Writer celebrated in time for 75thanniversary and new BBC drama

A NEW exhibition celebrating the work of writer Winifred Holtby has opened at Hull History Centre in time for the 75th anniversary of her death next Wednesday.

Highlights include the manuscript of her most famous novel, South Riding – containing the writer's own corrections – and a table cloth she was embroidering but had not finished when she died at the age of 38. The book, considered a classic of 20th century literature, was published a year later, in 1936, and has been filmed as a BBC drama this year – the third screen version.

It is based in Holtby’s native East Riding and is a love story set against the backdrop of the economic depression.

Holtby, born in Rudston, near Driffield, became famous as a journalist in the 1920s and 30s, writing about post-war Britain and feminist issues.

David Smith, senior local studies librarian at Hull Council, said: “Throughout her life and writings she was a great champion of the underdog.”

He said she wrote at a time when women were enjoying greater freedom than ever before, and confronted the difficulties of a generation beset by war, social upheaval and the rise of fascism.

The centre contains the world’s largest collection of original Holtby material.