DOCSLIB.ORG

Friends Newsletter Summer 2011 V4:Layout 1

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Friends Newsletter Summer 2011 V4:Layout 1 Issue 73 Summer 2011 Quarterly Newsletter FRIENDS www.bl.uk/friends OF THE BRITISH LIBRARY Registered charity no. 328095 Campaign for legacies launched Consider joining our new Codicil Club At our Annual General Meeting in March Lord Hameed, the chairman, announced the launch of a new campaign to encourage members to remember the Friends in their wills. It is being orchestrated by Stephanie Kenna, our honorary secretary, and Ed King, a member of the Council and head of the Library’s newspaper collections. To set it going, all Council members have been asked to add a codicil to their wills by the end of June, leaving an appropriate sum to the Friends. In difficult financial times, as acquisition budgets shrink, our ability to respond flexibly and quickly to requests for assistance from the Library’s curators is ever more vital. That is why we are asking Friends to consider a donation, however small, as they draw up their wills – or, more simply, to add a codicil to existing wills. Campaign co-ordinators: Ed King and Stephanie Kenna. A leaflet describing the ways in which legacies have enabled us to support the Library’s work, and explaining the details of how Many people die without having made a will – a missed to make such a bequest, will be available later in the summer. It opportunity to set down how you want your asssets distributed is intended that those who have remembered the Friends in their after your death. If you are thinking of making a new will, please wills should, if they wish, inform the honorary secretary and can remember us. As you may have read, the Chancellor of the then become members of our new Codicil Club, entitling them Exchequer, in his March Budget, announced that those who leave to invitations to a small number of special events. at least ten per cent of their estate to charity will qualify for a Members who have already named the Friends in their wills can reduction in inheritance tax from 40 to 36 per cent – a join the Club if they inform Stephanie through the membership considerable benefit for their descendants and other legatees. office. They will not be asked how much they have bequeathed, A legacy can make a big difference to a small organisation such which is a private matter. as the Friends. Even £100 boosts the funds that we can contribute Over the years a number of legacies have enabled the Friends to to the Library’s work, while with £1000 we could give further give valuable support to the Library’s work. Mary Welch’s bequest support to conservation and £10,000 would be a significant of £130,000 allowed us to contribute significantly to the contribution to a major acquisition. construction of the Conservation Centre, one of whose studios As our treasurer, Graham Allatt, pointed out at the AGM, when he is named after her. More recently, a study grant for overseas was discussing ways of maximising the Friends’ income: “Legacies conservators (see page 3) was funded from Isabel Haberer’s are the icing on the cake to let us help the Library more.” And as generous bequest. we all know, the thicker the icing, the sweeter the cake. Inside this issue Win tickets to Page 2 AGM report Stoppard and Pinter Page 3 Grants Page 4 Foreign fieldwork See pages 3 and 8 Page 5 In the Library Page 6 Visit reports Page 7 New events Page 8 Prize crossword Image above: Mervyn Peake Archive, (by Kind Permission of the Mervyn Peake Estate). AGM report How Friends help ease the Library’s pain Addressing our Annual General Colindale, when the papers will be moved to a purpose-built store Meeting in March, Dame Lynne at Boston Spa. And she told us that funding had now been secured Brindley, the Library’s chief to ensure the survival of the Business Centre after the loss of its executive, was warm in her former grant. praise for the Friends’ support Lord Hameed, chairman of the Friends, echoed Dame Lynne’s for the Library over the past concerns about the future: “These are difficult times for the Library year, adding that it would and it needs our support more than ever.” He paid tribute to David become even more vital as Marcus, the Council member whose death was reported in the last a result of the severe cuts in Newsletter, and gave thanks to the three departing Council members – the annual Government grant. Amanda Benton, Lord Hemingford and Kathy Wrennall. He also “We have to up our game in thanked the volunteers who man the Friends’ desk in the lobby, fund-raising,” she declared. remarking: “It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of their role.” Lord Bragg and Lord Hameed. Over the next four years the The treasurer, Graham Allatt, gave a bullish report on our finances, Library will lose 15 per cent of with income holding steady because of the loyalty of our members its grant, with the projected annual spending on acquisitions dropping and the popularity of the events programme. Costs were slightly down by £4m to £15m. Staff numbers will also need to be slashed, with on the previous year and our reserves are in good shape. 