The Oscar Wilde Society

09/06/2026

A Wilde Summer in Dublin

Those of you lucky enough to live in or visit Dublin this summer have a host of Oscar Wilde experiences to enjoy.

You can of course visit the Oscar Wilde House at Merrion Square and decide what you think of the Oscar Wilde statue on the crag in the park. Opinions are divided.

https://oscarwildehouse.com/?v=7885444af42e

There is also a production of An ideal Husband at the Gate Theatre which writer and Oscar Wilde Society Patron Eleanor Fitzsimons reviews in the latest Wildean, academic journal of the Oscar Wilde Society. The latest edition is just coming out to members. Do join us.

https://gatetheatre.ie/production/an-ideal-husband-2026/

If museums are your thing, MOLI (the Museum of literature Ireland) has its third summer season of Will Govan’s performance of Work is the Curse of The Drinking Classes’ Neil Titley’s one man show as Oscar Wilde. We’re proud that writer Neil and actor Will are both members of the Oscar Wilde Society, and in Neil’s case one of our Patrons. You can find out more here:

https://moli.ie/events/work-is-the-curse-of-the-drinking-classes

Finally there is a new tour of Trinity College, with a combined ticket to see a new Oscar Wilde play.

A new literary tour and limited-run theatre experience is launching at Trinity College Dublin

Visitors will follow the footsteps of Wilde, Beckett and Sally Rooney before ending the evening with a live theatre performance on Trinity’s campus

Trinity College Dublin is launching Dublin’s newest cultural experience. This summer, visitors to Trinity College Dublin will be able to immerse themselves in the literary history on campus - following in the footsteps of writers like Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Sally Rooney, before ending the evening with a live theatre production in the Samuel Beckett Theatre.

Launching on June 10 for a limited seven-week season, the new experience combines a literary walking tour of Trinity’s campus with Oscar Unwritten, a new stage production exploring Wilde’s life through the perspective of his friend Robbie Ross.

The Literary Walking Tour joins the established and highly popular Trinity Trails offerings, the official guided tours of Trinity College Dublin led by expert student tour guides. Visitors can choose from the original Trinity Trails Best Of Walking Tour, or the new Trinity Trails Literary Walking Tour. The new literary focused tour will welcome visitors to follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest literary writers and world-famous Trinity alumni, from Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett to Bram Stoker, Eavan Boland and Sally Rooney. Visitors will pass by the historic buildings, squares, and hidden corners across the spectacular city centre ancient University that shaped and influenced the authors’ work as Trinity students.

The Trinity Trails Literary Walking Tour concludes at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, where the live Oscar Wilde Show begins. The Theatre is home to Trinity’s School of Creative Arts and is named after Beckett, one of Ireland’s best-known playwrights, and a Trinity student in the late 1920s.

The Oscar Wilde Show, named Oscar Unwritten, is a compelling 60-minute play that explores the life of Oscar Wilde through the eyes of one of his best friends, Robbie Ross. As Ross wrestles with the question of whether to write a full account of Wilde’s extraordinary and turbulent life, memory and imagination blur, and the past comes vividly to life around him. Figures from Wilde’s world appear alongside the characters that made him famous, tracing his journey from dazzling celebrity to devastating downfall.

Trinity College Dublin, recently named Europe’s Leading Academic Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards, is offering visitors a combined ticket option to attend both the guided tour and the theatre performance.

The Trinity Trails Literary Walking Tour and Oscar Unwritten launches on Wednesday 10 June 2026 for a limited seven week summer run. Performances run Wednesday through Saturday. Tickets are available to book now at www.visittrinity.ie.

If you’re not able to visit Dublin, do the h next best thing and join the Oscar Wilde Society if you’re not already a member. We’d love to hear about your Dublin adventures if you are visiting.

https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk

02/06/2026

Review by Oscar Wilde Society press and publicity officer Darcy Sullivan, of An Ideal Husband.
https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/news/review-nicholai-la-barries-an-ideal-husband/

Do have a look around our lovely new website while you are there and maybe consider joining us if you love all things Wilde.

28/05/2026

A reminder to polish up your aphorisms!

