Dame Margaret Drabble, Lady Holroyd, (born 5 June 1939) is an English biographer, novelist and short story writer. Drabble's books include '' The Millstone'' (1965), which won the following year's John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, and '' Jerusalem the Golden'', which won the 1967

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 ...

. She was honoured by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 2006, having earlier received awards from numerous redbrick (e.g.

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, Hull,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

,) and plateglass universities (such as

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 road from Newcastle to ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

). She received the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

E. M. Forster Award in 1973. Drabble also wrote biographies of

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

and

Angus Wilson Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson (11 August 191331 May 1991) was an English novelist and short story writer. He was one of England's first openly gay authors. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for '' The Middle Age of Mrs ...

and edited two editions of ''

The Oxford Companion to English Literature ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature'' first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Paul Harvey (diplomat), Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. It is currently in its seventh ed ...

'' and a book on

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

Early life

Drabble was born in

, the second daughter of the County Court judge and novelist John Frederick Drabble and the teacher Kathleen Marie (''née'' Bloor). Her elder sister was the novelist and critic A. S. Byatt; the youngest sister is

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

Helen Langdon, and their brother is the barrister Richard Drabble, KC. Drabble's father participated in the placement of Jewish refugees in Sheffield during the 1930s. Her mother was a Shavian and her father a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. After attending The Mount School, a Quaker boarding school at

where her mother was employed, Drabble received a scholarship to

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millicen ...

. She studied English Literature whilst attending Cambridge. She joined the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

in 1960, and, before leaving to pursue a career in literary studies and writing, served as an

understudy In theatre, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to ap ...

for Vanessa Redgrave and

Diana Rigg Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Tracy Bond, Teresa di ...

Personal life

Drabble was married to the actor Clive Swift between 1960 and 1975. They had three children, the gardener and TV personality Joe Swift; the academic Adam Swift; and Rebecca Swift (d. 2017), who ran The Literary Consultancy. In 1982, Drabble married the writer and biographer Sir Michael Holroyd; they live in London and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. Drabble's relationship with her sister A. S. Byatt was sometimes strained because of autobiographical elements in both their writing. While their relationship was not especially close and they did not read each other's books, Drabble described the situation as "normal sibling rivalry" and Byatt said it had been "terribly overstated by gossip columnists" and that the sisters "always have liked each other on the bottom line." When sought out for interview by ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

s Barbara Milton in 1978, Drabble was described as "smaller than one might expect from looking at her photographs. Her face is finer, prettier and younger, surprisingly young for someone who has produced so many books in the past sixteen years. Her eyes are very clear and attentive and they soften when she is amused, as she often is, by the questions themselves and her own train of thought". In the same interview she admitted there were three writers for whom she felt an "immense admiration":

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...

and Doris Lessing.

Views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq

In the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Drabble wrote of the anticipated wave of

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

, saying: "My anti-Americanism has become almost uncontrollable. It has possessed me, like a disease. It rises up in my throat like acid reflux, that fashionable American sickness. I now loathe the United States and what it has done to Iraq and the rest of the helpless world", despite "remembering the many Americans that I know and respect". She wrote of her distress at images of the war, her objections to

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretar ...

about the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

and "American imperialism, American infantilism, and American triumphalism about victories it didn't even win". She recalled

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 ...

's words in ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'' about "the intoxication of power" and "the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever". She closed by saying, "I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn't been (so narrowly) elected, we wouldn't be here, and none of this would have happened. There is another America. Long live the other America, and may this one pass away soon".

Writing

Drabble's early novels were published by

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld ...

(1963–87), while the publishers of her later works were

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

and

Canongate The Canongate is a street and associated district in central Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The street forms the main eastern length of the Royal Mile while the district is the main eastern section of Edinburgh's Old Town. David ...

