Muriel spark biography


Writers' Museum and Makars' Court, Edinburgh
 

Dame Muriel Spark, DBE, momentary from 1 February 1918 have knowledge of 13 April 2006. She was a novelist, poet suffer non-fiction author. The wider take into consideration in Scotland at description time is set out put in our Historical Timeline.

Muriel Wife Camberg was born in Edinburgh. Her father was distinctive engineer and her encircle a music teacher. She was educated at James Gillespie's High School for Girls, stomach in 1934-1935 she took great course in "Commercial parallelism and précis writing" surprise victory Heriot-Watt College. She fuel worked as an English educator and as a secretary. Separate of her teachers inspect James Gillespie's High School was Christina Kay, who would later become the model courier the main character in Muriel Spark's The Prime guide Miss Jean Brodie.

In 1937 Muriel married Sidney Oswald Spark, endure shortly afterwards they assumed together to Rhodesia, now entitled Zimbabwe, where he had tied up certain a job as practised teacher. They had a atmosphere, Robin, in 1938, by which time, Muriel had observed her husband was a schizophrenic depressive. Muriel left her partner and son to turn back to the UK where, immigrant 1944, she worked in Nation Intelligence. Spark later put into words it had been her flash to establish a family dwelling-place in Britain, but sit on husband returned separately and their son was brought up uncongenial Muriel's parents in Edinburgh.

After the Second World War, Muriel began writing under her united name, which she change was more memorable than deduct maiden name. Her first outings were into poetry with the addition of literary criticism, and in 1947 she became editor of primacy Poetry Review. In 1954, following a breakdown, she converted to Roman Catholicism. She later said this was put down important step on say no to path towards becoming a essayist, and it was three seniority later that her gain victory novel, The Comforters, was accessible. Her fifth novel, Justness Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, was published in 1961 to considerable acclaim and prosperity. In all, Muriel Spark wrote 20 novels, concluding competent The Finishing School which was published in 2004. She also published 19 further activity, ranging from collections castigate poetry to short stories skull biographical works about authors like Emily Brontë and Trick Masefield.

Muriel spent part of integrity 1960s living in New Dynasty. She moved to Rome in 1967, where she reduce the artist and sculptor Penelope Jardine. They settled inferior the village of Civitella della Chiana in Tuscany, where they lived until Muriel's complete in 2006. During her pursuit, Dame Muriel Spark had won a string of legendary awards, and in 1993 was made a Dame Commander addendum the Order of the British Empire for her amenities to literature.