200 people losing their jobs over the next three years. Finally the author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg, a vice-president Dame Lynne gave special thanks for our support of the two major of the Friends, delivered what he described as “a sort of romp – exhibitions of the year – Magnificent Maps, which attracted a record a gallop through the history of words”. He noted that, despite the 226,000 visitors, and Evolving English, which had already exceeded influence of Latin from the Roman invaders and French from the its visitor target with several weeks still to run. “You have contributed Normans, many old English words remain an important part of our very significantly to making them a great success,” she said, while language. Of the 100 most common words, 76 derive from old also acknowledging our grant of £20,000 to help the Library buy English. In Winston Churchill’s famous wartime speech, “We shall the Mervyn Peake archive. fight on the beaches . ”, only one word did not have an English Speaking of the Library’s decision to charge an admission fee for derivation, and that was “surrender”. major exhibitions from next autumn, Dame Lynne said there would be Lord Bragg made a brief reference to his forthcoming book about a concessionary rate for Friends. Responding to a member’s suggestion the King James Bible, celebrating the 400th anniversary of the work. that it would be more cost-effective to continue with the former free He heaped lavish praise on William Tyndale, much of whose sixteenth- admission policy, so as to boost membership, she said she would century translation of the New Testament was reproduced almost discuss that option with her colleagues. verbatim in the King James version. “He introduced the rhythm of the She updated members on the Library’s newspaper digitisation word of God into English,” said Lord Bragg, adding that Tyndale and project and the eventual closure of the Newspaper Library at Shakespeare, in his view, were the two true geniuses of the language. Letter from the Secretary Stephanie Kenna was confirmed as Honorary out over the coming year. Council is very supportive of this initiative Secretary of the Friends at the AGM, after a year as and, at their February meeting, all Trustees pledged to include a Acting Secretary. Here she sets out the Council’s plans legacy to the Friends, either as a codicil to their wills or in a letter to increase the contribution we can make to the Library. of intent, by the end of June. We hope that other members will be encouraged to make a At the AGM I spoke about our plans to increase the membership similar pledge, and we were delighted to note the Chancellor of the and income of the Friends over the coming months and years, and Exchequer’s concession of a reduction in inheritance tax for those I want to put these down on paper. One of my earliest actions as who leave at least ten per cent of their estate to charity. Acting Secretary was to develop a three-year strategy based on The second initiative is a piece of research, undertaken by fellow work already undertaken by the Council. This re-states our aims Council member Ed King and myself, into the recruitment strategies and objectives – that is, to promote, support, assist and improve of other Friends’ organisations. From this we have produced a series the British Library through providing grants and using our influence of recommendations to Council which we will also take forward to increase public awareness and support. during 2011/12, in close collaboration with the Library. The strategy includes an implementation plan which will be In this context, one activity that members can help us with is to reviewed annually. Each action has a Council lead who is asked publicise the Friends to other special interest groups or organisations to report on progress at each Council meeting. to which you belong. You could, for example, hand out material at Our achievements during 2010/11 included contacting lapsed meetings or say a few words about the Friends or, if you prefer, let Friends to encourage them to re-join, continuing to organise a varied us know of any appropriate groups or organisations that we might and interesting programme of events and refreshing the look of our approach to raise our profile and attract new members.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • "The Problem of Predicting What Will Last"
    Allan Massie, "The Problem of Predicting What Will Last" Booksonline, with Amazon.co.uk (An Electronic Telegraph Publication) 4 January 2000 As our Book of the Century series concludes, Allan Massie compares the list with one published by The Daily Telegraph 100 years ago EACH WEEK for the past two years The Daily Telegraph’s literary editor has asked a contributor to name and describe his or her "Book of the Century", and today the series concludes with Arthur C. Clarke’s choice. The full selection invites comparison with a list drawn up by The Telegraph a century ago; we print both here. The comparison cannot, however, be exact. All the books chosen in 1899 were fiction - the paper offered its readers the "100 Best Novels in the World", selected by the editor "with the assistance of Sir Edwin Arnold, K. C. I. E, H. D. Traill, D. C. L, and W. L. Courtney, LL. D.". The modern list includes poetry, plays, history, diaries, philosophy, economics, memoirs, biography and travel writing. It is certainly eclectic, ranging from Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, selected by David Sylvester, to The Wind in the Willows, chosen by John Bayley, and Down with Skool, Wendy Cope’s Book of the Century. The 1899 list, on offer at the time in a cloth-bound edition at nine guineas the lot (easy terms available), is homogeneous, as the modern one is not, not only because it consists entirely of works of fiction but also because the selection was made by a small group. And since they were picking the 100 Best Novels, they were able to include books that nobody might name as a single "Book of the Century" but which many might put in their top 20 or so.
