Going Wilde in London

“He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realise.” (Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray).

Oscar Wilde

This is just a very quick update about something that I understand may not be of interest to everyone, but that I found absolutely wonderful. So do bear with me as I indulge myself, or feel free to skip this entry all together!

 I’ve been making use of my free time and have gone on several walking tours of London. They have all been excellent, and – being me – I chose the ones with literary themes. I’ve done three to date – The London of Oscar Wilde, The London of Shakespeare and The London of Charles Dickens. The Oscar Wilde walking tour was easily the best, and run by a phenomenally knowledgeable chap who is one of the chief researchers at the Oscar Wilde Society and really knew his stuff. Also, he was dressed as Oscar Wilde in all his flamboyancy, which added a certain sense of fun to the occasion!

Oscar Wilde, I think, has had more of an influence on me than any other writer, and he holds a very, very special place in my heart. He has certainly had a great impact on my personal writing, and I love his plays, his poetry and his achingly beautiful fairytales equally. I happen to be reading a wonderful biography of him at the moment, and so to be guided through the streets of London and see all the places that I had read about in my book was a truly wonderful experience. We saw various spots where he lived, the florist where he bought his iconic green carnations, the tobacconist where he bought his cigarettes, the spot where he stood trial and was convicted for ‘gross indecency’ (aka homosexuality) and the spot where he was released from prison after his 2 years of hard labour.

My Oscar Wilde biography, by Richard Ellman.
Meticulously researched... if you're at all interested in Wilde, give it a try.

Several years ago I visited Oscar’s grave in Paris, and felt that I had made a connection with the dead man. Now, after taking this walking tour, I feel that I have made a connection with the living man. I admire him hugely, not only for giving us superb works of art like The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray, but also for his courage and strength of character.  So to follow in his footsteps was for me, a tremendously meaningful thing. 

Over and out! J

PS – if you’ve never read anything by Oscar Wilde, do yourself a favour and read this fairy tale, which I consider one of his best. It’s short, and I promise you’ll enjoy it! http://www.artpassions.net/wilde/nightingale.html.