At the end of this very real annus terribilis, I want to say a few words to you, our loyal readers and attendees. Above all, thanks! Thanks for keeping Oscar Wilde Tours alive by reading our blog, attending our Zoom tours, watching our YouTube videos, contributing to our fundraisers—in short, for being a fabulously loyal community. When the pandemic hit the US, in March, it seemed likely to kill the company completely. Who would have thought that 9 months later, as the pandemic continued to rage, we would be putting on our 28th Zoom tour, with audiences regularly over 100, and have gathered over 28,000 views for our videos? It’s been a hard year, but ours is a tiny, flourishing corner. And we have a lot more coming after the holidays! Want to find out more?
To start with, we have many more Zoom events coming. We have posted a very varied group of lectures and tours so far. Subjects include: Europe’s castles and palaces with LGBTQ past; the queer side of Art Deco; the Downtown art scene in 1980s New York; the double lives led by gay and lesbian artists through the centuries; and the LGBTQ history of one of the great queer beach resorts and artists’ colonies, Provincetown. There will be an interview with novelist André Aciman (author of Call Me By Your Name) about LGBTQ themes in his work. And on Valentine’s Day itself, there will be a pair of contrasting events: LGBTQ love stories of Paris, the world’s most romantic city; and LGBTQ love stories of Berlin, the world’s least romantic city. All of these are bookable, and you can find them on our page. And remember, a discount ticket for the first 4 events of 2021 is also available—and tickets are also available as belated Christmas gifts!
And much more is coming in the spring. We have already scheduled 2 tours about the history of LGBTQ music. And we are starting a series of bio-tours about iconically famous LGBTQ people. Already on the calendar, there is a lecture on Christopher Isherwood’s journey from the Berlin of Cabaret (which was drawn from his short stories) to L.A. And we are working on events about: Lord Byron, Anne Lister (“Gentleman Jack”), Oscar Wilde, Marlene Dietrich, James Baldwin, Francis Bacon, and more.
So please enjoy the holidays (despite it all), and come back afterwards to watch our events and our videos, and who knows what else (a podcast may be coming too). We will do our best to keep the LGBTQ culture zooming…..
