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Meg Atkins was born in [[Essex]] and worked as a stable hand before moving to [[Manchester]] where she worked as a secretary, flitting between jobs to support her writing. Later she became a full-time writer, living with her husband in [[Lincolnshire]].<ref>http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Death_Out_of_Season.html?id=w3OdGTPE-zEC&redir_esc=y Google Books.</ref> Her early novel ''The Gemini'' (which she later repudiated as an apprentice effort) has a gay theme. Later she specialised in crime fiction, with her series character DCI Sheldon.<ref>''[[Amiable Warriors]]'' Volume One, page 128 footnote.</ref> She is perhaps best known for ''Palimpsest'' and ''Cruel as the Grave''.<ref name=dyw>http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/meg-elizabeth-atkins-rip.html</ref>
Meg Atkins was born in [[Essex]] and worked as a stable hand before moving to [[Manchester]] where she worked as a secretary, flitting between jobs to support her writing. Later she became a full-time writer, living with her husband in [[Lincolnshire]].<ref>http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Death_Out_of_Season.html?id=w3OdGTPE-zEC&redir_esc=y Google Books.</ref> Her early novel ''The Gemini'' (which she later repudiated as an apprentice effort) has a gay theme. Later she specialised in crime fiction, with her series character DCI Sheldon.<ref>''[[Amiable Warriors]]'' Volume One, page 128 footnote.</ref> She is perhaps best known for ''Palimpsest'' and ''Cruel as the Grave''.<ref name=dyw>http://doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/meg-elizabeth-atkins-rip.html</ref>


Although heterosexual and married, she got involved in the North Western Committee because her best friend was a gay man:
Although heterosexual, she got involved in the North Western Committee because her best friend was a gay man:
:"It seemed to me a total injustice that simply because of your sexual inclinations you should be criminalised."<ref>Interviewed by [[Peter Scott-Presland]], January 2012. Quoted in ''[[Amiable Warriors]]'' Volume One, page 128.</ref>
:"It seemed to me a total injustice that simply because of your sexual inclinations you should be criminalised."<ref>Interviewed by [[Peter Scott-Presland]], January 2012. Quoted in ''[[Amiable Warriors]]'' Volume One, page 128.</ref>


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==References==
==References==
<references>
<references/>


[[Category:Novelists]]
[[Category:Novelists]]

Latest revision as of 13:09, 10 July 2026

Meg Elizabeth Atkins, about 1980

Meg Elizabeth Atkins (Margaret Elizabeth Atkins, 1932–2013)[1][2] was a novelist and an active member of the North Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee (NWHLRC).

Meg Atkins was born in Essex and worked as a stable hand before moving to Manchester where she worked as a secretary, flitting between jobs to support her writing. Later she became a full-time writer, living with her husband in Lincolnshire.[3] Her early novel The Gemini (which she later repudiated as an apprentice effort) has a gay theme. Later she specialised in crime fiction, with her series character DCI Sheldon.[4] She is perhaps best known for Palimpsest and Cruel as the Grave.[2]

Although heterosexual, she got involved in the North Western Committee because her best friend was a gay man:

"It seemed to me a total injustice that simply because of your sexual inclinations you should be criminalised."[5]

Around 1966 she conducted a personal campaign around the industrial firms in the Trafford Park estate in Manchester, visiting firms' welfare officers, and asking them to support the campaign for decriminalisation.[6]

References