Just two weeks left for you to enter your bon mots in the Wilde Wit competition, put on by The Oscar Wilde Society with the support of The Oldie and the British Association of Decadence Studies.

Let's see how witty you can be!

https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/wilde-wit-competition/

23/05/2026

Oscar Wilde Society Patron Stephen Fry speaks about an inspiring portrait in The National Portrait Gallery in London.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/80bcdefa-ff9e-4a3c-ab37-5d518febc641?shareToken=9ece7d8bc3afa6f85eaf7daea03a5f33

16/05/2026

An Ideal Husband

Nicholai La Barrie's production of An Ideal Husband will be running at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in London until 6 June, then transferring to the Bristol Old Vic from the 10th to the 20th of June.

https://lyric.co.uk/shows/an-ideal-husband/

https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/an-ideal-husband

★★★★ “Oscar Wilde’s comedy gets the gleefully camp glow-up it deserves" The Guardian

08/05/2026

Oscar Wilde Society Summer Luncheon is taking place on 6th of June at St Hilda’s College, the first women’s college at the University of Oxford, established in 1893. Regular Wildean contributor Rob Marland will be speaking about his new book “ ’s First Tragedy” which tells the complete and fascinating story of Vera; or, the Nihilists, Wilde’s first and worst play, from its inception to its fateful premiere (the night that Wilde described as ‘the sharpest agony’ of his life), its withdrawal a week later, and beyond. Rob will be selling copies of Oscar Wilde’s First Tragedy (£26), and of his new critical edition of the play (£12), at the event. At this event only, attendees may purchase both books for the reduced price of £30.

https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/event/oscar-wilde-society-summer-luncheon-3/

The Oscar Wilde Society will hold its traditional summer lunch in Oxford at St Hilda’s College on June 6, 2026.

02/05/2026

On Friday 8th and Friday 22nd May, visitors can watch and chat with the conservator Pavol Hudacek whilst he works on the courtroom dock where and countless others have stood as part of their visit to Bow Street Museum.


https://bowstreetmuseum.org.uk/echoes-from-the-dock/

01/05/2026

In October 2025, the British Library reissued a symbolic reader’s card to , 130 years after it was revoked following his 1895 conviction for "gross indecency". His only grandson, author Merlin Holland, accepted the card to honor Wilde’s memory and acknowledge the historical injustice

To use the British Museum Reading Room, you had to be admitted. That meant applying for a ticket and signing a declaration in the register that you would follow the rules.

Oscar Wide was 24, recently out of Oxford, and at the beginning of his life in London. His first collection, Poems, would appear two years later.

In the register, he records his full name and address:
Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde of 13 Salisbury Street.

In 1895, following his conviction, his reader’s ticket was revoked and he was barred from the Reading Room.

In 2016, that decision was symbolically reversed by the British Library, which now holds the Museum’s former library collections.

01/05/2026

We have everything in common with nowadays except, of course, language.

92 likes, 7 comments. "King Charles III’s address to Congress gets big laughs & standing ovations"

29/04/2026

Enter the Wilde Wit Competition

Can you be as witty as Wilde?
It’s time to find out! The Oscar Wilde Society’s sixth Wilde Wit competition is open for entries. The society is looking for quips, aphorisms and wise sayings that sound like something Oscar Wilde might say (but didn’t – this is for your witticisms, not his). Once again this year the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths University is proud to be a partner in this creative contest.
The Wilde Wit competition rules are simple:
Write an epigram, witticism or statement that sounds like something Oscar Wilde would have said. (Note: It can reflect modern sensibilities as well.)
Enter via the Oscar Wilde Society website (https://oscarwildesociety.co.uk/wilde-wit-competition/)
Up to 10 entries allowed per contestant
Enter by 15 June 2026
All entries must be original and must be written by you, not AI
Anyone can enter
First prize for 2026 is a signed copy of After Oscar, the fascinating new book by Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland. We will also present prizes to the other three winners.

Enter now! On the website you can also see videos of 2024’s winning entries read by Gyles Brandreth, Stephen Fry and Society Chairman Vanessa Heron.
Good luck!