Reading Groups

In Short: Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party” with Pam Newton

$50

1 Session

Out of stock

Monday, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT April 27, 2026

The Center for Fiction

Registration includes a complimentary drink from our Café & Bar.

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a master of the Modernist short story. In fact, her friend and contemporary Virginia Woolf once said that Mansfield’s work was “the only writing I have ever been jealous of.”

Join us for a discussion of the 1922 short story, “The Garden Party,” which conjures the world of Mansfield’s childhood in the suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand. Deceptively light in tone, the story is a pointed exploration of class and an intimate look at the domestic lives of women in the late Victorian Era. It is also a prime example of the experimental Modernist style that came to dominate Anglophone writing during this period. We will parse the fictional Sheridan family’s garden party, while sipping our own beverages on a spring evening at The Center for Fiction. Expect more of a conversation than a lecture, with context and guided exploration from the facilitator.

Reading List:

“The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read “The Garden Party” in its entirety before the first session. A PDF will be emailed upon registration.

Upcoming Programming: Continue your exploration of Modernist fiction in the second installment of Anne Fernald’s yearlong reading and discussion group on the works of Virginia Woolf, beginning March 31st.

Pricing inclusive of sales tax if applicable.

Led by

Pam Newton

Pam Newton

Pam Newton teaches writing in the English department at Yale University and is a freelance magazine writer. Her articles, mostly personal essays and art/culture journalism, have appeared in the Atlantic, the New York Times magazine, Time Out New York, the Huffington Post, American Theatre, the National Book Review, LitHub, and elsewhere. She has taught writing and literature for many years to a wide range of ages, including a decade teaching in the Humanities faculty at Cooper Union and directing the Writing Fellows program there. She has a B.A. in Drama from Northwestern University and an M.A. in English Literature from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.

About this series

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