Muriel Spark

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist, best known for her satire and wit in presenting serious themes. She was born in Edinburgh and educated at James Gillespie's School for Girls and Heriot-Watt College. After marrying and moving to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), she divorced and returned to England, working for the Foreign Office during World War II. Spark converted to Roman Catholicism in 1954, a period that coincided with her beginning her career as a novelist. Her works often feature enclosed communities, with a 'bomb' of murder or scandal dropped into them, and are characterized by their concise, witty, and clear-eyed prose. She received numerous awards, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the T. S. Eliot Award, and the David Cohen Prize, and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993. She lived in Italy for many years before her death in 2006.