Hermione Lee facts for kids

Dame Hermione Lee was born on February 29, 1948. She is a famous British writer, literary critic, and university professor. She used to be the President of Wolfson College at Oxford University. She was also a special professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford. Dame Hermione is a member of important groups like the British Academy and the Royal Society of Literature.

Early Life and School

Dame Hermione Lee was born in Winchester, England. Her father, Benjamin Lee, was a doctor. Her mother was Josephine Anderson. Hermione grew up in London.

She went to several schools, including the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle and the City of London School for Girls. She studied English Literature at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She earned a top degree in 1968. Later, she completed another degree at St Cross College in 1970.

University Career

Dame Hermione Lee has taught at many universities. She taught at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, USA. She also taught at the University of Liverpool and the University of York in England. At the University of York, she was a professor from 1977 to 1998.

In 1998, she became the Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at New College, Oxford. She was the first woman to hold this important position. From 2008 to 2017, she was the President of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is also an Honorary Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University.

Awards and Special Titles

Dame Hermione Lee has received many honors for her work. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Society of Literature. She is also an Honorary Fellow at her old colleges, St Hilda's and St Cross.

She was first made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2003. This was for her contributions to literature. In 2013, she became a Dame Commander (DBE). This honor was for her work in literary scholarship. In 2023, she received an even higher honor, becoming a Dame Grand Cross (GBE). This was for her services to English literature.

In the United States, Dame Hermione has been a visiting scholar at famous libraries and universities. She was a fellow at Yale University, Princeton, and Indiana University. She also spent time at the New York Public Library. In 2003, she became an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Her Books and Writing

Dame Hermione Lee writes a lot about women writers and modern stories. She also writes about American literature and biographies. Biographies are books about real people's lives.

Some of her books include:

• The Novels of Virginia Woolf (1977)
• A book about the writer Elizabeth Bowen (1981)
• A book about the American writer Philip Roth (1982)
• Willa Cather: A Life Saved Up (1989), a biography of Willa Cather

In 1996, she published a major biography of Virginia Woolf. This book won an award from the British Academy. The New York Times Book Review also named it one of the best books of 1997.

She also wrote a collection of essays called Body Parts: Essays on Life-Writing (2005). In 2007, she published a biography of Edith Wharton. In 2013, the famous playwright Tom Stoppard asked her to write his life story. This biography was published in 2020. For this book, she had special access to Tom Stoppard's personal papers and interviewed many people close to him.

Dame Hermione has also edited and introduced many books by other authors. These include works by Kipling, Trollope, and Penelope Fitzgerald. She also helped edit the Oxford Poets Anthologies for a few years.

She is also known for her reviews in newspapers like The Guardian and The New York Review of Books. She used to present a TV show about books called Book Four. She also often talks about arts on radio programs like Front Row. In 2006, she was the head judge for the Man Booker Prize, a very important award for fiction books.

It was announced in 2021 that Dame Hermione Lee would write a biography of the writer Anita Brookner.

Personal Life

Dame Hermione Lee is married to Professor John Barnard. He is also a professor at the University of Leeds.

Awards and Recognition

• 1997 – Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for her book Virginia Woolf
• 2003 – Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• 2013 – Made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
• 2013 – Won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
• 2015 – Won the Plutarch Award for Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life
• 2023 – Made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE)