Diana Athill

Diana Athill was a British literary editor, memoirist, and author who played a pivotal role in shaping twentieth-century literature as a founding editor of André Deutsch publishers. Over her career, Athill edited some of the most important writers of the century, including V.S. Naipaul, Jean Rhys, Norman Mailer, and John Updike. In later life, she became celebrated as a memoirist in her own right, publishing a series of remarkable books including Stet, Somewhere Towards the End, and Alive, Alive Oh! that explored ageing, love, and memory with extraordinary candour and grace. Athill passed away in 2019 at the age of 101. Her books and audiobooks offer listeners the wisdom and wit of one of the most remarkable women in British literary history.