Mary-Kay Wilmers, Hon.

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

(born 19 July 1938) is an American editor and journalist. She was the editor of the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'' from 1992Brooks, Richard
"''London Review of Books'' £27m in the red – but it isn’t counting"
''

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 ...

'', 24 January 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2011. to 2021, and she remains consulting editor. She is a recipient of the

Benson Medal The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK."The Benson Medal"

from 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, elect ...

Family and education

Mary-Kay Wilmers was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She lived in the United States for the first eight years of her childhood, by the end of which she had lived in 10 different homes and attended eight different schools in America and Europe. Her mother, Cecilia Eitington, was of Russian-Jewish descent, and her father's family were, she said, "very English", but they had come from Germany.Watson, Heather
"In conversation with Mary-Kay Wilmers"
'' P.N. Review'', Volume 28, Number 1, September – October 2001. Retrieved 14 February 2011. For many years Wilmers worked on a book, published in 2009 as ''The Eitingons: A Twentieth Century Story'', recounting the story of her mother's Russian relations, including the psychoanalyst

Max Eitingon Max Eitingon (; 26 June 1881 – 30 July 1943) was a German medical doctor and psychoanalyst, instrumental in establishing the institutional parameters of psychoanalytic education and training.Sidney L. Pomer, 'Max Eitingon (1881–1943): The Org ...

, as well as her grandfather's cousin

Leonid Eitingon Nahum Isaakovich Eitingon (), also known as Leonid Aleksandrovich Eitingon (;Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

who was responsible for masterminding the assassination of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. Tonkin, Boyd
"Mary-Kay Wilmers: London's mythical urban elite made flesh"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 22 February 2013. In 1946 Wilmers' parents moved to Europe, spending time in London, Portugal, Belgium, and Switzerland. Her father Charles Wilmers was President of

Sofina Sofina, ''Société Financière de Transports et d'Entreprises Industrielles'', is a Belgian holding company, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Singapore and Luxembourg. As part of the Bel20 index, it is one of the twenty largest cap ...

, a Belgian multinational utilities holding company.McKay, Sinclair
"''The London Review of Books'' celebrated its 30th Birthday"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 30 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011. Wilmers was educated in Brussels and at boarding school in England. She said that for some time she was happier speaking French than English. Her brother Robert G. Wilmers was an American billionaire and chairman of

M&T Bank M&T Bank Corporation (Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company) is an American bank holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. It operates 950+ branches in 12 states and Washington D.C. across the Eastern United States, from Maine to Vi ...

until his death in 2017. At

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where Wilmers read modern languages at

St Hugh's College St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

from 1957, she befriended

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

, later a regular contributor to the ''London Review of Books''. Bennett said about Wilmers's time at university: "Outside the novels of

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

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 ...

, I had never come across anyone who behaved so confidently or in such a cosmopolitan fashion."McElvoy, Anne
"Mary-Kay Wilmers: Queen of Plots"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', 18 October 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2011. For the week of her finals she moved into the Randolph Hotel, staying with her father whose presence was required due to her threat to not sit the exams.Wroe, Nicholas
"Mary-Kay Wilmers: 'I like difficult women. Not just because I'm a bit difficult myself. I like their complication'"
(A Life In... Books), ''The Guardian'', 24 October 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2011.

Career

Early career

After her graduation in 1960, she thought about becoming a translator at the United Nations, but instead went to work at the publishers

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, employed at first as a secretary. On one occasion she thought she might be sacked for saying "

bugger ''Bugger'' or ''buggar'' can at times be considered as a mild swear word. In the United Kingdom the term has been used commonly to imply dissatisfaction, refer to someone or something whose behaviour is in some way inconvenient or perhaps as an ...

" in front of

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

, whose letters she used to type. She later became an editor at Faber and Faber, where she commissioned many books, among them ''Patriarchal Attitudes'' by

Eva Figes Eva Figes (; 15 April 1932 – 28 August 2012) was an English author and feminist. Figes wrote novels, literary criticism, studies of feminism, and vivid memoirs relating to her Berlin childhood and later experiences as a Jewish refugee from Hit ...

, one of the first works of British feminism. She left Faber aged 29 to become deputy editor of '' The Listener'', edited by

Karl Miller Karl Fergus Connor Miller FRSL (2 August 1931 – 24 September 2014) was a Scottish literary editor, critic and writer. Biography Miller was born in the village of Loanhead, Midlothian, and was educated at the Royal High School of Edinbu ...

, and in the 1970s had a spell at ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' (''TLS'').

''London Review of Books''

In 1979, Wilmers joined Miller in founding ''

'' (''LRB''), conceived to fill a gap in the market as a year-long industrial dispute had closed ''The Times Literary Supplement''.Cooke, Rachel
"Happy birthday, LRB"
''

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'' ...

