Spirit of Spark

About the Project

A lasting tribute is being created in Edinburgh to honour one of Scotland’s most distinguished writers, Muriel Spark. The memorial, which will be situated in East Princes Street Gardens, will celebrate her extraordinary literary legacy and lifelong connection to her birthplace, marking her rightful place alongside Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson as one of Edinburgh’s defining literary voices.

Whilst literary recognition is significant, the impact of commemorating Muriel Spark here creates additional resonance. It will be the first time that a woman has been commemorated in the Gardens in the 200 years of their existence.

This initiative is fully funded by Edinburgh philanthropists Morag and James Anderson, who have supported cultural initiatives across Edinburgh and Scotland for over 30 years.  It has the full support of Penelope Jardine, Muriel Spark’s companion of 30 years. The project enjoys widespread backing from artists, writers, civic leaders, and cultural figures.

A robust governance structure has been established to oversee the development and administration of an open and fully transparent international competition for artists to submit expressions of interest for the Memorial.

The commissioners have committed to covering all costs, including creation, installation, and long-term maintenance.

Proposed Location

The City of Edinburgh Council has given outline approval for the Memorial to be situated south of the railway line in East Princes Street Gardens.

It is a quiet and contemplative space that will be enjoyed by readers, citizens, and visitors to the capital — a place to celebrate the enduring voice of Muriel Spark, the poet and dreamer who began at James Gillespie’s School and went on to illuminate the world.

As one of Scotland’s most distinguished authors, Spark stands alongside Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott in the pantheon of national literary figures. A memorial in Edinburgh — her birthplace and the setting for some of her most celebrated work — will affirm her status as an icon of Scottish cultural heritage.

Positioned within this historic landscape, the monument will:

• Celebrate one of Scotland’s foremost literary voices.
• Create a contemplative space for readers, visitors, and residents alike.
• Redress the historic absence of women commemorated in the Gardens’ 200-year history.

Competition update

The Spirit of Spark open competition was launched in November 2025 to select the artist who will design and create the memorial. The process, overseen by a judging panel and guided by a robust governance structure, was designed to ensure transparency and excellence. 

Following the open call for submissions, 54 entries from artists across Europe, North and South America and Asia were received. The Judging Panel includes writer Jackie Kay, sculptor and Muriel Spark’s long-term companion, Penelope Jardine, along with eminent figures from the worlds of visual arts, public art commissioning and architecture. Their deliberations produced an exciting and diverse shortlist of four UK-based artists, Jacqueline Donachie, Louise Gibson, Laura Ford and Tanya Kovats. All the shortlisted artists have exhibited internationally and have strong links to Scotland.

Examples of their work and short biographies can be found here:

https://www.jacquelinedonachie.co.uk/biography/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tania_Kovats

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ford

https://louisegibson.net/about.php

The shortlisted artists were invited to Edinburgh to visit the site for the new work in East Princes Street Gardens and then spent time in the National Library of Scotland where curators, Colin McIroy and Dan Shehy had prepared a fascinating selection of artefacts from Muriel Spark’s comprehensive archive.

The artists gained a deeper insight into the writer’s brilliance and her disciplined creative process that was grounded in rigorous research and meticulous planning. Evidence of the painstaking nature of her preparation before she literally set pen to is contained in a myriad of notes in the 400 boxes of her archive, along with the completed novels themselves, written longhand with minimal revision in spiral bound notebooks from James Thin booksellers. 

The curators also selected several iconic images of Muriel Spark throughout her life affirming her chameleonic nature and thus, the challenge of creating a figurative representation of the writer.  In the words of Penelope Jardine whilst remarking on Spark’s constantly changing appearance, artists should be directed to produce work that “renders her spirit.”

Commenting on the shortlist, Commissioner, Morag Anderson remarked: “It was certainly not the stated intention of the Judging Panel to produce an all-women shortlist. Nevertheless, given that this artwork will be the first permanent memorial to a woman in the 200-year history of Princes Street Gardens, there is perhaps an added dimension that echoes Muriel Spark who is widely celebrated for putting women centre stage in her novels.”

