Today is Virginia Woolf’s birthday. While I don’t normally celebrate or recognize the birthdays of my favorite authors, my relationship and fascination with Woolf’s life and work is not quite like my relationship with other novelists and poets. I can’t help but feel she’s my greatest teacher.

I first felt this way when reading her unfinished memoir, “A Sketch of the Past,” in late 2007, the text which is the inspiration for this blog/website/sketch of a present. Here’s a passage from one of my favorite sections:

Looking over my markings, I think I might need a new copy. Or at least a pen that isn’t red or blue or black. Reading on . . .