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Diana Athill OBE (born December 21, 1917) is a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century.
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Life and writings
Athill graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1939 and worked for the BBC throughout the Second World War. After it she helped André Deutsch establish his publishing company and worked closely with many of his authors, including Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike, Mordecai Richler, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Rhys, Gitta Sereny, Brian Moore, V.S. Naipaul, Charles Gidley Wheeler and David Gurr.
An intellectually vigorous and vibrant woman, she was remarkable for bringing out the best in some of the most difficult and contentious writers. She retired in 1993 at the age of 75, after more than 50 years in publishing. She continues to be an influence in the publishing world through her revealing memoirs about her editorial career. She is best known for her books of memoirs and has also translated various works from French.
Athill was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[1]
Selected bibliography
Fiction
- An Unavoidable Delay (1962), short stories
- Don't Look at Me Like That: a novel. London : Chatto & Windus, 1967
Autobiography
- Instead of a Letter. London: Chatto & Windus, 1963
- After a Funeral. London: Cape, 1986 - winner of the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography
- Make Believe. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1993
- Stet: a memoir, London: Granta, 2000 ISBN 1862073880
- Yesterday Morning: a Very English Childhood. London: Granta, 2002
- Somewhere Towards the End. London: Granta, 2008
- Life Class: The Selected Memoirs of Diana Athill. London: Granta, 2009 ISBN-10: 1847081231
Footnotes
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929, p. 9, 31 December 2008.
External links
- *"Editing Vidia" -full-text article in Granta, 2001, excerpt from "Stet".
- Profile which also reprints various articles from British and American publications.
- Further articles from the same website as above.
- Overview of published comments on Stet.
- Short BBC interview with Fiona Bruce - January 2009
- Interview with Jenny Murray and Dennis Healey on being 90, BBC Radio 4, 22 May 2009
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