News from Nowhere

On 21 June 1889 in Commonweal, Morris reviewed Edward Bellamy's novel Looking Backward, which popularised belief in utopian socialism. In his review, Morris not only criticised the specifics of Bellamy's imagined society—especially its conception of how labour would be performed—he also objected to the fact that Bellamy's portrait was taken to be an authoritative account of what socialists believe: As Ben Davis writes, Morris deemed Looking Backward to be "too celebratory of the industrial side of progress and not attentive enough to the pastoral." Morris also faulted Bellamy for a limited view of life, identifying five areas—work, technology, centralisation, cities, arts—which typified the "half change" advanced in Looking Backward. Morris's review proposed an alternate future society that would address each of these areas. The proposals he outlined became the basis for his vision of utopia in News from Nowhere. == Gender roles ==

Of gender and the division of labour, Ruth Levitas writes: Morris presents a society in which women are relatively free from the oppression of men; while domestic work, respected albeit gender-specific in Morris's work here as elsewhere, is portrayed as a source of potential pleasure and edification for all denizens of his utopia. == Marriage ==

Morris offers a Marxist view of marriage and divorce. Dick and Clara were once married with two children. Then Clara "got it in her head she was in love with someone else", so she left Dick only to reconcile with him again. Old Hammond informs the reader that there are no courts in Nowhere, no divorce in Nowhere, and furthermore no contractual marriage in Nowhere. In Nowhere, people live as they please in groups of varying sizes, and the nuclear family is not necessary. == Education ==

In Morris's utopia, there is no formal schooling for children. People are free to choose their own form of education. Children in Nowhere In this passage, Morris breaks away from the traditional educational institutions of 19th century England. Instead, learning through nature is the style best suited for his idealised agrarian society. == Environment ==

The state of England's environment is a motif throughout the book, with the conditions in and around the River Thames offering a powerful comparison with the industrial era Morris was writing in. In News from Nowhere, nature has been restored everywhere Guest travels, and pollution largely eliminated. In one of the best-known images from the book, what was previously Trafalgar Square has been re-planted as an apricot orchard, just as the surrounding streets of Piccadilly have become gardens: ==Influence==

The title News from Nowhere has inspired many enterprises, including a political bookstore in Liverpool, Tim Crouch's theatre company, and a monthly social club. The News from Nowhere Club was founded in 1996 to "challenge the commercialisation and isolation of modern life", taking as its motto Morris's phrase that "Fellowship is life and the lack of fellowship is death." Its patron is Peter Hennessy, historian of government, and it meets monthly in the church hall of St John the Baptist's, Leytonstone, about four km from the house where the artist grew up, now the William Morris Gallery. Many artistic creations are named "News from Nowhere". Some of these are closely connected to Morris's book, while others simply use the three-word title, or a variant of it. The Arts Council funded a short film in 1978, bringing News to Nowhere to life, starring Timothy West as Morris. It described a fictional trip by Morris up the River Thames, exploring ideas of aesthetics and socialism. The book was adapted by Sarah Woods as a radio play, broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on 25 May 2016. News from Nowhere was an influencing factor in historian G. D. H. Cole's conversion to socialism. The novel News from Gardenia (2012) by Robert Llewellyn was inspired by News from Nowhere. An April–May 2005 art exhibit at the Lucy Mackintosh Gallery in Lausanne, Switzerland—with six British artists: Michael Ashcroft, Juan Bolivar, Andrew Grassie, Justin Hibbs, Alistair Hudson, and Peter Liversidge—was called "News From Nowhere". Korean artists Moon Kyungwon and Jeon Joonho paid homage to the novel in their collaborative project "News from Nowhere" (2012). Folk singer Leon Rosselson's song "Bringing the News from Nowhere", from his eponymous 1986 album, is a tribute to Morris. A track on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (2008) is called "More News from Nowhere". In 2013 the English band Darkstar released an album titled News from Nowhere. In 2008 Waltham Forest commissioned the composer Mike Roberts to create a new community symphony based on the story. Incorporating Morris's axiom of 'art for the people and by the people', the piece was written in collaboration with 180 primary school children, who composed fragments of music that were woven into the final piece. The result was a 90-minute work for children's choir, orchestra and 10 other smaller ensembles. The work was recorded with the artistic support of the William Morris Gallery during 2014-15 for release in June 2015 to commemorate the novel's 125th anniversary. The animated video "News from Nowhere" (2022, 5 min) by Maltese artist and curator Raphael Vella was loosely inspired by William Morris's novel. Composed of around 1000 frames, this stop-motion animation presented a more dystopian version of the narrative, in which the artist wakes up to a world on fire. The animated video was on display in 2023 at Valletta Contemporary in Malta. The opera New Year by Sir Michael Tippett was strongly influenced by Morris's book. ==See also==