Poems from an Attic

‘Iris Murdoch’s newly published Poems from an Attic span her life; they’re often written for a specific other, and I almost felt bad – voyeuristic – reading them. But obviously I did read them, fascinated and uplifted by their unerring soul, their frankness and care. The final poem, Macaw in the Snow, is a bolt of light. It made me cry on the train’ * Samantha Harvey *Every page is full of her [Murdoch’s] pleasure in crafting these poems and using her tools – Claire Harman * Times Literary Supplement *

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne’s College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

Iris Murdoch made her writing debut in 1954 with Under the Net. Her twenty-six novels include the Booker prize-winning The Sea, The Sea (1978), the James Tait Black Memorial prize-winning The Black Prince (1973) and the Whitbread prize-winning The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974). Her philosophy includes Sartre- Romantic Rationalist (1953) and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals (1992); other philosophical writings, including ‘The Sovereignty of Good’ (1970), are collected in Existentialists and Mystics (1997).

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