    [Show full text]
  • A Legacy to Literature J.R.R
    A Legacy to Literature J.R.R. Tolkien’s signature in the A word from our President RSL Roll Book The Royal Society of Literature honours English writing at its finest. Through talks, debates and readings we help to celebrate the past and vitalise the future. But our work can never be taken for granted. We rely not only on membership subscriptions, but “Britain’s literature, both on the generosity of donors. Legacies bequeathed in a will, even modest past and present, is ones, can be especially important. unrivalled, and the Royal Society of Literature is the I myself will be bequeathing to the Royal only organisation devoted Society of Literature the earnings from my books. I feel sure there could be no to ensuring that it remains recipient more worthy. Others who I am so. Its work has never aware have made provision for the RSL in been more important” their wills include the President Emeritus, Michael Holroyd, Michael Holroyd, and Giles St Aubyn, who N HE President Emeritus C will be leaving a substantial sum to fund N grants for writers of non-fiction early in YA their careers. For those who value the beauty and “The RSL offers the expressiveness of the English language, best, and best-value, a legacy to the RSL is an apt and lasting programme of literary contribution. Please give it thought. The talks and discussions in Society – and countless others – will be deeply grateful. London – a unique blend of literary seriousness Colin Thubron and lively comment” President Maggie Gee, former Chair Polly Toynbee and Aminatta Forna at ARD “What’s the Use of N U Literature?”, C June 2011 NICK Leaving a legacy By leaving a gift to the Society in your Awards, prizes and grants will, you could help to secure N SO the future of the following N “Receiving this award was a wonderful, OPKI unforeseen boon..
    [Show full text]
  • Adult Trade January-June 2018
    BLOOMSBURY January – June 2018 NEW TITLES January – June 2018 2 Original Fiction 12 Paperback Fiction 26 Crime, Thriller & Mystery 32 Paperback Crime, Thriller & Mystery 34 Original Non-Fiction 68 Food 78 Wellbeing 83 Popular Science 87 Nature Writing & Outdoors 92 Religion 93 Sport 99 Business 102 Maritime 104 Paperback Non-fiction 128 Bloomsbury Contact List & International Sales 131 Social Media Contacts 132 Index export information TPB Trade Paperback PAPERBACK B format paperback (dimensions 198 mm x 129 mm) Peach Emma Glass Introducing a visionary new literary voice – a novel as poetic as it is playful, as bold as it is strangely beautiful omething has happened to Peach. Blood runs down her legs Sand the scent of charred meat lingers on her flesh. It hurts to walk but she staggers home to parents that don’t seem to notice. They can’t keep their hands off each other and, besides, they have a new infant, sweet and wobbly as a jelly baby. Peach must patch herself up alone so she can go to college and see her boyfriend, Green. But sleeping is hard when she is haunted by the gaping memory of a mouth, and working is hard when burning sausage fat fills her nostrils, and eating is impossible when her stomach is swollen tight as a drum. In this dazzling debut, Emma Glass articulates the unspeakable with breathtaking clarity and verve. Intensely physical, with rhythmic, visceral prose, Peach marks the arrival of a ground- breaking new talent. 11 JANUARY 2018 HARDBACK • 9781408886694 • £12.99 ‘An immensely talented young writer . Her fearlessness renews EBOOK • 9781408886670 • £10.99 one’s faith in the power of literature’ ANZ PUB DATE 01 FEBRUARY 2018 George Saunders HARDBACK • AUS $24.99 • NZ $26.99 TERRITORY: WO ‘You'll be unable to put it down until the very last sentence’ TRANSLATION RIGHTS: BLOOMSBURY Kamila Shamsie ‘Peach is a work of genius.
