The Crooked Dividend: essays on Muriel Spark - free online event

The National Library of Scotland is hosting a free online event on this book of essays to be publushed by the Association of Scottish Literary Studies next month. The event is on the 17th March at 5pm. Please register a place at the National Library of Scotland website events section.

Birthday Thoughts ….

Today would have been Muriel Spark's 104th Birthday and so is an opprtune moment to wish all members of the Society a happy new year. We had to postpone the Birthday Lunch this year, but we still hope to have a Spring Lunch near Easter. The Committee met recently to discuss plans for the autumn lecture and AGM. We can't wait to see you all again. i hope you are all keeping well. Oh and we haven't given up on Venice ...

Happy 60th Birthday Miss Jean Brodie!

On this day in 1961 Macmillan published the first edition of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a novel that would become a classic of 20th Century literature. Soon afterwards, the novel would appear in its entirety in The New Yorker. The Muriel Spark Society is celebrationg by holding a free online lecture today at 5pm. Norma Allan, a James Gillespie's girl like Muriel Spark, will give us some of the history behind the Brodie myth. Please head to the website of the National Library of Scotland - events if you would like to join us: www.nls.uk/events

Sar-sgeoil The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in Gaelic

BBC Alba recently aired a documentary on Muriel and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in Gaelic. Subtitles are provided. Filmed at Gillespies, in Morningside and in Abercorn Cemetery, where they failed to find Miss Kay's headstone. Our member Olga Wojtas appears, and your lockdown hair looked fine Olga! Available on iPlayer.

Ali Smith’s favourite literary heroine

Ali Smith recently chose Fleur Talbot from Loitering with Intent as her favourite literary heroine. A wonderful choice and she also qouted Fleur's unforgettable credo, "Everything happens to an artist, time is always redeemed, nothing is lost and wonders never cease" Defoe's Moll Flanders comes a very disreputable second choice.Check out the Guardian online from 1 May.

Richard Osman’s cultural highlights

Muriel Spark has never been short of prominent admirers, and here is another for that distinguished list: Richard Osman. The Pointless host and best selling author chose Dame Muriel in the book section of his list of cultural highlights in last Saturday's Guardian. Now, I wonder if he's free to speak to the Society ...

60 Years of MIss Jean Brodie ...

2021 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1961. I am delighted to announce the Muriel Spark Society will be marking the event with a lecture hosted by the National Library of Scotland on October 5. Presently we are planning an online event at 5pm, but who knows, perhaps we may all be able to meet? Our speaker will be Norma Allan, who recnetly published a history of her alma mater, James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh. Her book, "Box Hats and Blue Stockings" was published in 2019. I will post more details as they are firmed up.

Muriel Spark's Early Fiction: literary subversion and experiments with form ...

Dr James Bailey has kindly been in touch to announce his reent book on Dame Muriel's fiction,published at the end of last month by Edinburgh University Press. Here is the information from his publisher: A compelling reappraisal of Spark’s approach to literary experimentation Offers a distinctive reappraisal of Spark’s fiction, which challenges the rigid critical framework that has long been applied to her writing Interrogates how Spark’s literary innovations work to facilitate moments of subversive satire and gendered social critique Presents nuanced re-readings of some of Spark’s major works, as well as lesser-discussed texts such as her only stage play, Doctors of Philosophy, and early short stories Draws upon detailed archival research to offer a unique insight into the social contexts and personal preoccupations that informed Spark’s writing This book presents a detailed critical analysis of a period of significant formal and thematic innovation in Muriel Spark’s literary career. Spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, it identifies formative instances of literary experimentation in texts including The Comforters, The Driver’s Seat and The Public Image, with an emphasis on metafiction and the influence of the nouveau roman. As the first critical study to draw extensively on Spark’s vast archives of correspondence, manuscripts and research, it provides a unique insight into the social contexts and personal concerns that dictated her fiction. I have invited Dr Bailey to speak to the Society, and will post details when we can arrange a date.

Happy Birthday Lorna #2!

Lorna had a fab birthday as you can see. Thanks to Hugh for the lovely pic.

Happy Birthday Lorna!

Lorna a very happy birthday from all your friends in The Muriel Spark Society. we can't wait to raise a glass with you! thank you for all your generosity, support and for being just great fun.

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