Ian Rankin's archives to be opened up to the public this week

Ian Rankin's archive will open to the public at the National Library of Scotland this week, and this includes access to his unfinished PhD on Muriel Spark. There is an online event hosted by NLS this evening, with Curator Rosemary Hall. Please make an appointment if you wish to view the archive. Here is some of the publicity article: The National Library of Scotland has revealed that nearly 400 files of manuscripts, notes and letters kept by the best-selling writer will be available to inspect from Friday. However followers of Rankin and Rebus will have to pre-book their visit to a “reading room” at its headquarters in Edinburgh. Highlights include early manuscripts for first Rebus novel Knots and Crosses, correspondence with leading literary figures like J K Rowling, Iain Banks, Ruth Rendell, Val McDermid and Jilly Cooper, letters from police officers who offered to help Rankin with his research, and his unfinished PhD on the author Muriel Spark.

Ian Rankin reacts to hilarious no-nonsense writing advice from Muriel Spark

A video clip showing late author Muriel Spark explaining her uncomplicated writing process has gone viral on social media. Bruntsfield-born Spark shot to fame in 1957 with the publication of her first novel, The Comforters, but is best-known for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), set in Edinburgh. In the video, Ms Spark sits at her writing desk and tells an off-screen interviewer: “I begin at the beginning. I write the title then I write my name. “Then I turn over and I write the title of the book, I write ‘Chapter One’ and then I write on.” Ms Spark, who died in 2006 in Florence, Tuscany, continued: “I leave a space so I can make alterations as I go along but I don’t revise it afterwards. “Then it goes to the typist and she types it and I revise that. “And that’s the book. That’s finished.” The clip has garnered more than 10,000 views on Twitter alone. Ian Rankin, who has cited Ms Sparks as his literary heroine, was asked by one social media user whether he took inspiration from her no-nonsense writing process. The Fife-born Rebus author, who lives in Edinburgh, replied: “I do a few more drafts than Muriel though!” Dean Atta, Scottish author of The Black Flamingo (2019) joked: “Why do I need an editor and a copyeditor if it’s this easy? Who knew, all I needed was a typist!” Writer and journalist Esther Webber described the clip as: “the Bake-Off technical challenge equivalent of writing advice.”

Nicola Sturgeon offers a tour of her bookshelves for Book Week Scotland

NICOLA Sturgeon has presented a tour of her jam-packed bookshelves to mark this year’s Book Week Scotland, showing off her favourite reads and offering a glimpse into the collection she has been developing for “as long as I can remember”. The keen reader said she “now shares a house with books rather than the other way round”, with overspill in different rooms in her home. The First Minister showed off her copy of A Scots Quair which was a school prize. The SNP leader showed off some of her other favourites, including picks by Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Ali Smith and Muriel Spark. Sturgeon showed viewers “one of my most prized possessions” – a signed first-edition copy of Spark’s The Girls of Slender Means. Please go to "The National" for 17th November for the full article, plus film of the First Minister's Library.

The Muriel Spark Society - from Edinburgh to the world!

Congratulations to our distinguished speaker, Professor Fiona Sampson for delivering an exceptional annual lecture this year. This was the Muriel Spark Society's first foray into digital broadcasting (helped by the National Library of Scotland), and it was a world impactful hit! We had 180 "attendees" from the USA, Canada as well as Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Sweden. This is almost double the capacity of the lecture room in the National Libary, and we hope some of you who attended for the first time might join us as members. Fiona's lecture was a detailed and original examination of a crucial time in Spark's career before she became the world famous novelist. I will post details here when I hear of it being published.

The Muriel Spark Society Annual Lecture 2020 - Fiona Sampson on Spark: finding her form. Join us next week!

You are most welcome to attend our annual lecture on Eventbrite next week, details below: We are delighted to announce that we are able to hold our annual lecture over the Web this year. The event is part of the National Library of Scotland's zoom events programme and we are once again very grateful for the support. Our speaker is Professor Fiona Sampson, who, like Spark, has written a biography of Mary Shelley. She was also only the second female editor of Poetry Review after Spark herself in the 1940s. Professor Sampson's title: Muriel Spark: finding her form. The lecture will broadcast on November 12 at 5pm. Please register with Eventbrite. We look forward to the worldwide audience that will for the first time be able to join us for our lecture.

Muriel Spark by Ian Rankin | Sky Arts 6 October 10:00pm

Muriel Spark was once the most famous female author in the world. Movie studios fought over the film rights to her novels. Magazines sent limousines to collect her type-script articles. Yet she had a difficult relationship with fame and a turbulent relationship with her family. Now, author of the Rebus crime novels Ian Rankin explores his notes and diary entries from the PHD he once carried out on Sparks’ novels back as a student in Edinburgh, using them as a guide to explain why he believes Muriel Spark to be one of the great novelists of the 20th Century.

