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Naomi Mitchison - Essays and Journalism

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Series Editor: Moira Burgess

The writing career of Naomi Mitchison (1897-1999) stretched over some seventy years, encompassing at least seventy works of fiction as well as non-fiction, poetry and plays. Almost unknown, however, is the mass of shorter prose pieces – journalism, essays, polemics, reminiscences – which Mitchison produced during her long career. There are many hundreds of these pieces, an untapped resource both in Mitchison biography and in the wider field of social history.


Naomi Mitchison: Essays and Journalism will present as much as possible of this fascinating, valuable and hitherto neglected work, written and published between 1906 and 1996.
Within this period, her writing covered a wide range of subjects, and was not constrained in its output.
Mitchison’s multi-faceted intelligence and her world-wide, universe-wide view have long been recognised in her fiction. In these rediscovered pieces, such qualities are evident again.
Eight volumes are planned, each with its own index; their exact content and size is to be established as material comes to hand.
Many articles might be placed in either of one or two, or in some cases three, volumes; this is not a precise classification.


Volume 1 – The Early Years, and Reminiscing contains many of the articles written before 1940, with the addition of many written much later which reminisce about the first 40 years of her life.
Excluded are articles reflecting the beginnings of her interest in national politics.


Volume 2 – Carradale brings together almost all her writing while living in Carradale, Argyll, which does not appear in the other broader sweeps.


Volume 3 – Scotland picks up her involvement in Scottish Affairs, from World War II until the end of the Twentieth Century.


Volume 4 – Botswana (formerly Bechuanaland) gathers the writing of her time while she was living with the Bakgatla in Mochudi, and her attempts to raise the profile of the country.


Volume 5 – Abroad reflects her numerous journeys to mainland Europe, to the United States, to Africa (excluding Botswana), to the Middle East and the Indian Sub-continent.


Volume 6 – Politics covers the period from 1923, writing about Fascism in Italy, and includes her involvement in British politics, on her own behalf and on behalf of other members of her family.


Volume 7 – Education, Literature and Philosophy finds her as she puts fingers to typewriter on contemporary topics which catch her attention in her middle and later years.


Title Author ISBN UK Price US Price
Essays and Journalism 1 - The Early Years, and Reminiscing Mitchison, Naomi 9781849210102 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 2 - Carradale Mitchison, Naomi. Edited, with an Introduction, by Moira Burgess 9781849210119 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 3 - Scotland Mitchison, Naomi. Edited, with an Introduction, by Moira Burgess 9781849210126 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 4 - Botswana Mitchison, Naomi. With an appreciation by Sandy Grant. 9781849210133 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 5 - Abroad Mitchison, Naomi. 9781849210140 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 6 - Politics Mitchison, Naomi. 9781849210157 £24.95 $29.95
Essays and Journalism 7 - Education, Literature and Philosophy Mitchison, Naomi. 9781849210164 £24.95 $29.95

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