Jenni Calder (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Daiches) (born 1941) is a Scottish literary historian, and arts establishment figure.

Biography

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 ...

based, she has been part of the Scottish literary community for many years. Her teaching and writing cover Scottish, English and American literary and historical subjects. She has written 28 books on literary and historical subjects, including biographies of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

and

Naomi Mitchison Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote more than 90 books of historical an ...

and books on Scottish history and Scottish emigration. She has a particular research interest in emigration and the Scottish diaspora. She worked at the National Museums of Scotland from 1978 to 2001 and latterly as Head of Museum of Scotland International. In 2003 she helped to organise the

National Museums of Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; ) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collect ...

's exhibition called 'Trailblazers - the Scots in Canada'. She was president of Scottish PEN, a not-for-profit organisation that champions freedom of expression and literature across borders. She writes fiction and poetry as "Jenni Daiches". She was formerly married to Angus Calder, and is the daughter of

David Daiches David Daiches (2 September 1912 – 15 July 2005) was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture. Early life He was born in Sunde ...

a prominent Scottish, Jewish, writer, critic and historian. She was born in the US and spent time in Kenya. Her book ''Not Nebuchadnezzar'' is a partly a biography and a '''chronicle of the consuming search for that elusive concept known as 'identity''''. She has spoken out about anti-antisemitism. On the question of

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

; of 27 Scottish authors whose opinion was sought, Calder was one of only two offering a definite No."Of the 27, I counted 15 who would give a definite Yes to independence. Only two of the others – Jenni Calder and myself – give a definite No."
Never knowingly understated
.

Ken MacLeod Kenneth Macrae MacLeod (born 2 August 1954) is a Scottish science fiction writer. His novels ''The Sky Road'' and '' The Night Sessions'' won the BSFA Award. MacLeod's novels have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke, Hugo, Nebula, Locus ...

, ''The Early Days of A Better Nation''. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2014.

Some works

* *''There Must Be a Lone Ranger: The myth and reality of the American Wild West''. Hamish Hamilton, 1974 *''Huxley Brave New World and Orwell Nineteen Eighty Four''. Edward Arnold, 1976 * * * * *''Stevenson and Victorian Scotland''. Edinburgh University Press, 1984 *''Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four''. Open University, 1988 *''The Wealth of a Nation''. Publications Office, Edinburgh, 1989 *''Scotland in Trust: The National Trust for Scotland'', 1990 * * * * * * * * *''The Story of the Scottish Soldier, 1600-1914''. National Museums of Scotland, 1992 *''Enterprising Scot: Scottish Adventure and Achievement''. National Museums of Scotland, 1995 * *''Scots in the USA''. Luath Press, 2006 *

Reviews

* Clunas, Alexander (1982), review of ''Stevenson and Victorian Scotland'', 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. 8, Spring 1982, pp. 42 & 42,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Jenni 1941 births Living people Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge

Jenni Jenni is a feminine given name, sometimes a modern diminutive or short form of Jennifer. The etymology is actually that of a diminutive of Jane, however. A separate name, with the same spelling, serves as a Finnish language diminutive of Johann ...

Jewish historians Scottish literary historians Jewish Scottish writers British women historians 20th-century Scottish historians 21st-century Scottish historians 21st-century Scottish women writers 20th-century Scottish women writers Women literary historians Scottish poets