"She died peacefully at home surrounded by close family. A girl from Sheffield with a strong European sensibility, Antonia had a remarkable mind which produced a unique creative vision."
ADVERTISEMENTNovelist and critic Dame A.S. Byatt has died at the age of 87.
The renowned writer, whose full name was Antonia Susan Byatt, wrote two dozen books, starting with her first novel, “The Shadow of the Sun” in 1964. She was most known for her novel "Possession", which won the Booker Prize in 1990. The story follows two modern-day academics investigating the lives of a pair of Victorian poets. It was adapted as a 2002 film directed by Neil LaBute and starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
Her other books include four novels exploring Britain in the 1950s and 60s, known as the Frederica Quartet - “The Virgin in the Garden,” “Still Life,” "Babel Tower” and “A Whistling Woman” – and “The Children’s Book” (2009).
Her most recent publication was a collection of short stories - "Medusa's Ankles: Selected Stories" (2021).
In a statement, Penguin Random House said they were "deeply saddened" to announce her death, describing her as "one of the most significant writers and critics of our time".
"She died peacefully at home surrounded by close family. A girl from Sheffield with a strong European sensibility, Antonia had a remarkable mind which produced a unique creative vision."
Clara Farmer, Byatt’s publisher at Chatto & Windus, said the author’s books - translated into 38 languages - were “the most wonderful jewel-boxes of stories and ideas.”
“Her compulsion to write (A4 blue notebook always to hand) and her ability to create intricate skeins of narrative was remarkable. It was always a treat to see her, to hear updates about her evolving literary characters and indulge in delicious titbits of literary gossip. Like all Chatto’s publishers before me, I was devoted to her and her writing.”
She added: “2024 would have been her 60th (Diamond) anniversary as a Chatto author. We mourn her loss but it’s a comfort to know that her penetrating works will dazzle, shine and refract in the minds of readers for generations to come.”
Antonia Susan Byatt was born in 1936 and grew up in Sheffield. She grew up in a Quaker family, attended Cambridge University and worked as a university lecturer.
She married economist Ian Byatt in 1959 and they had a daughter and a son before divorcing. In 1972 her 11-year-old son, Charles, was struck and killed by a car while he was walking home from school.
After his death, she told The Guardian in 2009, she stayed in the job as a lecturer “as long as he had lived, which was 11 years.” In 1983, she quit to become a full-time writer.
Byatt lived in London with her second husband, Peter Duffy, with whom she had two daughters.
She began teaching at University College London in 1962, and published her first novel, "The Shadow of the Sun", two years later.
The author was appointed CBE 1990 and was made a dame nine years later.
In 2018, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.
Antonia Susan Byatt – 1936-2023
