Spark Book Group - next meeting

The Muriel Spark Society Book Group next convenes on Tuesday 9 April at 6pm. Our title this time is Territorial Rights, her novel set in Venice. We shall also consider her brilliant essay on Venice included in The Golden Fleece (pp. 84-89). The discussion will be led by Joyce Caplan.
Refreshments will be served. Join us and do some excellent preparation for our visit! You are also very welcome if you can’t make the trip.
Location:
The Saltire Society
Fountain Close, High Street
Edinburgh

Tweet by The PWE and British Culture on Twitter

	The PWE and British Culture (@PWEpropagandist)
01/02/2019, 14:28 and to celebrate her birthday here's a NEW BLOG POST from ⁦‪@bealoplop‬⁩, on traces of Spark's wartime PWE service to be found in two novels deeply concerned with the appearance of truth ⁦‪@MSparkSociety‬⁩ wp.me/palUv2-3P pic.twitter.com/CVjVMYWL41

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Olga Wojtas goes to Morningside ...

A talk with Olaga Wojtas
Olga Wojtas was born and brought up in Edinburgh where she attended James Gillespie’s High School and inspired by Muriel Spark work. Her latest book, Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samooar is the ‘crème de la crème of crime fiction debuts’. (Edinburgh International Festival)
"Fifty-something Shona is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, but has a deep loathing for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Shona is thrilled when selected by Marcia Blaine herself to travel back in time for a one-week mission in 19th-century Russia..."
She will talk about her book at Morningside Library.

        

Date and Time

Wed, 20 February 2019
14:30 – 15:00 GMT

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Location

Morningside Library
184 Morningside Road
Edinburgh
EH10 4PU
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Happy 101st Birthday Muriel Spark!

Let the celebrations continue ...

Jessamine Davenport

We are very sad to announce the passing of our stalwart member Jessamine Davenport. Jessamine beguiled us with stories of her life. She was an indispensable part of our trip to Siena, and played host to the Sparkisti at her home. Thank you Jessamine.

Is it red or is it white? Celebrating Carnevale. Wine tasting -more details!

A Tutored Wine Tasting presented by the Muriel Spark Society.

Led by Alan Johnston, former President of the Scottish Wine Society and active member of the Institute of Wines and Spirits in Scotland, as well as holder of a Higher Certificate in Wine from the Institute of Wines and Spirits, Alan is highly qualified to act as our guide in what promised to be a fun, informal yet informative evening. It takes place in the exclusive Club Room of the Scottish Arts Club.

Tuesday 5 March 7.30-9.30pm
The Scottish Arts Club, 24 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BW.

£15

Book your place by 15 February with Spark Society Membership Secretary Lorna Statham at:lornastatham@btinernet.com

The Muriel Spark Society is planning a trip to Venice in March 2020. Organiser Martin Gray of Learn Italy Study Holidays will be present.

Wine Tasting Carnevale 5 March 2019

Join the Muriel Spark Society for a wine tasting at the Scottish Arts Club on 5 March at 7.30pm. It will be led expertly by Alan Johnston, former president of the Scottish Wine Society. The cost is £15.
Please register your interest with our Membership Secretary, Lorna Statham: lornastatham@btinternet.com.
Martin Gray from Learn Italy will join us to speak of our proposed trip to Venice in March 2020.

Muriel Spark @ 101: a roundtable at Harvard

Harvard University will hold a symposium on Muriel Spark and novel theory on April 23rd 2019.

The participants are listed below:

 

Timothy Bewes, Brown University

Marilyn Reizbaum, Bowdoin College

Kelly Rich, Harvard University

James Wood, Harvard University

The Muriel Spark Society Annual Birthday Lunch 2019

To mark Muriel Spark's 101st Birthday, the Society will once again be holding a celebratory lunch. This time we will meet on Sunday 27 January 12.30pm at the Bruntsfield Hotel in Edinburgh. There will be fizz on arrival, followed by a three course lunch with wine. Afterwards, we will hold our quiz, this time on the novel, Territorial Rights. We will also be having a Raffle for the first time.
Some spaces remain and the event is open to non-members, so do think about joining us.
Contact our Membership Secretary, Lorna Statham: lornastatham@btinternet.com.

Books that made Deborah Levy

The playwright, novelist and poet on the cleverness of Muriel Spark, how Marguerite Duras influenced her and why Zora Neale Hurston is underrated.



The book I wish I’d writtenThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Muriel Spark was so clever to encourage readers to admire Jean Brodie, and then have us discover we were admiring a fascist. It’s a skilful flip in empathy that Spark makes look easy.



