Letters of Conrad Aiken and Malcolm Lowry, 1929-1954

R.G. Moyles is a professor of English at the University of Alberta.

In May 1927, the American writer Conrad Aiken, though never to become
“popular” in the loose sense, was beginning to gain, among an elite
class of readers, an international reputation as a “thinking
man’s” poet/novelist. In that year his Blue Voyage so captivated the
imagination of an English student—the emerging writer Malcolm
Lowry—that soon Lowry was at Harvard being tutored by his ideal
writer. As tutor, mentor, friend, father–guardian, and rival, Aiken
remained, through personal contact and in correspondence, Lowry’s
confidant for more than 20 years.

The record of that relationship is contained in this collection of
letters, expertly arranged, edited and annotated by Cynthia Sugars. More
than just a record, however, the whole is a living document that offers
not only valuable insights into literary creation but, as the blurb
points out, intense “moments of joy, guilt, humour, literary play,
recrimination, regret, and love.” There are 89 letters here, from 1927
to 1954, some three-quarters of which have never before been published,
and they are absolutely riveting, not only as literary artifacts but as
personal confessions. And though one might sometimes feel like a voyeur,
there can be no doubt that of all forms of “life writing,” personal
letters are the most honest and revealing and therefore the most
irresistible.

For the literary enthusiast, this collection is a must. But even to
those who have never read either Lowry or Aiken, these letters, partly
because of an excellent introduction and partly because of their
universal human interest, are both entertaining and instructive.