What have others said about the published Diaries? In her novels, Powell is cold-eyed and confident; in her diaries, the mask sometimes slips, and she reveals the debilitating effects of writing brilliantly and selling poorly. She is vain (“In ‘Turn, Magic Wheel,’ I believe firmly that I have the perfect New York story”) and self-pitying […]
Assembled diaries 1954-1965
Two diaries for 1965 have survived. This one is mostly an appointment book and was discovered after the publication of “The Diaries of Dawn Powell” in 1995.
Powell’s last diary kept as she loses weight and grows more sickly. Many of the entries this year are about her failing health and her determination to try to continue writing. She is delighted by the birth of Jacqueline Miller Rice’s daughter named Hilary Dawn. Powell dies at St. Luke’s Hospital on November 14, 1965—the […]
The Diaries of Dawn Powell: 1915-1965
What are the Dawn Powell diaries? They are 43 handwritten volumes dating from 1915 to 1965 by the American author Dawn Powell (1896-1965). An abridged version (approximately 1/5 of the content) was edited by Tim Page and published in 1995 by Steerforth Press, to international acclaim. Now, with the blessing of Powell’s family and her […]