Penelope Fitzgerald (17 December, 1916 - 28 April, 2000) was an English poet, novelist and biographer. She was the daughter of Edward Knox , one of the four Knox Brothers about whom she wrote a book.

She was educated at Somerville College, Oxford; she worked for the BBC during World War II.

She started writing at age 60. Her first book was a life of Edward Burne-Jones; she also wrote a life of Charlotte Mew. She wrote nine novels. In 1978 she was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her work The Bookshop . She won the prize the following year with Offshore.