidence, and after glowing feedback, last year’s Essay Contest winner Catherine Simmerer has returned too – this time as a reviewer casting an expert eye over Converts: From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, Why So Many Became Catholic in the 20th Century, by Melanie McDonagh.
As ever, the News section is packed with goodies: Submissions are welcome for the next Undergraduate Essay Contest, and it’s always pleasing to be reminded how often Waugh appears in the press. Finally, we were contacted recently by a pupil from Waugh’s alma mater, Lancing College. Hilmi Mohammed has written a piece titled ‘Why Read Waugh?’ for the school’s newspaper, and we’re delighted to include it.
Wishing you happy reading until next time – and warmest regards!
Jamie Collinson”