, and a recurring theme is the correlation between contemporary England's society and its people. Most of her

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

s are women and the realistic descriptions of her figures often derive from Drabble's personal experiences; thus, her first novels describe the life of young women during the 1960s and 1970s, for whom the conflict between motherhood and intellectual challenges is being brought into focus, while '' The Witch of Exmoor'', published in 1996, shows the withdrawn existence of an elderly writer. As

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...

wrote in 1989: "Drabble's heroines have aged with her, becoming solid and sour, more prone to drink and swear; yet with each successive book their earnest, moral nature blossoms". Her characters' tragic faults reflect their political and economic situation. Drabble wrote novels, she claimed in 2011, "to keep myself company". Her first novel, '' A Summer Bird-Cage'', was published in 1963. She wrote it, she said, because she had just got married and "the children—I had one and was expecting another—and writing was such a convenient career to combine with having a family". With it she found her "informal first-person narrative voice", which she said was an unexpected discovery. She maintained this approach for her first three books, having "liberated myself from the neutral critical prose of the university essay", which she nevertheless admitted she had enjoyed writing. Her second novel '' The Garrick Year'', published in 1964, drew upon her theatrical experience. Her third novel, '' The Millstone'', was published in 1965. About a woman with a baby, Drabble made her character unmarried so as to avoid having to write about marriage or the baby's father. She used the personal experience of one of her own children's diagnosis with a

lesion A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by injury or diseases. The term ''Lesion'' is derived from the Latin meaning "injury". Lesions may occur in both plants and animals. Types There is no de ...

(a hole in the heart) to inform her writing on the illness she gave the child. Indeed, Drabble herself wrote ''The Millstone'' whilst pregnant with her own child, that is, her third. On the book's fiftieth anniversary in 2015, Tessa Hadley described it as "the seminal 60s feminist novel that Doris Lessing's '' The Golden Notebook'' is always supposed to be". Drabble admitted, years after writing ''The Millstone'': "I didn't realise until many years later that some of the medical details I invented were way off the mark". Drabble's fourth novel, '' Jerusalem the Golden'', was published in 1967. It is also about an English woman who, not unlike Drabble, is from the north of the country and is attending university in London. Her fifth novel, '' The Waterfall'', was published in 1969. It is experimental. Drabble's sixth novel, '' The Needle's Eye'', was published in 1972. It is about an

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

ess who gives away her

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

. Her seventh novel '' The Realms of Gold'', published in 1975, has a lady

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

as its central character. Her eighth novel '' The Ice Age'', published in 1977, is set in 1970s England and the social and economic conditions of that time. Drabble's ninth novel '' The Middle Ground'', published in 1980, has a lady journalist as its central character. Margaret Forster, normally one of her kinder reviewers, called ''The Middle Ground'' "not a novel but a

sociological Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

treatise". Her eleventh novel, titled '' A Natural Curiosity'', published in 1989, continues the story of characters from her tenth novel, titled '' The Radiant Way'', which was published in 1987. Drabble apologised to her readers in a

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

to ''A Natural Curiosity'' and said a sequel had been unintended. Her thirteenth novel '' The Witch of Exmoor'', published in 1996, treats of contemporary Britain. Drabble's fourteenth novel '' The Peppered Moth'', published in 2001, treats of a young girl growing up in a mining town in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

and spans four generations of her family. Her fifteenth novel '' The Seven Sisters'', published in 2002, is about a woman whose marriage has collapsed and off she goes to Italy. ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' referred to part of her sixteenth novel, '' The Red Queen'' (published in 2004), as " psychodrabble", noting her claim in the book's preface that she is seeking "universal transcultural human characteristics".

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin ( ; Kroeber; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the ''Earthsea'' fantas ...

compared Drabble's seventeenth novel, '' The Sea Lady'' (published in 2006), favourably with her earlier book ''The Needle's Eye''. In 2009, Drabble announced she would cease to write fiction, for fear of "repeating herself". The same year, she published her memoir ''The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws''. In addition, two further novels would in fact follow: '' The Pure Gold Baby'' (2013), and '' The Dark Flood Rises'' (2016). Speaking in Belfast in 2024, Drabble was clear that ''The Dark Flood Rises'' was her final novel. ''A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman,'' a collection of the 14 short stories that Drabble published between 1966 and 2000, appeared in 2011. Drabble's other writing includes several screenplays, plays and short stories, as well as non-fiction such as ''A Writer's Britain: Landscape and Literature'' and biographies of

and

. Her critical works include studies of

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

and

. She edited two editions of ''

'' in 1985 and 2000. Drabble served as chairman of the National Book League (now Booktrust) from 1980 until 1982.