'', 31 October 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2011. The new review was an offshoot of ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'', at first appearing folded inside the older publication.Sutherland, John
"London Review of Books marks its 30th year"
''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 24 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011. The first edition appeared in October 1979. ''The New York Review of Books'' withdrew its support after a few months, and in May 1980, Wilmers made the first of a number of investments of money inherited from her father, establishing an independent ''London Review of Books'' and later making herself the majority shareholder. In January 2010, ''The Times'' reported that the review was £27 million in debt to the Wilmers family trust. "It's family money and the debts have been rising for many years," Wilmers said. "But I really just look after the commas." Wilmers became co-editor in 1988 and editor in 1992. Her style was to take a highly interventionist approach: "You want to help readers along. Not discourage them by making them go through a swamp of unnecessary sentences", she said. Her friend

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 ...

called Wilmers "a presiding genius", and

Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize. His most recent novel is ''C ...

explained: "She can’t bear a lazy sentence or secondhand metaphor. She’s tireless in her commitment to the paper". In 2009 the ''London Review''s circulation was 48,000, making it the largest-selling literary publication in Europe. Wilmers stepped down as editor after almost 30 years in 2021, remaining at the magazine as consulting editor. As an editor, Wilmers has been closely associated with the work of a number of novelists and essayists, including

John Lanchester John Henry Lanchester (born 25 February 1962) is a British journalist and novelist. He was born in Hamburg, brought up in Hong Kong and educated in England; between 1972 and 1980 at Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk, then at St John's College, ...

Jenny Diski Jenny Diski FRSL (née Simmonds; 8 July 1947 – 28 April 2016) was an English novelist, non-fiction writer and memoirist. Diski was a regular contributor to the ''London Review of Books''; the collections ''Don't'' and ''Why Didn't You Do W ...

Blake Morrison Philip Blake Morrison (born 8 October 1950) is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?' ...

Alan Hollinghurst Sir Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award and the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 2004, he won the Booker Prize for his novel ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with ''Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and ''Arthu ...

Craig Raine Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow of New C ...

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín ( , ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, ''The South (novel), The South'', was published in 1990. ''The Blackwater Lightship'' was short ...

Stefan Collini Stefan Collini (born 6 September 1947)COLLINI, Prof. Stefan Anthony
''Who ...

, James Wood,

Linda Colley Dame Linda Jane Colley (born 13 September 1949 in Chester, England) is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history at ...

Jacqueline Rose Jacqueline Rose (born 1949) is a British academic who is Professor of Humanities at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities. She is known for her work on the relationship between psychoanalysis, feminism and literature. Life and work Rose ...

, Paul Foot,

Tariq Ali Tariq Ali (;; born 21 October 1943) is a Pakistani-British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is a member of the editorial committee of the ''New Left Review'' and ''Sin Permiso'', and co ...

and

Edward Luttwak Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 4 November 1942) is an American author known for his works on grand strategy, military strategy, geoeconomics, military history, and international relations. He is best known for being the author of '' Coup d'Éta ...

. Many of these were published prominently when at the beginnings of their careers. Politically, the review is not known for following a consistent party political line, although Wilmers described herself as being "captivated by the left but not of it". Under her editorship the review's treatment of political matters sometimes attracted controversy. In 2006, an article by academics

John Mearsheimer John Joseph Mearsheimer (; born December 14, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar. He is R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor in the University of Chicago. Mearsheimer is best known for dev ...

and

Stephen Walt Stephen Martin Walt (born July 2, 1955) is an American political scientist serving as the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School. A member of the realist school of international relations, Walt ...

was criticised in some quarters for its claim that the

foreign policy of the United States The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

was in the grip of an "Israel lobby". Wilmers has herself said, "I'm unambiguously hostile to Israel because it's a mendacious state", an assessment that has not gone unchallenged. An article by the Cambridge historian Mary Beard, published after the events of September 11, 2001, attracted some attention for suggesting that "America had it coming", and when

David Marquand David Ian Marquand FLSW (20 September 1934 – 23 April 2024) was a British academic and Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP). Background and political career Marquand was born in Cardiff on 20 September 1934. His father was Hilary Marq ...

, the political historian and principal of

Mansfield College, Oxford Mansfield College, Oxford is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The college was founded in Birmingham in 1838 as a college for Nonconformist students. It moved to Oxford in 1886 and was renamed Mansfield Coll ...

, submitted a review praising

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

's handling of the post-11 September period as "impeccable", Wilmers replied saying, "I can't square it with my conscience to praise so wholeheartedly Blair's conduct" and pulled the piece. Marquand announced that he was "utterly shocked".

Honours

A book of tributes to Wilmers, ''Bad Character'', was published privately in June 2008 and distributed as a limited edition. In 2017, she was elected an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, president, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as ...

of the

, as well as being honoured with their

Benson Medal The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK."The Benson Medal"

."The Benson Medal"
The Royal Society of Literature.

Personal life

In 1968, Wilmers married film director

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

, with whom she had two sons, Sam and Will. They lived on Gloucester Crescent in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

. Frears left Wilmers while she was pregnant with their second son Will in the early 1970s, and the couple divorced.Wroe, Nicholas
"Mary-Kay Wilmers: 'I like difficult women. Not just because I'm a bit difficult myself. I like their complication'"
(A Life In... Books), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 24 October 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2011. Nina Stibbe, the live-in nanny that Wilmers hired in the early 1980s, wrote letters home that described the North London "literati" life; these were compiled, published, and adapted into the 2016 TV series ''

Love, Nina ''Love, Nina'' is a 2016 British comedy drama starring Faye Marsay and Helena Bonham Carter. Adapted by Nick Hornby from Nina Stibbe's book, ''Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life,'' the series received its debut on BBC One on 20 May 2016 ...

''.