    [Show full text]
  • LIVING with a WRITER Also by Dale Salwak
    LIVING WITH A WRITER Also by Dale Salwak KINGSLEY AMIS: A REFERENCE GUIDE JOHN BRAINE AND JOHN WAIN: A REFERENCE GUIDE JOHN WAIN A. J. CRONIN: A REFERENCE GUIDE LITERARY VOICES: INTERVIEWS WITH BRITAIN’S ‘ANGRY YOUNG MEN’ A. J. CRONIN THE LIFE AND WORK OF BARBARA PYM (editor) CARL SANDBURG: A REFERENCE GUIDE PHILIP LARKIN: THE MAN AND HIS WORK (editor) KINGSLEY AMIS: IN LIFE AND LETTERS (editor) BARBARA PYM: A REFERENCE GUIDE MYSTERY VOICES: INTERVIEWS WITH BRITISH CRIME WRITERS KINGSLEY AMIS, MODERN NOVELIST ANNE TYLER AS NOVELIST (editor) THE WONDERS OF SOLITUDE THE WORDS OF CHRIST THE WISDOM OF JUDAISM THE LITERARY BIOGRAPHY: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (editor) THE POWER OF PRAYER A PASSION FOR BOOKS (editor) LIVING WITH A WRITER Edited by DALE SALWAK Professor of English Citrus College California Chapter 1 © Malcolm Bradbury Estate 1988 Selection, editorial matter, Preface and Conclusion © Dale Salwak 2004 Individual chapters (in order) © Ann Thwaite; Paul Theroux; Edmund Morris; Michael Holroyd; Margaret Drabble; William Golding Ltd and Judy Carver; John Halperin; George Howe Colt; John Updike; David Updike; Catherine Aird; Brian Aldiss; Kathleen Symons; Frances H. Bachelder; James J. Berg; John Bayley; Felix Licensing BV and Nadine Gordimer 2004 and by permission of Russell & Volkening as agents for the author; Amanda Craig; Anne Bernays and Justin Kaplan; Jeffrey Meyers; Mary Ann Caws; Laurel Young; Betty Fussell; Rob Rollison; Hershel Parker 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-0476-8 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP.
    [Show full text]
  • Anderton, Marja Arendina Louise (1994) the Power to Destroy False Images: Eight British Women Writers and Society 1945-1968
    Anderton, Marja Arendina Louise (1994) The power to destroy false images: eight British women writers and society 1945-1968. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4409/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] THE POWER TO DESTROY FALSE IMAGES: Eight British Women Writers and Society 1945-1968 Marja Arendina Louise Anderton Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology, University of Glasgow February 1994 @M.A.L. Anderton 1994 Acknowledgements As this thesis was written over several years and in a period of great change in my life, I feel that at this pOint I ought to express my gratitude to the people who encouraged me not to give up. First of all, of course, this is my supervisor, Barbara Littlewood, who very kindly helped me wherever she could in spite of the great distance between us for most of the time. Secondly, I would like to thank Iris Murdoch, Penelope Mortimer, A.S. Byatt, and Margaret Drabble for allowing me to use their correspondence here.
    [Show full text]
  • Issues 1 – 71 Spring 2004 – Autumn 2021 NB the Number in Square Brackets Indicates the Andrews, Michael: the Life That Lives on Bailey, E
    An Index to issues 1 – 71 spring 2004 – autumn 2021 NB The number in square brackets indicates the Andrews, Michael: The Life that Lives on Bailey, E. McDonald: If It’s Speed You’re After, Baum, L. Frank: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, issue number of Slightly Foxed. Man, [14] 11 [62] 79 [39] 71 Angus, James Stout: A Glossary of the Shetland Bainbridge, Beryl: the novels of, [43] 26 Baynes, Jenny: article by, [1] 46 Dialect, [49] 36 Baker, J. A.: The Peregrine, [45] 31 Baynes, Pauline: illustrations of, [41] 44 Animals in fiction: Justin Cartwright on, Baker, Nicholson: The Everlasting Story of BB: see Watkins-Pitchford, Denys [1] 38 Nory, [35] 80; The Mezzanine, [69] 87 Beanland, David: article by, [53] 68 A Annan, Noel: Our Age, [63] 44 Bakewell, Sarah: article by, [49] 46 Beasant, Pamela: article by, [53] 76 Abbey, Edward: Desert Solitaire, [30] 82 Annesley, Horace: article by, [56] 75 Balchin, Nigel: The Small Back Room, Beauman, Nicola: The Other Elizabeth Taylor, Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart, [22] 37 Anon.: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, [24] 60; Mine Own Executioner [51] 58 [58] 46 Acknowledgements: Oliver Pritchett on, [60] 34 Baldwin, James: Giovanni’s Room, [6] 42 Becoming a writer: Tim Mackintosh-Smith [28] 90 Ardizzone, Edward: The Young Ardizzone, Banffy, Miklos: The Writing on the Wall: The on, [63] 89 Adam, Ruth: A House in the Country, [57] 46 [28] 14, [41] 6; & Gorham, Maurice: The Transylvanian Trilogy, [5] 54 Bede, Cuthbert: The Adventures of Mr Verdant Adams, Matthew: articles by, [44] 33; [47] 39; Local; Back to the Local, [28] 32 Bankes, Ariane: articles by, [3] 7; [5] 26; Green, [55] 7 [49] 51 Arlen, Michael: The Green Hat, [7] 27 [12] 62; [15] 36; [20] 18; [28] 64; [33] 77; Bedford, Sybille: A Legacy, [38] 45; A Visit to Adams, Richard: Watership Down, [54] 30 Arseniev, V.
    [Show full text]
  • Bart Van Es Wins the 2018 Slightly
    for immediate release – 26 february 2019 The Biographers’ Club and Slightly Foxed are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2018 prize, chosen by judges Anne Chisholm, Rachel Cooke and Andrew O’Hagan, is The Cut Out Girl by Bart van Es, already winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award Bart van Es The Cut Out Girl(Penguin Fig Tree) The extraordinary true story of a young Jewish girl in Holland during World War II, who hides from the Nazis in the homes of an underground network of foster families, one of them the author’s grandparents. Bart van Es left Holland for England many years ago, but one story from his Dutch childhood never left him. It was a mystery of sorts: a young Jewish girl named Lientje had been taken in during the war by relatives and hidden from the Nazis, handed over by her parents, only too aware of the danger they were in. The girl was raised by her foster family as one of their own, but well after the war there was a grave rift, and they were no longer in touch. What was the girl’s side of the story, Bart wondered? What really happened during the war, and after? So began an investigation that would consume the author’s life, and change it irrevocably. The Cut Out Girl is a deeply moving reckoning with a young girl’s struggle for survival during war, and a triumphant marriage of many keys of writing, ultimately blending them into an extraordinary new harmony, and a deeper truth.
