Kristin Bluemel, professor of English and Wayne D. McMurray Endowed Chair in the Humanities, was interviewed on March 8 about World War II-era writer, Inez Holden, a friend of George Orwell and H. G. Wells, whose forgotten literary work Bluemel has brought back into print. Bluemel served as editor for Holden’s novella “Night Shift” and her memoir “It Was Different at the Time,” both about ordinary people living through the Blitz, which were republished together in “Blitz Writing” by Handheld Press of Bath, England, in 2019.
The interview with Handheld’s publisher and London historian Jerry White was scheduled to coincide with republication in March 2021 of Holden’s documentary novel, “There’s No Story There,” which portrays the endangered lives of workers in an English World War II ordnance factory. Bluemel’s research has led to additional publicity for Holden, including the March 19 BBC Radio 3 show hosted by New Generation Thinker Lisa Mullen.
