Home Events/CoursesWarrior Against Fascism: George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and 1984

Events/Courses - Event View

Before you get started, check out our knowledge base for instructions

Warrior Against Fascism: George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and 1984

About this event

George Orwell’s last novel, the dystopian 1984, was published in 1949. Oceana, the country it describes, oppresses its masses, controls its women’s bodies and the fates of its people of color. It spends wealth on the erasure of language, since fomenting rebellion is difficult without words. Victory coffee, the only kind available to workers, is not made from coffee beans. 1984 is a love story.

Homage to Catalonia, published in 1938, depicts Orwell’s experiences fighting in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. It is detailed and closer to a literal record than anything else Orwell wrote, with personal experience brilliantly expressed. While Orwell went to Spain to report on the war, he “also had some vague idea of fighting, if it seemed worthwhile.” His vague idea became real as soon as he arrived. Three months later, as he was leading a band of Marxist raw recruits in the hills west of Barcelona, he was shot through the neck. He survived. A month later, still a Marxist sympathizer but now a convinced anti-communist, he escaped Spain.

We will discuss each work on its own and consider their interconnections.

Instructor Geoffrey Robinson taught English at the secondary level at Samsun Maarif College in Turkey and in Connecticut and English as a second language at the Penobscot School in Rockland. He worked as an art dealer and ran River Gallery in Damariscotta for 25 years, specializing in 18th- to 21st-century American and European art. Geoff has taught several previous CSC courses in literature and poetry. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Yale University.

Members must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to register for this course.
We will follow the current mask policy of the course site.

If you want to register and are not yet a member, Click here for New Member Signup

Date and Time

Friday, September 18, 2026, 10:00 AM until Friday, October 30, 2026, 11:30 AM

Location

Bremen Library
204 Waldoboro Road
Bremen
USA

Event Contact(s)

Geoffrey Robinson
Instructor

Registration Info

Registration is required and it opens Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at 8:00 AM

Payment In Full In Advance Only

You must be an active CSC member to register for this course.

Registration cancellations will be accepted until Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 11:45 PM

Cancellation Policy:

A member may cancel a course registration up to 3 days prior to the start of class and will receive a course credit that can be used for a future registration. No refunds will be given.