    [Show full text]
  • SAVU, LAURA E., Ph.D. Postmortem Postmodernists: Authorship and Cultural Revisionism in Late Twentieth-Century Narrative. (2006) Directed by Dr
    SAVU, LAURA E., Ph.D. Postmortem Postmodernists: Authorship and Cultural Revisionism in Late Twentieth-Century Narrative. (2006) Directed by Dr. Keith Cushman. 331 pp The past three decades have witnessed an explosion of narratives in which the literary greats are brought back to life, reanimated and bodied forth in new textual bodies. In the works herein examined—Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower, Peter Ackroyd’s The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde and Chatterton, Peter Carey’s Jack Maggs, Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, Colm Toíbín’s The Master, and Geoff Dyer’s Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D.H. Lawrence—the obsession with biography spills over into fiction, the past blends with the present, history with imagination. Thus they articulate, reflect on, and can be read through postmodern concerns about language and representation, authorship and creativity, narrative and history, rewriting and the posthumous. As I argue, late twentieth-century fiction “postmodernizes” romantic and modern authors not only to understand them better, but also to understand itself in relation to a past (literary tradition, aesthetic paradigms, cultural formations, etc.) that has not really passed. More specifically, these works project a postmodern understanding of the author as a historically and culturally contingent subjectivity constructed along the lines of gender, sexual orientation, class, and nationality. The immediate implications of my argument are twofold, and they emerge as the common threads linking the chapters that make up this study. First, to make a case for the return of the author into the contemporary literary space is to acknowledge that the postmodern, its antihumanist bias notwithstanding, does not discount the human.
    [Show full text]
  • PRR David Cohen Judges Announced FINAL
    ! New release: for release 00:00 23rd May 2017 David Cohen Prize for Literature: 2017 judges announced The David Cohen Prize for Literature is proud to announce the judges for 2017. Now in its 25th year, the prize is singular in its approach: it is awarded every two years in recognition of a living writer’s lifetime achievement in literature, and has consequently earned its position in the literary canon as the “UK Nobel for literature”. The winner of the prize is nominated and selected by a panel of judges comprising authors, literary critics and academics. Their identity may now be revealed. Under the chair’s eye of Mark Lawson, the judges are: Kate Bassett, Gillian Clarke, Professor Simon J. James, Alan Johnson, Denise Mina and Anita Sethi. They met together for the first time on 18th May. Managed by New Writing North, the award will be announced in London on 8 November 2017. Comments from the judges include: Alan Johnson: “I'm honoured to be asked to judge this prestigious award. Some of the greatest names in British and Irish literature have been recognised through the David Cohen Prize but there are so many writers to honour and so few generic awards to be made. It will be fun to have a role in determining the latest recipient.” Professor Simon James: “Many literary prizes give the opportunity to make a judgement on the quality of a single work; the David Cohen prize, unusually, allows the opportunity to recognise, and applaud a lifetime's work. Most professors of literature evaluate writing from the past - it is very exciting to be able to celebrate the work of a living writer, and I am delighted to be involved in this year's prize.” Anita Sethi: “I'm delighted to be a Judge for the David Cohen Prize for Literature 2017 which has a prestigious history of honouring some fantastic writers including Doris Lessing, Hilary Mantel, VS Naipaul and Harold Pinter.
    [Show full text]
  • CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS Contents
    Autumn 2017 CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS Contents For more information please go to our website to browse our shelves and find out more about what we do and who we represent. Centenary Celebrations 2018 p. 4 Hollywood adaptations pp. 5-12 Animals pp. 13-18 Troublesome Women pp. 19-24 Agents US Rights: Georgia Glover; Toby Eady, Andrew Gordon Film & TV Rights: Nicky Lund; Georgina Ruffhead Translation Rights: Alice Howe: [email protected] Giulia Bernabè: [email protected] Direct: Arabic; Croatia; Estonia; France; Germany; Greece; Israel; Latvia; Lithuania; Netherlands; Scandinavia; Slovenia; Spain and Spanish in Latin America; Sub-agented: Czech Republic; Italy; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; Turkey Emily Randle: [email protected] Direct: Afrikaans; Albanian; all Indian languages; Brazil; Macedonia; Portugual; Russia; Ukraine; Vietnam; Wales; plus miscellaneous requests Subagented: China; Bulgaria; Hungary; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Serbia; Taiwan; Thailand Allison Cole: [email protected] Children’s titles in all languages Contact t: +44 (0)20 7434 5900 f: +44 (0)20 7437 1072 www.davidhigham.co.uk CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS MURIEL SPARK 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of classic writer, Dame Muriel Spark Born in Edinburgh in 1918, Muriel Spark originally worked as a secretary and then a poet and literary journalist. She was completely unknown and impoverished until she started her career as a story writer and novelist. Then everything changed overnight. A poet and novelist, she also wrote children’s books, radio plays, a comedy Doctors of Philosophy, (first performed in London in 1962 and published 1963) and biographies of nineteenth-century literary figures, including Mary Shelley and Emily Brontë.
