Diana Athill

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Diana Athill (December 21, 1917 – 1992) is a British literary editor, novelist and memoirist who worked with some of the most important writers of the 20th century. Athill graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford in 1939 and worked for the BBC throughout the Second World War. After it she helped André Deutsch establish his publishing company and worked closely with many of his authors, including Philip Roth, Norman Mailer, John Updike, Mordecai Richler, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Rhys, Gitta Sereny, Brian Moore, V.S. Naipaul, Charles Gidley Wheeler and David Gurr.

An intellectually vigorous and vibrant woman, she was remarkable for bringing out the best in some of the most difficult and contentious writers. She retired in 1993 at the age of 75, after more than 50 years in publishing. She continues to be an influence in the publishing world through her revealing memoirs about her editorial career.

[edit] Selected bibliography

Fiction :
- An Unavoidable Delay (1962) -short stories.
- Don't Look at Me Like That
Autobiography :
- Instead of a Letter (1963)
- After a Funeral (1987)
- Make Believe (1993)
- Stet (2000)
- Somewhere Towards the End (2008)