Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (; 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 road (Great Britain), A70 ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, 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 () is a Public university, 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 was subsequently granted univers ...

. 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, 13 years her senior, whom she had met in Edinburgh. In August of that year, she followed him to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a 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 region was informally known as South ...

(now

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

), and they were married on 3 September 1937 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

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

manic depressive Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks, and in some cases months. If the elevated m ...

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. It can be described as t ...

for the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She provided money at regular intervals to support her son. Spark maintained it was her intention for her family to set up a 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 categor ...

at 13 Baldwin Crescent,

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area 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' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, 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 Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, 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 th ...

, 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 A genre of arts 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 analysis of literature's ...

. In 1947 she became editor of the ''

Poetry Review ''The Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Wayne Holloway-Smith. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Mo ...

''. This position made Spark one of the few 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 State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

but in 1954 she decided to join the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 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, whom 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 Penelope Mary Fitzgerald (17 December 1916 – 28 April 2000) was a Booker Prize-winning novelist, poet, essayist and biographer from Lincoln, England. In 2008 ''The Times'' listed her among "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945". ''The Ob ...

, 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 Sir John Tusa (born 2 March 1936) is a British arts administrator, and radio and television journalist. He is co-chairman of the European Union Youth Orchestra from 2014. chairman, British Architecture Trust Board, RIBA, from 2014. From 1980 ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, 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 novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

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 ''Decli ...

supported her in her decision. Her first novel, ''

The Comforters ''The Comforters'' is the first novel by Scottish author Muriel Spark. She drew on experiences as a recent convert to Catholicism and having suffered hallucinations due to using Dexedrine, an amphetamine then available over the counter for diet ...

'', 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 James Gillespie's High School (Scottish Gaelic: Àrd-sgoil Sheumais Ghilleasbuig) is a state-funded secondary school in Marchmont, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a comprehensive high school, educating pupils between the ages of 11 and 18, situated at ...

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 ''The Girls of Slender Means'' is a novella written in 1963 by British author Muriel Spark. It was included in Anthony Burgess's 1984 book '' Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice''. In 2022, it was included on ...

'' published in 1963.

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; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...

. Spark refused permission for the 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 (; 24 August 1936 – 16 November 2023), known professionally by her former married name, A.S. Byatt ( ), was an English critic, novelist, poet and short-story writer. Her books have been translated into more than thirt ...

, "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 The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

in 1965 for ''

The Mandelbaum Gate ''The Mandelbaum Gate'' is a novel written by Scottish author Muriel Spark published in 1965. The title refers to the Mandelbaum Gate in Jerusalem, around which the novel is set. In 1965, it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize that year. I ...

'', the Ingersoll Foundation T. S. Eliot Award for Creative Writing in 1992 and the

David Cohen Prize The David Cohen Prize for Literature (est. 1993) is a British literary award given to a writer, novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist or dramatist in recognition of an entire body of work, written in the English language. The prize is funde ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

, 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 cult ...

'' and in 1981 for ''

Loitering with Intent ''Loitering with Intent'' is a novel by Scottish author Muriel Spark. Published in 1981 by The Bodley Head, it was short-listed for the Booker Prize that year. It contains many autobiographical references to Spark's early career and was reprin ...

''. In 1998, she was awarded the

Golden PEN Award The Golden PEN Award is a literary award established in 1993 by English PEN given annually to a British writer for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature". The winner is chosen by the Board of English PEN. The award has previously been ...

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' associa ...

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 hono ...

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

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () 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 was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

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

American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first to be established in France. The university ...

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ 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 fourth-largest settleme ...

and

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

. In 2008, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 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''. In July 1978,

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon ( ; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was ...

of The

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

officially named his follow up band

Public Image Ltd Public Image Ltd (abbreviated and stylized as PiL) are an English post-punk band formed by lead vocalist John Lydon (previously, as Johnny Rotten, lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols), guitarist Keith Levene (a founding member of the Clash), bassi ...

(the "Ltd" was added when the company was incorporated in July 1978), after Muriel Spark’s ''The Public Image''."PiL Chronology: 1978"
by Karsten Roekens & Scott M, Fodderstompf.com, 2006.

Relationship with her son

Spark and her son Samuel Robin Spark at times had a strained relationship. They had a falling out when Robin's Orthodox

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

prompted him to petition for his late great-grandmother to be recognised 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 advance 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

*''

'' (1957) *''

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

'' (1958) *''

Memento Mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")

'' (1959) *'' The Ballad of Peckham Rye'' (1960) *''

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

'' (1960) *'' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1961) *''

'' (1963) *''

'' (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 ''The Hothouse by the East River'' is a novel by Scottish author Muriel Spark published in 1973. The main two settings of the novel both reflect the author's life where she lived in Manhattan and where she worked in a POW camp in Britain in Worl ...

'' (1973) *'' The Abbess of Crewe'' (1974) *''

The Takeover ''The TakeOver'' is an indie beat 'em up video game developed by Greek developer Pelikan13 (Antonis Pelekanos) and published by Dangen Entertainment. It was released for Windows and MacOS on February 2, 2016 in early access, seeing a full relea ...

'' (1976) *'' Territorial Rights'' (1979) *''

'' (1981) – shortlisted for Booker Prize *'' The Only Problem'' (1984) *'' A Far Cry from Kensington'' (1988) *''

Symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...

'' (1990) *'' Reality and Dreams'' (1996) *''

Aiding and Abetting Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...

'' (2000) *'' The Finishing School'' (2004)

Short story collections

*'' The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories'' (1958) *''Voices at Play'' (short stories and plays, 1961) *''Collected Stories I'' (1967) *''Bang-bang You're Dead'' (1982) *''The Stories of Muriel Spark'' (1985) *''Open to the Public: New and Collected Stories'' (1996) *''Complete Short Stories'' (2001) *''Ghost Stories'' (2003) — previously collected tales *''The Snobs'' (2005) — previously collected tales

Poetry

*''The Fanfarlo and Other Verse'' (1952) *''Collected Poems I'' (1967) *''Going Up to Sotheby's and Other Poems'' (1982) *''All the Poems'' (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, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...

) (1951) *''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) *''Doctors of Philosophy'' (play, 1963) *''The Very Fine Clock'' (children's book, illustrations by

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

, 1968) *''Mary Shelley'' (complete revision of ''Child of Light'', 1987) *''Curriculum Vitae'' (autobiography, 1992) *''The French Window and the Small Telephone'' (limited edition, 1993) *''The Informed Air: Essays'' (2014)

Critical studies and reviews of Spark's work

* Lingard, Joan (1981), review of ''Loitering with Intent'', in Murray, Glen (ed.), ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature, at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' 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 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

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

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, 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 ...

*
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 800 Fellows, electe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark, Muriel 1918 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century Roman Catholics Jewish Scottish 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 British 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 Scottish Roman Catholic writers Scottish Catholic poets Scottish expatriates in Italy Scottish women novelists Scottish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent 20th-century Scottish novelists 21st-century British novelists 20th-century Scottish 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