Waters that no vessel ever sailed: an essay in a story and a work in progress concerning the death of Edward Thomas

Abstract

The poet Edward Thomas died in 1917 during the Battle of Arras. While his life was minutely documented, the way he died is open to question. Novelist Kathy Page uses the available evidence to construct several possible versions of the poet’s last moments. What emotional necessities have turned his death into a story and have kept the poet alive in our imaginations?