Francis King Obituary

Novelist Francis King sadly died on Sunday aged 88.

King published 30 novels, working over six decades. A conscientious objector during the Second World War, he became known for his generosity and tolerance. He was a gifted writer who was fascinated with the darker side of the human character.
 
Though he was a novelist, he was also well known for his short stories. He won the W. Somerset Maugham Prize for The Dividing Stream (1951) and the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Prize for The Japanese Umbrella (1964) and was later awarded an OBE and CBE. He is also renowned for having helped several people with their memoirs, and worked as a literary advisor to two publishing houses Weidenfeld & Nicolson and Macdonald.
 
A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, King worked in the literary community not just as a writer. He was President Emeritus of International PEN and was key in founding the Writers Action Group (WAG) with Maureen Duffy and others in 1972. The WAG campaigned for Public Lending Right (PLR) in the late 1970s and also later went on to set up ALCS - then known as the Authors' Lending Rights Society.
 
Honorary President of ALCS Maureen Duffy today paid tribute to her friend:

"Although a natural conservative Francis was always willing to stand up for anything he believed in, even when it meant taking on the establishment, as witness his conscientious objection to war and his being part of the original gang of five in setting up WAG to fight for PLR. Like many writers he had to take a series of jobs in order to support his writing, all of which he did with dedication and integrity while still managing to produce a stream of well crafted novels.  His gentle, gentlemanly manner belied his inner toughness and determination. Known affectionately to his many friends, though perhaps not to himself, as 'Granny' he will be much missed by them,and all writers should be grateful to him that, almost against his natural inclination, he was willing to stand up for them in the seven year campaign to achieve PLR."

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