Diana Athill
Literary editor and award-winning novelist and memoirist, Diana Athill OBE has worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century, including Jean Rhys, V. S. Naipaul, Norman Mailer and Simone de Beauvoir. She made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs and her commitment “to understand, to be aware, to touch the truth”. She recently featured on the BBC’s Imagine with Alan Yentob.
Diana’s latest book Life Class brings together four of her best-loved memoirs in a celebration of her life and writing. She’ll be in conversation with Ian Jack and reading one of her short stories at Tea with Persephone.
Born in 1917, Diana worked for the BBC throughout the Second World War before establishing the publishing company, André Deutsch, where she was the editorial director for fifty years.
Her books include Stet: A Memoir (2000) an account of her time in publishing and Somewhere Towards the End (2008) which won the Costa Award.
“It is Athill’s ability to draw the consolation of beauty from the smallest observed moments that turns her telling of her life — at all its stages — into art; it is that ability, too, that nourishes the reader and makes the author a true friend.”
The Times
“What sets her apart is the flagrancy and wit of her writing… her memoirs display a vivacious appreciation of the life she has lived and what is still to come.”
New Statesman
Links:
- Diana Athill on the BBC’s Imagine programme
- Interview with Diana Athill in The Guardian
- Review of Diana Athill in The Times
Video: Alice Munro In Conversation with Diana Athill
