The sous-fonds reflects Malcolm Lowry’s life and work. Contents include: correspondence (incoming and outgoing), manuscripts (poetry and prose), notes and notebooks, juvenilia and other material published by Lowry, and a variety of textual and audio-visual materials about Lowry produced by friends, family, and Lowry scholars. Within the Letters series, incoming and outgoing, Lowry’s literary agents and editors, including Albert Erskine and Harold Matson, feature prominently.

Poetry and prose manuscripts comprise the bulk of the Malcolm Lowry Papers. Manuscripts frequently include several drafts of a given work as well as notes and notebooks associated with that manuscript. Under the Volcano, October Ferry to Gabriola, and Hear Us O Lord From Heaven Thy Dwelling Place are among the works included in these series.

The Personal Life series includes financial records, art prints which hung on the walls of the Dollarton shacks, notes on source characters by Lowry, and records about Lowry’s life and family collected by UBC.

Audio-visual records include the 1984 film adaptation of Lowry’s Under the Volcano as well as interviews with scholars and friends of the Lowrys and documentaries about Lowry produced by the CBC and National Film Board of Canada (NFB).