a note

one thing I failed to mention in the Anna Kavan post is that, were it not for two publishers her works would not be available. The first is Jonathan Cape, which published three of her novels under the name Helen Ferguson. She was an unknown writer with limited commercial appeal but the publisher had faith in the promise of her work. the second is Peter Owen, which published her starting in 1956 when peter Owen was introduced to her by a mutual friend, the owner of a bookshop. (see his preface to Asylum Piece). Peter Owen continued the relationship until her death and since then the company has kept much of her work in print. Again, it had limited commercial appeal but Owen was committed to her as an artist.