Patricia Louise Lowther (born Patricia Louise Tinmuth) (July 29, 1935 – September 24, 1975) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

poet. Born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, she grew up in the neighboring city of North Vancouver.

Life

Lowther's first published poem appeared in ''

The Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published si ...

'' when she was ten years old. In 1968, she published her first collection, ''This Difficult Flowering'', with Very Stone House, a small Canadian poetry press. In 1972, "The Age of the Bird", a long poem inspired by revolutionary politics in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, was published as a broadside by Blackfish Press. Its companion poem, "Regard to Neruda", was written for Pablo Neruda, one of her political and literary inspirations. ''Milk Stone'', published in 1974 by

Borealis Press Borealis (Latin for ''northern'' or ''of the north'') may refer to: Astronomy * Borealis Basin or North Polar Basin, a basin on the planet Mars * Borealis quadrangle, an area on the planet Mercury ** Borealis Planitia, a basin within the quadra ...

, became Lowther's breakthrough into Canadian mainstream literature. ''A Stone Diary'' was submitted to

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in 1975. Lowther was co-chair of the

League of Canadian Poets The League of Canadian Poets (LCP), founded in 1966, is a national non-profit arts service organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization acts as the national association of professional and aspiring poets in Canada. The League co ...

, and the

BC Arts Council The British Columbia Arts Council (or BC Arts Council) is a statutory independent agency supporting arts in British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Oce ...

. She was about to begin her first teaching term as a Creative Writing sessional at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

when she was murdered by her husband. In September 1975, Lowther was reported missing after failing to arrive for a scheduled poetry reading at Vancouver's Ironworkers Hall. Three weeks later, her body was found in Furry Creek near Squamish, British Columbia. Roy Lowther, her second husband, whom she had married in 1963, was convicted of her murder in June 1977. He died in Matsqui prison in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on July 14, 1985. Lowther's daughters are the poet Christine Lowther, Beth Lowther, and Kathy Lyons (d. 2015). Her son is Alan Domphousse.

Legacy

Two years after Lowther's murder,

published ''A Stone Diary''. In 1980, a collection of Lowther's early and unpublished poems, ''Final Instructions'', was also published. Also that year, the

established the Pat Lowther Award, a prize awarded annually to a book of poetry by a Canadian woman. A manuscript was discovered in 1996 and published under the title ''Time Capsule''."Pat Lowther"
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', Betty Nygaard King, Mary Willan Mason, 02/07/2006 Lowther's life and death have served to inspire a number of works, including her daughter Christine Lowther's first poetry collection, ''New Power'' (1999), and the novels '' Swann: A Mystery'' (1987) by

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel ''The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as ...

and ''Furry Creek'' by

Keith Harrison John Keith Harrison (June 18, 1945 – April 10, 2019) was a Canadian novelist. He published five novels. Early life and education Harrison was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His education included an English degree from the Univ ...

(1999).

Awards

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

grant

Bibliography

*''This Difficult Flowering'', Very Stone House, Vancouver, 1968 *''The Age of the Bird'' - 1972 *''Milk Stone'', Borealis Press, 1974 *''A Stone Diary'', Oxford University Press, 1977 * *

Critical studies

* * * * *Christine Wiesenthal, ed. (2010.) ''The Collected Works of Pat Lowther''. NeWest Press.

References

External links

"Pat Lowther", ''Canadian Poets'', University of Toronto"Pat Lowther", ''ABC Book World''"No Mind’s Eye, Pat Lowther, Jealousy"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowther, Pat 1935 births 1970s missing person cases 1975 deaths 1975 murders in Canada 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian murder victims Canadian women poets Female murder victims Formerly missing people Missing person cases in Canada People murdered in British Columbia Violence against women in Canada Writers from Vancouver