Hidden Possibilities ─ Essays in Honor of Muriel Spark

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.

"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

Robert E. Hosmer Jr. is senior lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Smith College.

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.