Muriel Spark, Scottish Author
Muriel Spark (February 1, 1918 - April 13, 2006) was a Scottish author. Spark began writing seriously after the war, under her married name, beginning with poetry and literary criticism. In 1947 she became editor of the Poetry Review. In 1954 she decided to join the Roman Catholic Church, which she considered crucial in her development toward becoming a novelist. Her first novel, The Comforters, was published in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) was more successful. Spark displayed originality of subject and tone, making extensive use of flash-forwards and imagined conversations. After living in New York City for some years, she moved to Rome, where she met artist and sculptor Penelope Jardine in 1968. In the early 1970s they settled in Tuscany, in the village of Civitella della Chiana. She was the subject of frequent rumors of lesbian relationships from her time in New York onwards, although Spark and her friends denied their validity. She left her entire estate to Jardine, taking measures to ensure that her son receive nothing. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature" and received eight honorary doctorates. She died in 2006 at the age of 88. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945", at No. 8. Photographed by Carl Mydans for Great Authors from the Time Reading Program, 1965.
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