loading="eager" width="220" height="80"

The Wodehouse Society: A Celebration of Wit and Wisdom

Society Initiatives

The Norman Murphy Award

Following the death in 2016 of the noted Wodehouse scholar Norman Murphy, then TWS vice president Tom Smith conceived the Norman Murphy Award as a way to honor him. Tom designed a medal with an image of Norman on one side and a pipe and stack of books on the other, along with the words “To Elucidate and Educate”; the medal is suspended on a purple ribbon. The award is presented at each convention to the society member(s) who has (or have) “provided singular service to the Society or . . . made significant contributions to Wodehouse scholarship.” The medal and its purpose beautifully reflect Norman’s dedication to spreading sweetness and light in all things Wodehouse.

"

Scroll Down to Continue Reading

0 Comments
February 10, 2025
Submitted by: The Wodehouse Society

At the 2017 convention in Washington, D.C., one of Tom’s first acts as the new president was to present the very first medal to Norman’s widow, Elin Woodger Murphy, in recognition of her many years of volunteer service to the society. Gary Hall also received the Norman Murphy Award in tribute to his years as editor of Plum Lines plus other contributions to the life of the society. Since 2017, deserving winners of the Norman Murphy Medal have been: Neil Midkiff (2019); Elliott Milstein (2022); Karen Shotting and Noel Merrill (2024).

0 Comments

Leave a Plum

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Blog

Joy in the Springtime

Wodehouse in the Springtime—a day of talks followed by an informal dinner—is a relatively new event for The P G Wodehouse Society (UK). Their inaugural session, in 2022, was held in Harrogate—a city to which Bertie Wooster’s Uncle George often retreated for a cure....

Read More

May 3, 2026 0

Blog

Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize 2025

In December 2025, the winner of that year’s Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction was announced. Rosanna Pike drew the brass ring for her debut novel, A Little Trickerie, published by Penguin Random House. Based on the real-life “Holy Maid of...

Read More

Jan 15, 2026 0

Blog

Here, There, and Everywhere

News from the World of Wodehouse December 8, 2025 If you live outside the U.K. but have some magical way of listening to BBC Radio 4, then be sure to tune into “Opening Lines” on December 23 at 12:45–1:00 p.m. U.K. time. The novelist Ian Sansome will be taking a...

Read More

Dec 8, 2025 0