Malcolm Lowry: From the Mersey to the World

Malcolm Lowry: From the Mersey to the World Biggs, Bryan & Tookey, Helen (eds) Synopsis

Malcolm Lowry described Liverpool as ‘that terrible city whose main street is the ocean’. Born on the Wirral side of the river Mersey, Lowry’s relationship to the Merseyside of his youth informs all of his writing and Liverpool itself continued to hold tremendous significance for him, even though he never returned. Published in conjunction with a festival and exhibition at Liverpool’s Bluecoat arts centre celebrating Lowry’s centenary, this beautifully produced book showcases a variety of creative and critical approaches to Lowry and his work, and includes twelve specially commissioned pieces of new writing. There is a particular focus on place and on journeys; contributors write from the UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico, and reflect both on Lowry’s ‘voyage that never ends’ and on their own journeys with and through Lowry’s work. The book also demonstrates the richness of Lowry’s influence on contemporary visual artists and includes full-colour illustrations throughout. It will be an indispensable companion for anyone interested in the creative legacy of Malcolm Lowry’s life and work.

Texts by:

Ian McMillan (poet and broadcaster); Colin Dilnot (Wirral-based artist/writer); Cian Quayle (Manx artist/writer); Michele Gemelos (University of Cambridge); Alberto Rebollo (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México); Mark Goodall (University of Bradford); Ailsa Cox (short-story writer/Edge Hill University); Annick Drösdal-Levillain (Strasbourg University); Nicholas Murray (Liverpool-born writer); Michael Turner (Vancouver-based writer); Robert Sheppard (poet and writer/Edge Hill University); Gordon Bowker (literary biographer; author of Pursued by Furies: A Life of Malcolm Lowry).

Artworks by:

Ross Birrell and David Harding; Julian Cooper; Pete Flowers; Adrian Henri; Cisco Jiménez; Ray Lowry; Brian O’Toole; Paul Rooney.

128pp, 40 colour illustrations, 250 x 175mm, paperback

Published September 2009

You can order the book in advance from Liverpool University Press