Rebecca Swift (10 January 1964 – 18 April 2017) was a British poet and essayist. She was co-founder in 1996 of

The Literary Consultancy The Literary Consultancy (TLC) is a UK-based editorial consultancy service that was founded in 1996, becoming the first service of its kind to offer "professional, in-depth editorial advice and assessment to anyone writing in the English languag ...

Biography

Rebecca Margaret Swift was born in

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

, north London, the daughter of

Clive Swift Clive Walter Swift (9 February 1936 – 1 February 2019) was an English actor and songwriter. A classically trained actor, his stage work included performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but he was best known to television viewers for h ...

and Margaret Drabble. Her brothers are Adam Swift and Joe Swift. As a student, Swift attended the

Camden School for Girls The Camden School for Girls (CSG) is a comprehensive secondary school for girls, with a co-educational sixth form, in the London Borough of Camden in north London. It has about one thousand students of ages eleven to eighteen, and specialist- ...

and New College, Oxford. From 1989 to 1995, she worked as a junior editor at

Virago Press Virago is a British publisher of women's writing and books on feminist topics. Started and run by women in the 1970s and bolstered by the success of the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM), Virago has been credited as one of several British femini ...

. She was fired after Virago was purchased by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

. In 1992 and 1995, she published ''Letters from Margaret: The Fascinating Story of Two Babies Swapped at Birth'', and ''Imagining Characters'', respectively. She co-founded

, an editing company, in 1996 with Hannah Griffiths. The Literary Consultancy has helped many writers, including

Prue Leith Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African restaurateur, chef, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She is Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She wa ...

, Neamat Imam, and Jennifer Makumbi. In 2009, The Literary Consultancy became a founding member of the

Free Word Centre Free Word was an international centre for literature, literacy and free expression based at 60 Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell, London. It developed local, national and international collaborations that explored the transformative power of words. Free ...

. In 1999, Swift wrote "Are You Reading Me?" for her master's thesis at the

Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Ki ...

. In 2001, she organised a bursary scheme to provide for free editing services to low-income writers. In 2011, she published ''Dickinson: Poetic Lives'', a biography of

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

. In 2012, she organised the first digital conference for writers in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, "Writing in a Digital Age" at the

. The conference discussed the current publishing landscape, including self-publishing.

Honour

Swift died of cancer on 18 April 2017, at the age of 53. In her honour, the Rebecca Swift Foundation was formed. In June 2018, it announced the Women Poets' Prize, to be awarded biennially to three poets, at the Second Home Poetry Festival. It will also provide support to winning poets, in partnership with affiliated organisations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Rebecca 1960s births 2017 deaths British poets British women poets British essayists British women essayists English Jews Year of birth missing