Virginia Woolf (Author) Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was born in London. She became a central figure in The Bloomsbury Group, an informal collective of British writers, artists and thinkers. In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a writer and social reformer. She wrote many works of literature which are now considered masterpieces, including Mrs Dalloway , To the Lighthouse , Orlando , and The Waves . Frances Spalding (Introducer) Frances Spalding is an art historian, critic and biographer. Her books include acclaimed biographies of the painters Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, and Stevie Smith. She has written a history of the Tate Gallery and was the editor of Charleston magazine. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art.