Naomi Mitchison

Born in Edinburgh in 1897, Naomi Mitchison was a Scottish novelist and poet whose career stretched across much of the twentieth century. She wrote historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, children’s books, poetry, travel writing, nonfiction, and autobiography, producing an unusually varied body of work.

Her best-known books include The Conquered, The Corn King and the Spring Queen, Memoirs of a Spacewoman, and To the Chapel Perilous. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1985 and continued writing and engaging with public life well into old age.

Mitchison died in Carradale, Scotland, in 1999 at the age of 101.