Lowry's Envois

To Jacques Derrida, en voyage Dear Jacques, Thanks for all the postcards. We're sorry but we've lost your last address, and so we must resort to this genre of the open letter, knowing that you won't like any of these terms. Our main problem is that we've lost something else: a manuscript, almost without trace, burned in a fire (perhaps) on 7 June 1944 in Dollarton, British Columbia. Have you seen it? In case you come across it in your travels, we'd like to fill you in on a few details, as best we know them. We'd like to set out by telling you the story of the lost manuscript, In Ballast to the white sea. Though we've learned to be wary of making too much out of correspondences, here is a log of the facts so far

Art · American Literature and Culture · Poetry Analysis and Criticism