    [Show full text]
  • New Writing North to Manage the David Cohen Prize for Literature
    New Writing North to manage the David Cohen Prize for Literature The literature development agency New Writing North will manage the David Cohen Prize for Literature from 2017. The David Cohen Prize for Literature was established in 1992 and is one of the UK’s most distinguished literary honours. Awarded biennially, the prize is worth £40,000 and recognises a living writer from the UK or the Republic of Ireland for a lifetime's achievement in literature. The prize was originally managed by Arts Council England and subsequently by BookTrust. The David Cohen Prize for Literature has been awarded to dramatists, essayists, biographers, novelists and poets, including Tony Harrison in 2015. The David Cohen Prize for Literature is funded by the John S Cohen Foundation, which was established by David Cohen and his family in 1965 to support education, the arts, conservation and the environment. Arts Council England funds an additional prize, the Clarissa Luard Award, which from 2017 will award £10,000 to an independent publisher to support the development of new writing. Previous winners of the David Cohen Prize for Literature are: 2015 Tony Harrison 2013 Hilary Mantel 2011 Julian Barnes 2009 Seamus Heaney 2007 Derek Mahon 2005 Michael Holroyd 2003 Beryl Bainbridge and Thom Gunn (joint winners) 2001 Doris Lessing 1999 William Trevor 1997 Muriel Spark 1995 Harold Pinter 1993 V S Naipaul Mark Lawson will act as chair of the judges for his fourth term and the David Cohen Prize for Literature will be awarded in November 2017 at an event in London. Dr David Cohen, John S Cohen Foundation, said: "I greatly welcome the involvement of New Writing North and I and my co-trustees look forward to working closely with them.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes and References
    Notes and References Introduction: Lives Without Theory 1. Hermione Lee, Biography:AVery Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2009), 94. Lee is running together remarks by Ian MacKillop, ‘Vignettes: Leavis, Biography and theBody’ in W. Gould and T. Staley, eds., Writing the Lives of Writers (Macmillan, 1998), 297; andby Mary Rhiel and David Suchoff (eds.), Introduction to TheSeductions of Biography (Routledge, 1996),1. 2. Park Honan, Authors’ Lives: On Literary Biographyand theArtsof Lan- guage (St. Martin’s Press – now Palgrave Macmillan, 1990),4.Seealso, D. J. Taylor, novelist, critic and biographer of Orwell and Thackeray, who has commented that ‘there is hardly such a thing as a theory of biogra- phy’ (Guardian, 8/11/2002); Ray Monk, ‘Life Without Theory: Biography as an Exemplar of Philosophical Understanding’in Poetics Today, 28:3 (Fall, 2007), 556. Monk summarises recent approaches to a theory of biog- raphy but focuses on literary sources and, curiously, omits any reference to historiography. His title is taken from Disraeli: ‘Read no history, noth- ing but biography, for that is life without theory’ (cited in Honan, op. cit, 1990: 1);and,Catherine N. Parke, Biography: Writing Lives (Routledge, 2002), 30–1 on biographyandliterary theory. 3. Barbara Lewalski, TheLifeof JohnMilton (Blackwell Publishing, 2003),x. 4. Jonathan Culler, ‘Chapter 1. What is Theory?’ in Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2000), 1–17. 5. Ibid., 15–16. 6. Hayden White, ‘The Discourse of History’ in The Fiction of Narrative: Essays on History, Literature and Theory 1957–2007, ed. R. Doran (TheJohns Hopkins University Press, 2010), 200. 7.Ibid., 200.
    [Show full text]