In Search Of The Missing

Cumbrian author

In Search Of The Missing invites the reader into a reliquary of poems and sketches inspired by the Franklin Relics. These are the objects left behind by the crews of the doomed Franklin Expedition of 1845.

In the absence of survivors, and naval logs, the relics become witness, body and memory – imbued with the day-to-day patina of the expedition. They not only offer clues to what happened, but stand-in as remains of the lost. Many are simple objects: gloves, snow goggles, a food tin, a pocket bible, the humble markers of ordinary lives. In this context they become infused with meaning and preciousness.

The poems and sketches of this collection respond to the most poignant and personal of them.