The Lowry Lounge returns with a celebration of Wirral writer Malcolm Lowry’s work and life.
Bluecoat, Liverpool’s contemporary arts centre, has celebrated the life and work of Merseyside-born writer Malcolm Lowry (1909-57) every year since 2009, when it staged an exhibition, Under the Volcano (1947) – its title taken from Lowry’s famous novel – and a programme of events on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. This year, the Williamson Art Gallery are also becoming involved in the celebrations. This year’s Lowry Lounge will have a musical focus and is in two parts.
The first is at the Williamson Art Gallery. Lowry had his first taste for adventure in 1927 when he sailed as a deckhand from Birkenhead Docks to the Far East, a voyage that informed his first novel, Ultramarine. There will be an introductory illustrated talk focusing on his Wirral origins, as well as his sea-faring.
The second part of the Lounge is at Bluecoat, where there will be a screening of The Lighthouse Invites the Storm. This film captures a performance commissioned last year from artists Alan Dunn, Martin Heslop and Jeff Young that reconnected Lowry with his New Brighton birthplace, and was developed in collaboration with retired seafarers from Wallasey.
An illustrated talk by Mark Goodall,”Symphony of Scorpions: Malcolm Lowry and Modern Jazz”, will examine the relationship between jazz and Lowry’s writings. This will be followed by an ‘Open Malc’ session, with musical, poetic and other live contributions from the floor, made in response to Lowry.
The evening will conclude with a volcanic disco and the customary toast to Wirral’s greatest writer.