Penelope Fitzgerald (17 December, 1916 - 3 May, 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.