Home >> Carr >>

Newspaper articles or letters written by J.L. Carr

This section includes several articles published in British newspapers. The letters that Carr wrote to friends when he was travelling around the world in 1939 can be found in this section.

(Last updated 26/5/2021)



 J.L. Carr (1977). Absent from Westminster. Letter to the Editor of The Times, 9th December 1977.

Sir, When Members of Parliament approved an 8 per cent levy on self employed persons they exempted themselves. I note that Mr Edward Heath, whilst drawing his salary as an employed Member, takes a week off to increase his income as an author. May we rely on him never again to inveigh against absenteeism? Yours truly, J.L. Carr, 27 Milldale Road, Kettering.


 J.L. Carr (1988). Personal View. J.L. Carr. The Sunday Times, 4th December 1988.

'Earlier this year, the novelist and publisher decided to bring out his last novel, What Hetty Did, by himself. Today, a sadder and wiser (and poorer) man, he reports on the experience'. (AH)


 J.L. Carr (1988). A footnote to the book of Job. The Guardian, 31st December 1988.

A diary of Carr's week describing a visit to see Edmund Kirby and discussions on several common themes: thefts from churches and their closure; a story about his father and how times change; and a story about his headmaster at Castleford Grammar School, Thomas Richard Dawes.


 J.L. Carr (1990). A day in the country.The Guardian, 12th April 1990.

Carr sets off with an inflatable dinghy to explore the upper reaches of the River Ise in Northamptonshire, described in an article in The Guardian.

On the further bank, a huddle of young bullocks scrimmaged to get a better look at the performance. Plainly my launching had become an Occasion needing Milton to match it. The world was all before them I shouted. And Providence their guide. The beasts backed off. (I have witnessed similar dismay at human poetry-readings). Then, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow . . .. They turned tail, kicked up their heels and galloped madly off as I yelled after them, Through Eden took their solitary way. Then I pushed boldly into the tide. My voyage had begun.

The River Ise is less than a mile from Carr's house in Kettering. This is the view from Carr's house, across the valley of the Ise, in 1961, before houses were built that obscured the view.


 J. L. Carr (1992). Kettering Diary. The Guardian, 18th August 1992.

The diary of Carr's week. Sunday: church. Tuesday: responding to letters, one critical of the cover of the Dictionary of Extraordinary English Cricketers but he Did not affirm what I sincerely believe - that, once something is in print, it becomes true. Wednesday: the whereabouts of a church pulpit. Thursday: cricket. Friday: taking visitors from South Dakota around local churches. Saturday: gardening.