College of Arts academics praise one of their literary idols 100 years after her birth

Published: 1 February 2018

Award winning writers Louise Welsh and Zoe Strachan explain the allure of Muriel Spark at a symposium to mark the writer's centenary.

Dame Muriel Spark was born on 1 February 1918.

To celebrate the centenary of her birth, a three day symposium is been held at the University of Glasgow, in conjunction with the National Library of Scotland, from 31 January – 2 February 2018.

Louise Welsh, Professor of Creative Writing, and Zoe Strachan, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, explain why Dame Muriel is one of their great literary idols. Both Louise and Zoe are award winning and acclaimed novelists in their own right.

They were speaking at the Muriel Spark symposium ahead of their creative writing workshop on the writer held today (1 February 2018) on what would have been Dame Muriel's 100th birthday.

During her lifetime Dame Muriel wrote 22 novels including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Comforters and A Far Cry from Kensington.

As well as her novels, Dame Muriel was also an essayist, playwright, poet and literary critic whose work has influenced a generation of British and Scottish writers. She has been named among the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

First published: 1 February 2018

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