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Described by David Lodge as “the most gifted and innovative writer of her generation,” Muriel Spark had a literary career that spanned from the late 1940s until her death in 2006, and included poems, stories, plays, essays, and, most notably, novels. The extensive bibliography of her works included in this collection reveals the astonishing output of a powerful and sustained creative spirit.
Hidden Possibilities gathers a distinguished group of writers from both sides of the Atlantic to offer an informed overview of Muriel Spark’s life and work. Critics have often read Spark in a somewhat narrow context—as a Catholic, a woman, or a Scottish writer. The essays in this volume, while making connections between these contexts, cumulatively situate her in a broader European tradition. The volume includes interviews with Spark that cast light both on the course of her professional life and on her notably distinctive personality.
Contributors: Regina Barreca, Gerard Carruthers, Barbara Epler, John Glavin, Dan Gunn, Robert E. Hosmer Jr., Joseph Hynes, Gabriel Josipovici, Frank Kermode, John Lanchester, Doris Lessing, David Malcolm, John Mortimer, Alan Taylor, and John Updike.
"An excellent new collection of critical responses to the Scottish-born author's work." —BookForum
“An extraordinary collection, ‘Hidden Possibilities: Essays in Honor of Muriel Spark’ is very highly recommended reading and an essential addition to academic library Literary Studies reference and study collections.” —The Midwest Book Review
"Hosmer has assembled a distinguished mix of academics and notable popular authors (e.g., John Updike and Doris Lessing) to address various aspects of Spark's vast bibliography and how her life informed her work . . . the contributors present a fairly well-rounded and informed perspective on Spark's oeuvre. Perhaps the strongest points of the volume are the interviews with Spark, in which her passion for writing and her remarkable wit are center stage." —Library Journal
"A satisfyingly eclectic mixture [of essays]. If the first section provides some much-needed sustained critical appreciation of Spark's literary genius, the woman herself is brought wonderfully to life in the final essays." —Times Literary Supplement
"I teach Spark in undergraduate British literature and women's literature courses. This book would be very useful to my students, and is really an ideal collection for undergraduates in that it demonstrates the breadth of critical approaches to an author's work. In short, I think this is the rare book that would have crossover appeal to a general and scholarly audience and would be particularly useful for undergraduates or readers just being introduced to Spark's oeuvre." —Julie Nash, University of Massachusetts Lowell
"Hidden Possibilities combines solid scholarship with engaging personal tributes that, collectively, offer an unabashed celebration of Muriel Spark and her work. The essays are a significant addition to full-length studies of Spark while remaining accessible to Spark's fans and readers." —Margaret E. Mitchell, University of West Georgia
“The strongest points of the volume are the interviews with Spark, in which her passion for writing and her remarkable wit are center stage.” —Library Journal
Robert E. Hosmer Jr. is senior lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Smith College.
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Robert E. Hosmer Jr.
Biographical Note: Muriel Camberg Spark (1918–2006)
The Work
1. The Large Testimony of Muriel Spark by Gabriel Josipovici
2. Muriel Spark’s Fiction: A Context by Joseph Hynes
3. “A Spirit of Vast Endurance”: Muriel Spark, Poet and Novelist by Robert E. Hosmer Jr.
4. Breaking Free of the Grave: Muriel Spark’s Uses of Humor and the Supernatural by Regina Barreca
5. “Fully to Savour Her Position”: Muriel Spark and Scottish Identity by Gerard Carruthers
6. Unrivalled Deftness: The Novels of Muriel Spark by Frank Kermode
7. The Lightness of Muriel Spark’s Novels by Dan Gunn
8. Muriel Spark and the Peters Pan by John Glavin
9. Elliptical and Inconsequential Ladies: Muriel Spark, Jane Bowles, Penelope Fitzgerald, and the texte contestant by David Malcolm
10. Stonewalling Toffs by John Updike
11. In Sparkworld by John Lanchester
The Life
12. Muriel Spark: Scottish by Formation by Alan Taylor
13. Now You See Her, Now You Don’t by Doris Lessing
14. The Culture of an Anarchist: An Interview with Muriel Spark by John Mortimer
15. “Fascinated by Suspense”: An Interview with Dame Muriel Spark by Robert E. Hosmer Jr.
16. “Now I Know They Want Me Back-Stage” by Barbara Epler
Bibliography of Works by Muriel Spark
Notes on Contributors
Index