Lowry, Malcolm (Clarence Malcolm Lowry), 1909-57, English novelist, b. New Brighton, Wirral. Lowry is widely recognized as an important writer who effectively articulated the spiritual desolation of the individual in the 20th cent. While still a student at Cambridge he wrote his first novel, Ultramarine (1933), later reworked and published in final form in 1962. His reputation is founded on his second novel, Under the Volcano (1947), a subtle and complex study of the dissolution of an Englishman's character. Set in Mexico during a 12-hour period on the Day of the Dead, the novel is highly autobiographical. Like his hero Geoffrey Firmin, Lowry was an alcoholic whose addiction all but destroyed his family life and caused him to seek peace in such disparate locales as the United States, British Columbia, and Mexico. Lowry's other works, all published posthumously, include Selected Poems (1962); two volumes of short stories, Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place (1961) and Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid (1968); a novel, Lunar Caustic (1968); and a miscellaneous collection of stories, poems, fragments, and letters, The Voyage That Never Ends (2007).

(born July 28, 1909, Birkhead, Cheshire, Eng.—died June 27, 1957, Ripe, Sussex) British novelist, short-story writer, and poet. In his youth Lowry rebelled against his conventional upbringing and shipped to China as a cabin boy; he later lived in France, the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Italy. His reputation rests on the novel Under the Volcano (1947), about the last desperate day of a dispirited alcoholic and former British consul in Mexico. Its juxtaposition of images of social decay and self-destructiveness was seen as a symbolic vision of Europe on the verge of World War II. Though critically praised, it received popular recognition only after Lowry's death at age 47, probably the result of alcoholism.

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Lowry may refer to:

People

Irish families of the Lowry, Lowery, or Lavery name descend from the O Labhradha, a sept of the province of Ulster anciently. In the later days they are found in County Down near Moira.

Three branches of the name are of record. that of Trin-Lavery (which has also been translated as Armstrong - from trean - meaning strong), that of Roe-Lavery, from rua meaning red, and from Baun-Lavery, from "ban" meaning white.

These Irish families above have remained in the province of Ulster into modern times for they are found in counties Armagh, Antrim, and Down in the 1890 birth index. Laverty was located mainly in Ulster as well at that time.

The "Lowry" surname is also found in Ulster as a result of 17th century settlers arriving there from Scotland. Scottish families are found here under the spelling of Laurie as well. The Earl Belmore family is recorded as arriving from Scotland at the time and settling in County Tyrone, and he was said to be of the Laurie family of Maxwelton.

Lowry is a common surname, and may refer to:

• Calvin Lowry, American football player
• Dave Lowry, ice hockey player
• Henry Berry Lowrie, Confederate outlaw
• James Lowry, Jr., Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Joseph Wilson Lowry, 18th century engraver
• L. S. Lowry, artist/painter
• Lois Lowry, author
• Malcolm Lowry, author and poet
• Mark Lowry, comedian
• Martin Lowry chemist
• Michael Lowry Irish politician
• Noah Lowry, baseball pitcher
• Porter Prescott Lowry, botanist
• Ray Lowry, cartoonist, musician
• Shane Lowry, Australian/Irish footballer
• Thomas Lowry, businessman

Places

• Lowry Avenue Bridge
• Lowry, Minnesota
• Lowry City, Missouri
• Lowry, South Dakota
• Lowry Crossing, Texas
• The Lowry, an art gallery in Salford, England
• Lowry Air Force Base, a former air force base in Colorado
• Lowry Hotel in Salford, England
• Lowry Park Zoo

Other

• Lowry protein assay
• lowry is an archaic Scots name for a fox

See also

• Lowery