DL/A-Z//DRA/1 - [Correspondence with Margaret Drabble 1980s]

DL/A-Z//DRA/1

Sub-file

[Correspondence with Margaret Drabble 1980s]

06/10/1982-28/10/1985

3 Letters (typescript and MS)

Shah, Idries 1924-1996

Drabble, Margaret

001 is a letter from Margaret Drabble to Doris Lessing. Drabble announces to Lessing that she recently got married. She looks forward to meeting Lessing to hear more "Japan horror stories". Lessing has attached a handwritten note: "19"

002 is a letter from Lessing to Drabble. She discusses the canonisation and categorisation of literature [in the context of Drabble's Oxford Companion to English Literature?] and ranks works by Idries Shah that she considers important on an enclosed list [missing]. Mentions Shah's The Sufis, Learning How to Learn, The Perfumed Scorpion, Seeker After Truth, World Tales, Reflections and Tales of the Dervishes. Mentions the Bible and the Canterbury Tales. Discusses the transmissions of folk tales between cultures. Mentions Omar Khayyam, Nasreddin and Ikbal Ali Shah. Refers to enclosed copies of books. Lessing has attached a handwritten note: "12"

003 is a letter from Lessing to the English Department of the University of Tromso. Lessing recommends that the department invite Drabble to visit them, and includes Drabble's address. "Margaret said she would be happy to come in winter."