Muriel Spark and Sound Technologies

MurielSpark and Sound Technologies LateSummer Lecture Series Deadline:30 September 2020 at 17:30 MurielSpark and Deceptive Sound Technologies : Hearing theAcousmatic Voice Thislecture draws on Spark's Political Warfare Executiveexperienceduring the Second World War to explore the deployment ofdeceptivesound technologies such as the wireless and the telephone inherfiction. Due to their disembodied nature, these technologiesrely onthe acousmatic voice - the voice without origin - to enacttheirpresence, yet their lack of visual references providesopportunitiesfor manipulation and deception. Location: AllScotland ,England, Wales, Northern Ireland, International Forfurther information, please contact latesummerlectures@gmail.com orvisit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/muriel-spark-and-sound-technologies-late-summer-lecture-series-2020-tickets-115344225684 Thedeadline is Wednesday 30 September 2020 at 17:30.

No more James Gillespie's?

James Gillespie: leading school urged to rename over founder’s slavery links. Dame Muriel's school, the inspiration for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, is being urged to change its name due to current events. There is an article in today's Times if you wish to learn more. Gillespie was involved in the tobacco trade, and was a tobacconist in Edinburgh's High Street.

The Muriel Spark Society Lecture 2020

We are delighted to announce that we are able to hold our annual lecture over the Web this year. The event is part of the National Library of Scotland's zoom events programme and we are once again very grateful for the support. Our speaker is Professor Fiona Sampson, who, like Spark, has written a biography of Mary Shelley. She was also only the second female editor of Poetry Review after Spark herself in the 1940s. Professor Sampson's title: Muriel Spark: finding her form. The lecture will broadcast on November 12 at 5pm. We will send out more joining instructions nearer the time, but advise that you register with Eventbrite. We look forward to the worldwide audience that will for the first time be able to join us for our lecture.

Muriel Spark and the Art of Deception - new article

It is a pleseure to welcome our new member, Biatriz Lopez, a PhD candidate at Durham University. She also kindly gave us a note of an intriguing article she has just published: I'm writing to you because I have just published a new journal article, 'Muriel Spark and the Art of Deception: Constructing Plausibility with the Methods of WWII Black Propaganda', in the Review of English Studies, which I think may be of interest to members of the Muriel Spark Society. If you circulate a mailing list or are active in social media, would you please be able to feature some information about the article? It can be accessedthrough the following link: https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgaa039

Terence Greer Book artist 1929-2020

Sad to report the passing of the brilliant book artist Terence Greer, who died recently in Canada. As you can see from above, and below, he produced wonderfully memorable covers for Muriel's books for Penguin. He also did a work for Radio Times, which some may remember.
Great to see these images again.

Aileen Christianson

Sad to announce the passing of the academic and writer Aileen Christianson, aged 75. She was a life member of the Society and spoke for us at the National Library of Scotland.There is an obituary in the Guardian in which Muriel gets a mention, 23 June 2020.

Muriel Spark, Mary Shelley and a 21st Century plague

Muriel Spark praised Mary Shelley’s The Last Man, which deals with a 21st Century plague. There is a paperback edition from OUP if it is not too near the bone, although many are reading Defoe and Camus for plague literature!

Nash Ensemble

Many  will remember with pleasure the Nash Ensemble at the Spark concert in the Queen’s Hall in January. You can now hear a lot more of them in Radio 3’s lunchtime concert series this week, and also on BBC Sounds. Enjoy.

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Vampire Menace

Congratulations to our member Olga Wojtas on the recent publication of her second novel featuring fifty something librarian Shona, former pupil of Marcia Blaine. This time her adventures take her o fin de siecle France, with Debussy and Alan Taylor making appearances ...
Paperback original from Contraband £8.99. Kindle edition £3.99.
Forgive the personal reference, but this post was written by a fifty-something librarian!

Appointment in Arezzo - A Good Read

Alan Taylor’s Appointment in Arezzo will be discussed on Radio 4’s A Good Read tomorrow (24 March) at 4.30pm. Happy listening.
Good wishes of encouragement and comfort to all, especially if you are self-isolating. Take care.

Zoe Caldwell 1933-2020

Sad to note the death this month of the four time Tony Award winner Zoe Caldwell. She won a Tony Award for her Broadway portrayal of Miss Jean Brodie in 1968.

Eric Lloyd 1923-2019

The Society is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Eric Lloyd on December 27, at the age of 96. Eric was our founding Treasurer and was an indispensable support to his wife Christine in establishing and developing the Muriel Spark Society. The Chairman will attend the funeral on January 10th. Our sincerest condolences to Christine.