About
Dorothy L. Sayers was a British writer born in Oxford in 1893. A graduate of Somerville College, she worked as an advertising copywriter before creating the aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose investigations appeared from 1923 to 1937. A founding member of the Detection Club, she also excelled in translation, notably of Dante's Divine Comedy, and in radio drama with The Man Born to Be King. Her theological essay The Mind of the Maker influenced Christian thought of her time. She died in 1957.
* 1893-06-13 — † 1957-12-17
Major works
- Whose Body? (1923)novel
- Strong Poison (1930)novel
- The Nine Tailors (1934)novel
- Gaudy Night (1935)novel
- The Divine Comedy (translation) (1949)translation
Key milestones
- 1923Publication of her first novel, Whose Body?, introducing Lord Peter Wimsey.
- 1941Broadcast of her radio play The Man Born to Be King on the BBC.
- 1950Elected president of the Detection Club.
Themes
Detective fictionSocial class and aristocracyFaith and spiritualityRole of womenTranslation and medieval literature
Sources: english-heritage.org.uk · oxfordreference.com · archives.wheaton.edu