Art UK 

Announcement of artist selection

The final decision was reached in early July 2026 with the appointment of award-winning Scottish artist, Jaqueline Donachie.

Penelope Jardine, who provided a precious direct link to Spark, commented: “The selection of Jacqueline Donachie’s splendid and simple sculpture will not only be striking in the Gardens but, I am sure, would brighten and inspire Muriel herself.”  She added: “Muriel would be proud and impressed by the seeming simplicity with which Jacqueline has captured her very complex character and work.”

Fellow Judge, Curator and Creative Producer, Susana Beaumont commented: “Muriel Spark was a brilliantly singular writer. She was daring and sharp. She observed life, hunting down and illuminating its undertow of menace. 

The artist selected to celebrate her adventurous life, likewise,has to be courageous and outstanding. And this is Jackie Donachie. Jackie has a deep respect and interest in Spark’s life and work. She has previously conceived and created public artworks that honour time and place. Her work for Princes Street Gardens will be outstanding, a resolutely contemporary celebration of Spark’s great life.”

Donachie’s proposed work and its pared down nature seeks toinspire people to engage, explore and discover Spark’s spirit. Her inspiration was drawn from a quote from Spark’s 1981 novel, Loitering with Intent, “I’ve come to learn for myself how little one needs, in the art of writing, to convey the lot, and how a lot of words, on the other hand, can convey so little.” 

Donachie’s concept proposal consists of a set of curved cast terrazzo forms incorporating steps, neuks and sections to sit and to lean; a place to be and to observe.

“My work is also quite minimal.” said Donachie. “I start my sculptures with a notion of how I want people to interact with them – how they might lie or lean on a surface.  The simplicity of this memorial belies the depth of meaning for those who engage with it, for those who delight in the complexity of Spark and her preoccupation with espionage, subterfuge and secrecy.  Many of her female characters were forceful in confidence in their own creativity and intellect, despite often very slender means, and I hope this work also reflects that. 

It would be wonderful if those who love Spark and the Gardens find a space to observe, to reflect and discover that mercurial spirit and the sense of fun and capriciousness of a woman who never left home without her party shoes in a bag”. 

The lack of representation of women in public art in Edinburgh is not lost on Donachie and the curves of structure and its neuks, designed ergonomically for women, take on particular significance.  This is, after all, the first permanent memorial to a woman in Princes Street Gardens’ 200-year history.

Reflections from the Judging Panel

The judging panel and the four short listed artists were very aware of the challenges and responsibilities such a high profile commission brings – creating a work that memorialises the life and work of one of Scotland’s most celebrated writers in the context of a city where works commemorating women are strikingly scarce, this will indeed be the first permanent work of a woman by a woman in Princes Street Garden’s 200-year history. 

From a very strong all female shortlist the panel deliberated long and hard before selecting Jacqueline Donachie’s bold and understated proposal. Rather than creating a conventional monument her design offers a place for people to pause, lean, reflect and observe – a living space for contemplation and reflection that honours the enduring relevance of Muriel Spark’s work.

Juliet Dean – Chair of the Judging Panel

I think Jacqueline Donachie’s miracle of material in space would make Muriel purr with pleasure to call it her own.

Muriel would be proud and impressed by the seeming simplicity with which Jacqueline Donachie has captured her very complex character and work.

Penelope Jardine – Artist and long-term companion of Muriel Spark

A memorial that embeds its publicness within the very fabric of its design feels exemplary of a hopeful moment for Edinburgh, reflecting on what public art can represent and invite, both for those it honours and emerges through, and those who engage with it.

Celeste Macleod Brown, Artist, Writer and Curator

All of the artists came up with brilliant proposals and it was hard for us to choose. In the end we chose the artist that best seemed to capture the spirit of Spark herself, which is what we were looking for. We would hope that this might encourage others to think about other ways of representing or capturing people than the standard ones.

Jackie Kay, Writer