LONDON, UK, 1ST JUNE 2013 – BECCON PUBLICATIONS AND THE SCIENCE FICTION FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE PUBLICATION OF OUTSTANDING AUTHOR NAOMI MITCHISON'S COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY AND NEW SHORT STORY
Roger Robinson: a publisher and bibliographer, the late Violet Williams: for many years Naomi Mitchison’s secretary, and Caroline Mullan: a reader and avid collector of Naomi Mitchison’s work have banded together, in association with Beccon Publications and The Science Fiction Foundation to produce a bibliography of the works of Naomi Mitchison, 1897-1999. Mitchison did many things in her long life: she was the only girl to attend the Dragon School, Oxford, a nurse during the Great War, active lifelong in left and feminist causes, and received a CBE in 1981; but she was, above all, a writer. The bibliography lists over 2,000 items: novels, articles, poetry, reviews, plays, autobiography, speeches, interviews and letters.
The
earliest item listed is Saunes Bairos, the play Mitchison wrote in 1913
while still at school. The latest is the hitherto unpublished short story, On
the Edge, published (with Mitchison’s kind permission) in the bibliography
itself.
Emeritus Professor Isobel Murray, Editor in chief of the Naomi Mitchison Library, in progress from Kennedy and Boyd, said:
“No one has hitherto dared to attempt a Bibliography of
Naomi Mitchison: her work is so various and voluminous that the task has scared
the critics and biographers alike. This new undertaking will be of enormous
value to people working in many disciplines. It is compiled with rigorous
scholarship, and will continue to grow as items are traced and new studies
appear. I welcome it whole-heartedly.”
Mitchison
was the author of over 80 books, with a career extending over 80 years and 5
continents, and encompassing literature, journalism, politics, science,
theatre, poetry, memoir and autobiography. Her novels include The Corn King
and the Spring Queen (1931); non-fiction includes The Moral Basis of
Politics (1938), and Images of Africa (1980). Her autobiographical
memoir, Mucking Around: Five Continents over Fifty Years, was published
in 1981. Mitchison’s stories, articles and letters appeared in publications as
diverse as The Times and The Guardian, The New Humanist and Trends in
Biochemical Sciences, The Countryman and The Illustrated Weekly of India.
Caroline Mullan said:
Caroline Mullan said:
"We hope this comprehensive bibliography of her works
will be valuable to scholars of literature, and of the history of the 20th
Century."
The bibliography is a work in progress, and its authors intend to maintain and extend it over the coming years. It is available for use on the Beccon Publications website at: www.beccon.org
For
more information about the Bibliography and its authors, please visit www.beccon.org or contact
Roger Robinson at 01708 342304.
***
Notes to the Editor:
1. Naomi
May Margaret Mitchison, CBE (née Haldane; 1 November 1897 – 11 January
1999) was a Scottish writer. She was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of
the British Empire) in 1981. Naomi Mitchison’s science fiction includes the
ground-breaking novel, Memoirs of a Spacewoman, published by Gollancz in
1962, as well as other novels and short stories.
2. The
Science Fiction Foundation is a registered charity. The aim of the Science
Fiction Foundation is to promote science fiction, and bring together those who
read, write, study, teach, research or archive science fiction in Britain and
the rest of the world. Contact the Science Fiction Foundation via its website: www.sf-foundation.org or by emailing
Secretary Shana Worthen at secretary@sf-foundation.org.
3. Beccon
Publications is a British small-press publisher specialising in science
fiction, and does not produce "print-on-demand" editions, preferring
to print one or two "real" books each year. The first Beccon publication
- a bibliography of Barrington J Bayley - was issued in August 1981. Since then
more than 50 booklets and books have been produced, including a number of
titles nominated for prestigious Hugo and BSFA Awards.