Read the full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/14/deborah-levy-books-that-made-me?CMP=share_btn_link

Ian Rankin: By the Book, Brodie and Dr Who ...

Ian Rankin chooses his favourite book of all time in the New York Times ...

 

What’s your favorite book of all time?

That’s such a tough question and the answer would change from day to day. Maybe Muriel Spark’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” If I describe it as an absolute Tardis of a book, “Dr. Who” fans may understand. It is bigger on the inside than the outside.

Theroux takes tea with Muriel Spark ...

No this is not weird weekends with his son Louis! Here Theroux pere takes tea with Spark. The hardback is out and a paperback is planned next year. Another idea for an event? Should be a fascinating encounter.

Muriel Spark, Existentialism and the Art of Death

Here's a snappy title coming your way from Edinburgh University Press in 2019! I will get in touch with Cairns Craig and see if he will talk to the Society on this. Absolutely intriguing ...

Nicola Sturgeon celebrates Muriel Spark

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launches the distribution of Muriel Spark's novels to Scottish public libraries yesterday. Announcing the free book scheme during a visit to Loanhead public library in Midlothian, Ms Sturgeon said: “Muriel Spark is one of Scotland’s greatest authors and it is fitting that we celebrate the centenary of her birth with this donation to libraries. “I’ve been an avid reader of her books since I was young and I’m very pleased that many more people will now be able to enjoy her work. For me, reading is one of life’s greatest pleasures.”

Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/news/scotland/every-library-in-scotland-given-complete-collection-of-muriel-spark-novels/

The statue

Muriel Spark across Scotland

Today First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the distribution of complete sets of Muriel Spark novels to all public libraries in Scotland - all 491 of them! Additionally, every secondary school in Edinburgh will receive a set. This extremely generous initiative has been funded by the Scottish Government and Postcode Lottery. What a way to celebrate the end of the centenary! Happy reading to all!

Muriel Spark and Africa

Below is a link to an article by Professor Willy Maley on Spark and Africa:

http://scottishbooktrust.com/blog/reading/2018/11/long-read-muriel-spark-and-africa?fbclid=IwAR0fpw_g49so_gFQa6zNR-8Ej90Hs-TR1i3-Y17bu0HXQrz-9irj-JJcrPY

The Edinburgh of Miss Jean Brodie

Gail Wylie will be speaking on Jean Brodie's Edinburgh in Broughton History Society's lecture series. The event takes place on Monday November 5, 7 for 7.30pm. The location is Drummond Community High School, and visitors pay £2 entrance.

Saltire Literary Awards 2018

Congratulations are due to our former Chairman Alan Taylor as his memoir of Muriel Spark, Appointment in Arezzo, is shortlisted for this year's Saltire Literary Awards. The winners will be announced at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on November 30. Good luck Alan!

Head to Peckham Rye ...

Muriel Spark and Peckham

2.30pm-4.30pm Sunday 4 November Start: Peckham Rye Station, London SE15 5DQ

http://www.museumofwalking.org.uk/events/muriel-spark-and-peckham/

Tickets are £15 in advance (early bird £3 cash back if booked by 28/10/18 ) £20 on the day

Book both events at the same time for £20 (available until 28/10/18)

Launching Between the Lines: part discovery of engaging writing, part discovery of place, and part discovery of the writers. Call it a 'Book Club on foot' if you like, in which we invite you to read a book and join us to walk "Between the Lines". It is 100 years since the birth of Dame Muriel Spark, acclaimed Scottish author, poet, literary critic and biographer - knighted for her contribution to British literature. The adaption for theatre and film of her novel “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” brought her considerable celebrity. This one novel caused several of her other works to be overshadowed, and yet critics have claimed that other novels are as powerful, even, of better quality.  One such is “The Ballad of Peckham Rye” written before The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, set in Peckham, south east London, it is a sharp observation of the social mores and working practices of the 1950s, as we follow ‘normal people’ going about their lives. 1950s Peckham leaps from the pages. Many of the locations in the novel still persist, others didn’t survive war or reconstruction, others are pure fantasy - our route will encompass many of these. 

 

Then in December, we are off to South Kensington - as Muriel Spark wrote a book called "A Far cry from Kensington" - it is less location specific than the Peckham novel but nevertheless paints a picture of 1950s London:

Muriel Spark and Kensington

10.30am-12.30pm

http://www.museumofwalking.org.uk/events/muriel-spark-and-kensington/

Tickets are £15 in advance (early bird £3 cash back if booked by 16/11/18 ) £20 on the day

Book both events at the same time for £20 (available until 28/10/18)

Looking forward to hearing from you