Molly Parkin

Molly Parkin is a Welsh painter, novelist and journalist. In 1949 Parkin gained a scholarship to study fine art at Goldsmiths College, and then a scholarship to Brighton College of Art. After separating from her first husband, she turned to fashion to support her two daughters and worked alongside Mary Quant, before opening her own Chelsea boutique and founding the iconic Nova magazine in 1964. She was fashion editor of Harpers & Queen and The Sunday Times, and went on to become a television personality in the 1970s. She then turned to writing – penning 10 novels – and returned to painting in the 1990s. In 2010, she published her memoirs Welcome to Mollywood, charting her colourful life and many love affairs. In 2011 she was a ‘castaway’ on the BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.