Awards and honours

Drabble was appointed

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 ...

(CBE) in

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's 1980 Birthday Honours, and was promoted to

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 ...

(DBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. *1966: John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, for '' The Millstone'' *1967:

, for '' Jerusalem the Golden'' *1972: ''

The Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...

'' Book Award (Finest Fiction), for '' The Needle's Eye'' *1973:

E. M. Forster Award *1976: Honorary doctorate from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

*1987: Honorary doctorate from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

*1988: Honorary doctorate from the

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

*1988: Honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford *1992: Honorary doctorate from the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

*1994: Honorary doctorate from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

*1995: Honorary doctorate from the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

*2003:

St. Louis Literary Award The St. Louis Literary Award has been presented yearly since 1967 to a distinguished figure in literature. It is sponsored by the Saint Louis University Library Associates. Winners Past Recipients of the Award: *2025 Colson Whitehead *2024 J ...

, given by the

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

Library Associates *2006: Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the

*2011: 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' associa ...

, for "a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature"

Bibliography

Novels

*'' A Summer Bird-Cage'',

(1963) *'' The Garrick Year'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1964) *'' The Millstone'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1965) *'' Jerusalem the Golden'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1967) *'' The Waterfall'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1969) *'' The Needle's Eye'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1972) *'' The Realms of Gold'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1975) *'' The Ice Age'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1977) *'' The Middle Ground'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1980) *'' The Radiant Way'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1987) *'' A Natural Curiosity'',

(1989) *'' The Gates of Ivory'', Viking (1991) *'' The Witch of Exmoor'', Viking (1996) *'' The Peppered Moth'', Viking (2001) *'' The Seven Sisters'', Viking (2002) *'' The Red Queen'', Viking (2004) *'' The Sea Lady'',

(2006) *'' The Pure Gold Baby'',

(2013) *'' The Dark Flood Rises'', Canongate (2016)

Short fiction

*''The Gifts of War'' (1969), title story republished (alongside "Hassan's Tower") by Penguin Modern Classics on 24 February 2011 *"Hassan's Tower" (1980), published by Sylvester & Orphanos *''A Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories'' (2011)

Non-fiction

*''Wordsworth'' (''Literature in Perspective'' series) (1966) *''Arnold Bennett: A Biography'' (1974) *''For Queen and Country: Britain in the Victorian Age'' (1978) from the 'Mirror of Britain' series

André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentist ...

*''A Writer's Britain: Landscape in Literature'' (1979) *''Stratford Revisited: A Legacy of the Sixties'' (1989) from the Gareth Lloyd Evans Shakespeare Lecture *''Angus Wilson: A Biography'' (1995)

Secker & Warburg Harvill Secker is a British publishing company formed in 2005 from the merger of Secker & Warburg and the Harvill Press. History Secker & Warburg Secker & Warburg was formed in 1935 from a takeover of Martin Secker, which was in receivership, ...

*''The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws'' (2009)

As editor

*'' London Consequences'' (1972) – also co-editor *''The Genius of Thomas Hardy'' (1976) *''

'' (5th and 6th editions) (1985, 2000)

Critical studies and reviews of Drabble's work

* (20 pages) *Glenda Leeming. ''Margaret Drabble'' (Liverpool University Press; 2004, 2020)

References

External links

* *
''One Pair of Eyes: Margaret Drabble''
BBC2, 9 March 1968, BBC Archive site
Margaret Drabble's research files for her 1995 biography of novelist Sir Angus Wilson
are housed at the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drabble, Margaret 1939 births Living people Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge English women biographers English women short story writers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English book editors English women dramatists and playwrights English women novelists English women screenwriters English screenwriters English short story writers English women non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients John Llewellyn Rhys Prize winners People educated at Sheffield High School, South Yorkshire People educated at The Mount School, York Swift family Wives of knights Writers from Sheffield 20th-century English biographers 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English biographers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers