To find articles on Malcolm Lowry's life and works, begin your research in the indexes and databases listed below:
Library Materials
BC 1614-026
The following can be used to search the UBC Library catalogue for works by Malcolm Lowry, works of criticism and interpretation on his writing, bibliographies, and collections of Lowry's correspondence.
Malcolm Lowry Subject Headings
Lowry, Malcolm, 1909-1957: Criticism and Interpretation
Lowry, Malcolm, 1909-1957: Bibliography
Lowry, Malcolm, 1909-1957: Correspondence
Malcolm Lowry's Personal Library Collection
The UBC Library also holds a collection of books previously owned by Malcolm Lowry. This collection is searchable in the Library catalogue under the heading “Malcolm Lowry's Personal Library Collection".
Archival Materials
Dollarton shack
BC 1614-474
Rare Books and Special Collections has one of the largest archival collection of Malcolm Lowry materials in the world, the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection. In addition to the extensive collection of Lowry manuscripts, correspondence, notebooks, and photographs, RBSC has several smaller fonds and collections of materials related to Malcolm Lowry. The Malcolm Lowry papers and the majority of the collections by other creators related to Lowry are organized under the umbrella Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection.
University Archives also hold several fonds with materials related to Malcolm Lowry. The Philip J. Thomas, Hilda Thomas, and Robert Duncan fonds contain only limited Lowry material, and the UBC Library fonds is of greater use to those interested in researching the evolution of the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection at UBC. The Sherrill Grace fonds is distinct from the Dr. Sherrill E. Grace sous-fonds; the latter is Dr. Grace's teaching records rather than her Lowry research. The Paul Tiessen, J. Howard Woolmer and Muriel C. Bradbrook fonds contain letters and other information collected by Tiessen, Woolmer, and Bradbrook on Lowry's life and works after his death. See the below links for more information about Lowry-related fonds at RBSC and the UBC Archives.
- Paul Tiessen fondsThe fonds consists of letters created or received by Paul Tiessen regarding the movie-going practices and environments of Malcolm Lowry.
- J. Howard Woolmer fondsThe fonds consists of correspondence, drafts, and research material arising from the publication of Woolmer's two publications, A Malcolm Lowry Catalogue and Malcolm Lowry: A Bibliography.
- Philip J. Thomas fondsThe fonds reflects Philip J. Thomas’ involvement with the folk song community. This includes his research into British Columbian folk songs and his publications on the subject.
- Hilda Thomas fondsThe fonds contains records from Thomas's time as a professor at the University of British Columbia, including her research on Malcolm Lowry.
- Muriel C. Bradbrook fondsThe fonds consists of sixty-six letters (1962-1975) between Bradbrook and several individuals pertaining to the life of Malcolm Lowry.
- Sherrill Grace fondsThe fonds consists of textual, graphic and audio-visual material from Grace’s academic research on topics including Malcolm Lowry, Sharon Pollock, Tom Thompson, the Canadian North, Canadian art, and Mina Hubbard. This fonds is housed at UBC Archives.
- Robert Duncan fondsThe fonds consists of records related to Robert Duncan’s role as producer of the National Film Board of Canada’s documentary "Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry" (1976).
- UBC Library fondsThe fonds contains records relating to the acquisition of Malcolm Lowry materials from 1961 to the present, bibliographies of Lowry materials, Lowry conference materials, information about the Malcolm Lowry Microfilming Project, and correspondence between the heads of UBC RBSC and Lowry scholars.
Theses and Dissertations
BC 1614-123
UBC's institutional repository cIRcle retains digitized copies of masters and doctoral theses and dissertations. Because UBC has one of the largest collections of materials relating to Malcolm Lowry, many theses and dissertations in cIRcle are related to Malcolm Lowry's life and works. A selection of theses on Malcolm Lowry are linked below.
- The letters of Conrad Aiken and Malcolm Lowry by Cynthia C. SugarsThe fascinating relationship between Conrad Aiken (1889-1973) and Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957) has formed the subject of a number of critical studies and fictional treatments. The study of this relationship is of value both for its biographical interest and literary significance, particularly in terms of the literary influence of one writer upon the other. Through Aiken and Lowry's entertaining and extremely articulate correspondence, one has access to what is possibly the most intimate view of this relationship available to date. Although a number of these letters have been previously published, often in incomplete form, In Selected Letters of Conrad Aiken ed. Joseph Killorin, and Selected Letters of Malcolm Lowry eds. Harvey Breit and Margerie Bonner Lowry, three-quarters of the letters have remained
- The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry: A Critical Edition With a Commentary by Kathleen D. ScherfAlthough his literary reputation rests primarily on his novels, Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957) considered himself a poet, and he composed an extensive poetic canon. No reliable edition of Lowry's poetry exists; increasing critical interest in all aspects of Lowry's life and work prompted the preparation of this complete edition of his poetry, in which the poems are located, identified, dated, arranged, collated, annotated, and explicated in biographical, critical, and textual introductions. The sections of Lowry's text are chronologically arranged to reflect his artistic development, and are preceded by short essays describing the specific issues raised by those poems.
- Aspects of the Quest in the Minor Fiction of Malcolm Lowry by Anthony RobertsonAlthough Malcolm Lowry is recognized as a major writer largely for the novel Under the Volcano, his lesser known works, Lunar Caustic, "Through the Panama" and "The Forest Path to the Spring", in Hear Us O Lord From Heaven Thy Dwelling Place, are as clearly representative of his place as a twentieth century writer as Under the Volcano, These three novellas were intended by Lowry to be a part of his proposed cycle, The Voyage That Never Ends, and their relationship to the rest of his work can be clearly seen. This thesis examines Lunar Caustic, "Through the Panama", and "The Forest Path to the Spring", in terms of the clear relationship to the proposed cycle. They are analysed primarily in thematic terms, through an analysis of each novella as a separate entity. At the same time, the integral relationship between them will be shown.
Framed Works
BC 1614-125
In addition to the extensive photographic holdings that are part of the Malcolm Lowry Manuscripts Collection, there are digitized versions of two paintings, one photograph, and one sketch of Malcolm Lowry in the UBC Library Framed Works Collection.
Malcolm Lowry at Other Institutions
While UBC has one of the largest collections of Malcolm Lowry materials, many other institutions also have Lowry collections.
- Library and Archives Canada (LAC)Several fonds in the LAC collection contain materials relating to Malcolm Lowry. the Vernon van Sickle fonds includes correspondence from Malcolm Lowry, and the Donald Brittain fonds includes files on Brittain's work on Lowry-related projects for the National Film Board (NFB).
- University of VictoriaThe collection consists of a three-volume set of Shakespeare’s Works (J. Payne Collier, Lupton Pub. New York, n.d.) previously owned by Malcolm Lowry and heavily annotated by him. UBC microfilmed Lowry’s Shakespeare in 1995.
- McGill UniversityThe collection includes early and variant editions of Malcolm Lowry’s published works and translations of Under the Volcano. There are books and periodicals containing contributions by Lowry, books by his wife, and books and periodicals mentioning him or containing reviews and criticism. The collection also contains correspondence between poet and friend of Lowry’s, Earle Birney, and Thomas J. Jackson concerning the preparation of a bibliography (unpublished) of Lowry’s work (1966-1970).
- University of Texas, Harry Ransom CenterThe collection, held in the Harry Ransom Center, consists of a manuscript for Under the Volcano and related correspondence, 1940-1956. Copies of some of the University of Texas Lowry holdings are included in the UBC Malcolm Lowry Papers.
- Liverpool John Moore UniversityBluecoat Library ran annual programming, including events and exhibitions, related to Malcolm Lowry between 2009, the centenary of Lowry’s birth, and 2020. They maintain a digital collection of event materials.
- New York Public LibraryThe New York Public Library's Archives and Manuscripts division holds materials related to Malcolm Lowry and Lowry's first wife Jan Gabrial. The Jan Gabrial papers contain correspondence to and from Malcolm Lowry and typescripts, edited by Jan Gabrial, of In Ballast to the White Sea by Lowry.
Secondary Sources
- Academic Search CompleteAcademic Search Complete, is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 6,100 full-text periodicals, including more than 5,100 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 10,100 journals and a total of more than 10,600 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 journals.
- Artemis Literary Sources (formerly Literature Resource Center and Literature Criticism Online)The most current, comprehensive, and reliable online literature resource. Its materials support interdisciplinary approaches, information literacy, and the development of critical thinking skills. Researchers will find information on authors and their works in all genres and disciplines.
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Web of Science)Provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information and cited references found in over 1700 of the world's leading arts & humanities journals. as well as selected items from over 6,000 scientific and social sciences journals—from 1975 to present.
- Canadian LiteratureCanadian Literature is an academic quarterly that publishes peer-reviewed scholarly articles in French or English related to the field of Canadian literature, broadly defined. They publish book reviews of critical and creative works, poems, short notes, writings of importance that have been rediscovered in the archives, interviews with writers, and articles by writers about their craft.
- CBCA CompleteCBCA Reference provides in depth access to a wide diversity of Canadian periodicals, ranging from academic titles to special interest publications to general magazines. The academic titles include the most prominent journals from the humanities, social sciences, sciences and the professions.
- Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective, 1907-1984Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective is comprised of the most important scholarly journals published throughout the 20th century in North America and Europe
- JSTORJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. In addition to fully-searchable journal backfiles, JSTOR also includes current issues for some titles as well as collections of primary-source documents such as their '19th century British pamphlets'. Ebooks from a variety of scholarly publishers are available on the JSTOR platform.
- MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)The MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Language Association of America, consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore and includes coverage from 1926 to the present. The MLA International Bibliography provides access to scholarly research from 4,400 journals and series. It also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats.