THE Marx Memorial Library in London named its first writer in residence this week.

Jan Woolf (pictured) is an acclaimed short-story writer and is working on her first novel, Hannibal and the Masked Girl, set in Tate Modern in 2003, where a painter is planning a citizen’s arrest of Tony Blair. Her plays have been performed at the Hackney Empire and the Royal Court Theatre.

Ms Woolf also has a successful campaigning history as a leading member of the Free for All museums campaign and founder director of the recently relaunched Left Book Club.

Ms Woolf said: “The Marx Memorial Library is an important source of knowledge, and I find it a great place to write. I’ll be establishing the Spark series of readings of fiction writers as well as a creative-writing course.”