Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist.

Life

Muriel Camberg was born in the

Bruntsfield Bruntsfield is a largely residential area around Bruntsfield Place in Southern Edinburgh, Scotland. In feudal times, it fell within the barony of Colinton. Location Bruntsfield Place is less than south on the A702 main road from the West e ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an engineer, and Sarah Elizabeth Maud (née Uezzell). Her father was Jewish, born in Edinburgh of Lithuanian immigrant parents, and her English mother had been raised Anglican. She was educated at James Gillespie's School for Girls (1923–35), where she received some education in the Presbyterian faith. In 1934–35 she took a course in "commercial correspondence and précis writing" at

Heriot-Watt College Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

. She taught English for a brief time, and then worked as a secretary in a department store. In 1937 she became engaged to Sidney Oswald Spark, thirteen years her senior, whom she had met in Edinburgh. In August of that year, she followed him out to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing colony, self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The reg ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

), and they were married on 3 September 1937 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. Their son Samuel Robin was born in July 1938. Within months she discovered that her husband was

manic depressive Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

and prone to violent outbursts. In 1940 Muriel left Sidney and temporarily placed Robin in a convent school, as children were not permitted to travel during the war. Spark returned to Britain in early 1944, taking residence at the Helena Club in London. She worked in

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can ...

for the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She provided money at regular intervals to support her son. Spark maintained it was her intention for her family to set up home in England, but Robin returned to Britain with his father later to be brought up by his maternal grandparents in Scotland. Between 1955 and 1965 she lived in a

bedsit A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...

at 13 Baldwin Crescent,

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This ...

, south-east London. 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 it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, in the village of Oliveto, near to

Civitella in Val di Chiana Civitella in Val di Chiana (official name), often also Civitella di Val di Chiana, is a '' comune'' in the province of Arezzo, south of Arezzo in Tuscany, Italy. It is one of the best-preserved of the network of Lombard fortresses of the 6th and ...

, of which in 2005 Spark was made an honorary citizen. She was the subject of frequent rumours 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 received nothing. Spark died in 2006 and is buried in the cemetery of Sant'Andrea Apostolo in Oliveto.

Literary career

Spark began writing seriously, under her married name, after

, beginning with poetry and

literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

. In 1947 she became editor of the '' Poetry Review''. This position made Spark one of the only female editors of the time. Spark left the ''Poetry Review'' in 1948. In 1953 Muriel Spark was baptized in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

but in 1954 she decided to join the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which she considered crucial in her development toward becoming a novelist. She was formally instructed by Dom Ambrose Agius, a Benedictine monk of Ealing Priory, who she had known from her Poetry Society days, and was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 1st May 1954 by Dom Ambrose. Penelope Fitzgerald, a fellow novelist and contemporary of Spark, wrote that Spark "had pointed out that it wasn't until she became a Roman Catholic ... that she was able to see human existence as a whole, as a novelist needs to do". In an interview with John Tusa on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

, she said of her conversion and its effect on her writing that she "was just a little worried, tentative. Would it be right, would it not be right? Can I write a novel about that – would it be foolish, wouldn't it be? And somehow with my religion – whether one has anything to do with the other, I don't know – but it does seem so, that I just gained confidence."

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

Gabriel Fielding Alan Gabriel Barnsley (pen name Gabriel Fielding, 25 March 1916 – 27 November 1986) was an English novelist whose works include: ''In the Time of Greenbloom'', ''The Birthday King'', ''Through Streets Broad and Narrow'' and ''The Women of Gui ...

and

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...

supported her in her decision. Her first novel, '' The Comforters'', was published to great critical acclaim in 1957. It featured several references to Catholicism and conversion to Catholicism, although its main theme revolved around a young woman who becomes aware that she is a character in a novel. '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1961) was even more successful. Spark displayed originality of subject and tone, making extensive use of

flashforward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

s and imagined conversations. It is clear that James Gillespie's High School was the model for the Marcia Blaine School in the novel. Her residence at the Helena Club was the inspiration for the fictional May of Teck Club in '' The Girls of Slender Means'' published in 1963. Muriel Spark, Poeta

Archive and biography

In the 1940s Spark began to keep a record of her professional and personal activities that developed into a comprehensive personal archive containing diaries, accounts and cheque books and tens of thousands of letters. Spark used her archive to write her autobiography, "Curriculum Vitae", and after its publication in 1992 much of the material was deposited at

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in t ...

. Spark refused permission for publication of a biography of her by Martin Stannard. Penelope Jardine holds publication approval rights, and the book was posthumously published in July 2009. On 27 July 2009 Stannard was interviewed on '' Front Row'', the

arts programme. According to

A. S. Byatt Dame Antonia Susan Duffy ( Drabble; born 24 August 1936), known professionally by her former marriage name as A. S. Byatt ( ), is an English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer. Her books have been widely translated, into more than t ...

, "she ardinewas very upset by the book and had to spend a lot of time going through it, line by line, to try to make it a little bit fairer".

Honours and acclaim

Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for '' The Mandelbaum Gate'', the US Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1967 and

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1993 for services to literature. She was twice shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

, in 1969 for ''

The Public Image ''The Public Image'' is a novel published in 1968 by Scottish author Muriel Spark and shortlisted for the Booker Prize the following year. It is set in Rome and concerns Annabel Christopher, an up-and-coming film actress. Annabel carefully cultiv ...

