All The Poems

Collected Poems

Spark Muriel

Muriel Spark was a poet before she was a novelist: "All the Poems" presents the full range of the poetry of one of the most acclaimed modern British writers. Here are villanelles, ballads and epigrams, as well as freer forms, all marked by brilliantly precise observation and command of her medium. Her poems are witty, idiosyncratic and haunting, transforming the familiar into glittering moments of strangeness, revealing the dark music beneath the mundane. The edge of danger and wry insights in Muriel Spark's poems are equally unforgettable.

"Although most of my life has been devoted to fiction, I have always thought of myself as a poet. I do not write poetic prose, but feel that my outlook on life and my perceptions of events are those of a poet. Whether in prose or verse, all creative writing is mysteriously connected with music and I always hope this factor is apparent throughout my work" – Muriel Spark

About the Author

Muriel Spark was born in Edinburgh in 1918. After some years living in Africa, she returned to England, where she edited Poetry Review from 1947 to 1949 and published her first volume of poems, "The Fanfarlo", in 1952. She eventually made her home in Italy. Her many novels include "Memento Mori" (1959), "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1961), "The Girls of Slender Means" (1963), "The Abbess of Crewe" (1974), "A Far Cry from Kensington" (1988) and "The Finishing School" (2004). Her short stories were collected in 1967, 1985 and 2001, and her "Collected Poems" appeared in 1967. Dame Muriel was made Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (France) in 1996 and awarded her DBE in 1993. She died in Italy on 13th April 2006, at the age of 88.

Back to the list of books