GB 2108 KUAS70 - Murdoch, Iris: Letters from Iris Murdoch to Raymond Queneau

1 box

GB 2108 KUAS70 1946-1975 Collection (Fonds) 1 box Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, England, and Iris studied at Frobel and Badminton Schools. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the war years Iris worked for the Treasury in London, and then joined the UNRRA providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.

Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being Under the Net published in 1954. Other notable works include The Bell and The Sea, the Sea, for which she won the Booker Prize. Her last novel, Jackson's Dilemma, was published in 1995.

In her youth Iris Murdoch had relationships with a number of individuals, including Elias Canetti. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford, and they married in 1956. She wrote to a great number of people and maintained friendships in this way.

Later in life Iris Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. She died in 1999.

Purchased with the help of grants from: MLA/ V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Breslauer Foundation, the Friends of the National Libraries and donations from members of the Iris Murdoch Society and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Kingston University.

Letters sent from Iris Murdoch to French author and poet Raymond Queneau, dating from 1946 to 1975. Iris met Queneau while doing war work with the UNRRA, and enjoyed a regular correspondence with him. She claimed that she owed much of her writing to her friendship with Queneau, and dedicated her first novel 'Under the Net' to him. The letters cover a number of topics including the early days of Murdoch's writing and philosophical views, her work with the UNRRA, and early relationships.

With some articles collected by Queneau on the work of Iris Murdoch

Chronological order

Letters can be viewed by appointment in the Kingston University Archives and Special Collections search room.

No copying of the letters is permitted.

English

French

Fully catalogued on our Archives catalogue at http://adlib.kingston.ac.uk

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

2014 Communications media Publications Books Migrants Refugees Behaviour Emotions Wars (events) World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Novels Prose Authors Writers Literature Literary forms and genres Fiction Philosophers Social scientists Psychoanalysis Clinical psychology Psychiatry Letter writing Writing Communication skills Communication process Psychology Murdoch , Dame , Jean Iris , 1919-1999 , author x Murdoch , Iris Queneau , Raymond , 1903-1976 , author and poet United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration x UNRRA Information sciences

Purchased with the help of grants from: MLA/ V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Breslauer Foundation, the Friends of the National Libraries and donations from members of the Iris Murdoch Society and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Kingston University.

Letters sent from Iris Murdoch to French author and poet Raymond Queneau, dating from 1946 to 1975. Iris met Queneau while doing war work with the UNRRA, and enjoyed a regular correspondence with him. She claimed that she owed much of her writing to her friendship with Queneau, and dedicated her first novel 'Under the Net' to him. The letters cover a number of topics including the early days of Murdoch's writing and philosophical views, her work with the UNRRA, and early relationships.

With some articles collected by Queneau on the work of Iris Murdoch

Chronological order

Letters can be viewed by appointment in the Kingston University Archives and Special Collections search room.

No copying of the letters is permitted.

• English

• Latin

English

French

Fully catalogued on our Archives catalogue at http://adlib.kingston.ac.uk

• English