'' and in 1981 for '' Loitering with Intent''. In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by

English PEN Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world's first non-governmental organisations and among the first international bodies advocating for human rights. English PEN was the founding centre of PEN International, a worldwide writers' associat ...

for a "Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". Spark received eight

honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

including Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater,

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 1995; a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the

American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private, independent, and accredited liberal arts university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the fir ...

in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

and Strathclyde. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' ranked Spark as No. 8 in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". In 2010, Spark was posthumously shortlisted for the

Lost Man Booker Prize The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special edition of the Man Booker Prize awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970 as the books published in 1970 were not eligible for the Man Booker Prize due to a rules alteration; until 1970 the priz ...

of 1970 for '' The Driver's Seat''.

Relationship with her son

Spark and her son

Samuel Robin Spark Samuel Robin Spark (9 July 1938 – 6 August 2016) was a Scottish artist. He was the son of Sidney Oswald Spark and writer Muriel Spark. Prolific in his work, he created more than 1,000 paintings, photographs, and short texts and articles about ...

at times had a strained relationship. They had a falling out when Robin's Orthodox

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

prompted him to petition for his late great-grandmother to be recognized as Jewish. (Spark's maternal grandparents, Adelaide Hyams and Tom Uezzell, had married in a church. Tom was Anglican. Adelaide's father was Jewish, but her mother was not; Adelaide referred to herself as a "Jewish Gentile.") Spark reacted by accusing him of seeking publicity to further his career as an artist. Muriel's brother Philip, who himself had become actively Jewish, agreed with her version of the family's history. During one of her last book signings in Edinburgh, she told a journalist who asked if she would see her son again: "I think I know how best to avoid him by now."

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Comforters'' (1957) *'' Robinson'' (1958) *''

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'The Ballad of Peckham Rye ''The Ballad of Peckham Rye'' is a novel written in 1960 by the British author Muriel Spark. It tells the story of a devilish Scottish migrant, Dougal Douglas, who moves to Peckham in London and wreaks havoc amongst the lives of the inhabitants ...

'' (1960) *''

The Bachelors The Bachelors were a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland, but primarily based in the United Kingdom. They had several international hits during the 1960s, including eight top-ten singles in the UK between 1963 and 1966. Car ...

'' (1960) *'' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1961) *'' The Girls of Slender Means'' (1963) *'' The Mandelbaum Gate'' (1965) *''

'' (1968) – shortlisted for Booker Prize *'' The Driver's Seat'' (1970) – shortlisted for Booker Prize *'' Not To Disturb'' (1971) *'' The Hothouse by the East River'' (1973) *'' The Abbess of Crewe'' (1974) *'' The Takeover'' (1976) *'' Territorial Rights'' (1979) *'' Loitering with Intent'' (1981) – shortlisted for Booker Prize *''The Only Problem'' (1984) *'' A Far Cry from Kensington'' (1988) *''

Symposium In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...

'' (1990) *'' Reality and Dreams'' (1996) *'' Aiding and Abetting'' (2000) *'' The Finishing School'' (2004)

Other works

*''Tribute to Wordsworth'' (edited with Derek Stanford, 1950) *''Child of Light'' (a study of

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

) (1951) *''The Fanfarlo and Other Verse'' (1952) *''Selected Poems of Emily Brontë'' (1952) *''John Masefield'' (biography, 1953) *''Emily Brontë: Her Life and Work'' (with Derek Stanford; 1953) *''My Best Mary'' (a selection of letters of

, edited with Derek Stanford, 1953) *''The Brontë letters'' (1954) *''Letters of John Henry Newman'' (edited with Derek Stanford, 1957) *'' The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories'' (short stories, 1958) *''Voices at Play'' (short stories and plays, 1961) *''Doctors of Philosophy'' (play, 1963) *''Collected Poems I'' (1967) *''Collected Stories I'' (1967) *''The Very Fine Clock'' (children's book, illustrations by

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...

, 1968) *''Bang-bang You're Dead'' (short stories, 1982) *''Mary Shelley'' (complete revision of ''Child of Light'', 1987) *''Going Up to Sotheby's and Other Poems'' (1982) *''Curriculum Vitae'' (autobiography, 1992) *''The French Window and the Small Telephone'' (limited edition, 1993) *''Complete Short Stories'' (2001) *''All the Poems'' (2004)

Critical studies and reviews of Spark's work

* Lingard, Joan (1981), review of ''Loitering with Intent'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), '' Cencrastus'' No. 6, Autumn 1981, pp. 41 & 42 *

Notes

References

Works on Spark's writing

Jardine, Penelope, ed. 2018. ''A Good Comb''. New Directions.

External links

The Official Website of Dame Muriel Spark
(Last

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

capture of defunct website - 5 March 2016) *
Muriel Spark Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

*
Muriel Spark personal archive
at

The Muriel Spark Papers at Washington University in St. LouisMuriel Spark fonds
at University of Victoria, Special Collections

17 April 2006
''In their own words'' BBC interview 3 December 1971 (Video, 30 mins)''Chrysalis''
a poem by Muriel Spark fro
TLS
17 January 2008
"Dame Muriel Spark"
Fellows Remembered,

The Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 600 Fellows, elec ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark, Muriel 1918 births 2006 deaths Scottish Jewish writers Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Scottish Roman Catholics Ghost story writers David Cohen Prize recipients James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients People educated at James Gillespie's High School Writers from Edinburgh People from Camberwell Prix Italia winners Roman Catholic writers Scottish Catholic poets Scottish expatriates in Italy Scottish women novelists Scottish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British women writers Scottish women poets 20th-century Scottish poets Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature 20th-century Scottish women Christian novelists