The Outside Thing

The Outside Thing

In a lecture delivered before the University of Oxford’s Anglo-French Society in 1936, Gertrude Stein described romance as “the outside thing, that . . . is always a thing to be felt inside.” Hannah Roche takes Stein’s definition as a principle for the reinterpretation of three major modernist lesbian writers, showing how literary and affective romance played a crucial yet overlooked role in the works of Stein, Radclyffe Hall, and Djuna Barnes. The Outside Thing offers original readings of both canonical and peripheral texts, including Stein’s first novel Q.E.D. (Things As They Are), Hall’s Adam’s Breed and The Well of Loneliness, and Barnes’s early writing alongside Nightwood. Is there an inside space for lesbian writing, or must it always seek refuge elsewhere? Crossing established lines of demarcation between the in and the out, the real and the romantic, and the Victorian and the modernist, The Outside Thing presents romance as a heterosexual plot upon which lesbian writers willfully set up camp. These writers boldly adopted and adapted the romance genre, Roche argues, as a means of staking a queer claim on a heteronormative institution. Refusing to submit or surrender to the “straight” traditions of the romance plot, they turned the rules to their advantage. Drawing upon extensive archival research, The Outside Thing is a significant rethinking of the interconnections between queer writing, lesbian living, and literary modernism.

Curious Things of the Outside World

101 Things to do Outside

'I'm bored' must be the most frightening words in a child's vocabulary, and how to keep kids entertained is something that keeps many of us awake at night. 101 Things to do Outside is packed with games, projects, crafts, experiments and gardening inspiration that will have your child racing out to try something new. The huge selection of ideas covers all four seasons and ranges from quick 10-minute activities to a full day of fun. From party games and treasure hunts to simple gardening projects, each idea is simple to follow and illustrated with diagrams, so you can't go wrong! Activities include Building a Human Sundial, Creating an Outdoor Collage, Setting up a Wormery and Planting a Potato Tower. This hands-on guide will help your child get the most from being outdoors, and you don't need a big garden - a local park or small area will suffice. All 101 ideas are sure to get the kids away from the computer and provide hours of entertainment for the entire family. The activities are written with children aged 5+ years in mind but it's your call as to how much help, support and age-appropriate supervision they might need ... make whatever adjustments are necessary.