Naomi Mitchison

Introduced by Naomi Mitchison. Set over two thousand years ago on the calm and fertile shores of the Black Sea, Naomi Mitchison's The Corn King and the Spring Queen tells of ancient civilisations where tenderness, beauty and love vie with brutality and dark magic. Erif Der, a young witch, is compelled by her father to marry his powerful rival, Tarrik the Corn King, so becoming the Spring Queen. Forced by her father, she uses her magic spells to try and break Tarrik's power. But one night Tarrik rescues Sphaeros, an Hellenic philosopher, from a shipwreck. Sphaeros in turn rescues Tarrik from near death and so breaks the enchantment that has bound him. And so begins for Tarrik a Quest - a fabulous voyage of discovery which will bring him new knowledge and which will reunite him with his beautiful Spring Queen.

In this unusual and accomplished novel Naomi Mitchison retells in realistic terms and colloquial dialogue the story of the passion and death of Jesus, hour by hour, as it unfolds over the twenty-four hours of Good Friday. In a restless Jerusalem under Roman occupation, political and personal agendas lead inexorably to the crucifixion, while the followers of Jesus - his mother, the fishermen, young Mary of Magdala - can only wait, unhappy and confused. Mitchison, probably inspired by the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947-56, drew, in writing this novel, not only on the New Testament gospels but also on fragmentary or lost gospels and on tradition. Herself a humanist, she scrupulously presents 'the historical Jesus'. But at the end of the novel, as the disciples keep watch by the garden tomb, she leaves the reader with a question: what happened next? Moira Burgess is a novelist, short story writer and literary historian who lives in Glasgow. She is the author of Mitchison's Ghosts (Humming Earth, 2008), on supernatural and mythical elements in the writing of Naomi Mitchison, and is working on a collected edition of Mitchison's essays and journalism to be published by Kennedy & Boyd.

'Perhaps she did not die,' said Halla, 'perhaps her nurse turned into a bear and carried her away into the forest. Perhaps she was brought up by bears and dragons. Perhaps it was better for her in the end than being a king's child.'Travel Light is the story of Halla, a girl born to a king but cast out onto the hills to die. She lives among bears; she lives among dragons. But the time of dragons is passing, and Odin All-Father offers Halla a choice: Will she stay dragonish and hoard wealth and possessions, or will she travel light?Written by the extraordinary Scottish author Naomi Mitchison, who wrote over 70 novels from science fiction to historical epic, was one of the first readers of Lord of the Rings before it was published, and died in 1999 at the age of 101, Travel Light is a gorgeous fantasy tale with a witty, feminist twist.

Among over eighty articles in this volume are Mitchison's earliest known published non-fiction, her thoughts on motherhood and children - and her contributions to the debate on contraception, including the pamphlet "Comments On Birth Control" published separately in 1930.As well as the text of her editorial for the collection of essays "An Outline for Boys and Girls and their Parents" (1932), and the full text of the extended essay "The Home and a Changing Civilisation" (1934) there are humorous stories from 'The Passing Show' and some of the nascent journeys into left-wing political expression.The second half of the volume takes time to reflect on past occasions, on her early life in Edinburgh and Oxford, and on family at Cloan.

"If I had been told that I would get into a position where, in common with 30,000 other people, I would love and honour this young man as my Chief, I would have said this was impossible for a European intellectual, even with a Highland background. This book shows just how it happened." -NMOn its first publication, in 1966, Geoffrey Household wrote: Now, here really is a love story, and I'll tumble over myself, with the enthusiasm of Mrs. Mitchison's own sentences, to imagine her reasons why we should read it. Because she is a woman with the brains of a Haldane, the spiritual insight of a Highlander and the passionate loyalty of a mother. Because she understands Bechuanaland and her beloved tribe. Because she longs to pass on the smell of the smoke and cattle in the evening, the touch of the arm of her adopted son and nominal Chief around her shoulders. To which we can only answer: one of them would do, dear Mma (Setswana for Ma and presumably pronounced much the same), but to be offered the lot is riches indeed.It all started with a meeting of eyes at - of all places -a British Council party.

In her lifetime, Naomi Mitchison wrote over two hundred and fifty pieces of fiction which can be described as short stories. Many of these were brought together in the stand-alone collections: When the Bough Breaks (1924), Barbarian Stories (1929), The Hostages (1930), Boys and Girls and Gods (1931), African Heroes (1968), The Brave Nurse (1977), Images of Africa (1980), Beyond This Limit (1986), What Do You Think Yourself? (1982), or with poems in these volumes: Black Sparta (1928), The Delicate Fire (1933), The Fourth Pig (1936), Five Men and a Swan (1957), and A Girl Must Live (1990). Others appeared as contributions to a wide variety of magazines.These are brought together here for the first time..

Naomi Mitchison spent many years visiting, then living with, the Bakgatla of Botswana. During that time, she wrote a great deal about the tribal structure, social culture and behaviour of the population. Some of that writing was in the form of these stories collected here, ostensibly for children. This was her opportunity to describe in simple detail the problems and difficulties in the day-to-day life of ordinary people. Gathered here are the collections Ketse and the African Chief (1965), Friends and Enemies (1966), The Family at Ditlabeng (1968), Sunrise Tomorrow (1973), Snake (1976) and The Vegetable War (1980), together with Modise and the Donkeys (1975), The Kid (1975), The Little Sister (1976), The Wild Dogs (1976) The Brave Nurse, For Her Country, and Letsei and Sekgwari (1977), and the longer A Mochudi Family from 1965.

During the second half of the Twentieth Century, Mitchison wrote a succession of books for younger readers, which are now brought together in five volumes within The Naomi Mitchison Library. This volume contains The Fairy Who Couldn't Tell A Lie, The Big Surprise, Don't Look Back, A Danish Teapot and The Two Magicians.

During the second half of the Twentieth Century, Mitchison wrote a succession of books for younger readers, which are now brought together in five volumes within The Naomi Mitchison Library. This volume brings together two books about life for young adults in the west of Scotland. The Far Harbour was first published in 1957. Henny and Crispies appeared in 1964. Also included here are two short stories, The Salmon Net (1951) and Lords of the Isles (1953).These later appeared in revised form in The Far Harbour.

During the second half of the Twentieth Century, Mitchison wrote a number of books for younger readers, many of which are now brought together in five volumes within The Naomi Mitchison Library. The two books in this volume are re-imaginings of the Norse sagas of the early second millennium. The Swan's Road was first published in 1954, and The Land the Ravens Found followed in 1955.