Surviving Stories, Essays, Interviews

A collection of short stories, journalism pieces, and various writings by the esteemed twentieth-century English novelist Henry Green.

Surviving presents a miscellany of Henry Green’s writing, and is as reflective of his extraordinary and unclassifiable genius for the word as any of his great novels from Living to Loving to Nothing. Readers will find remarkable stories from the 1920s and 1930s; Green’s telling of his time in the London Fire Brigade during the Blitz; a short, unpublished play, Journey out of Spain; journalism; and the hilarious interview that Terry Southern conducted for The Paris Review. Edited by the novelist Matthew Yorke, Green’s grandson, Surviving also includes a memoir by Green’s son, Sebastian Yorke, that is a brilliant portrait of this maverick master.

Henry Green (1905-1973) was the pen name of Henry Vincent Yorke. Born near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, England, Green was educated at Eton and Oxford before starting work at his family's engineering firm, where he was employed for most of his life while also writing novels. During World War II, Green served on the London Fire Brigade. He wrote nine novels between 1926 and 1952, most of which have been reissued by NYRB Classics.

Matthew Yorke is the grandson of Henry Green and the author of three novels, including one book for young adults. He was born and currently lives in London.

John Updike was the author of over twenty novels, including Rabbit, Run and The Witches of Eastwick, along with several short story collections and works of poetry and criticism.

Sebastian Yorke is the son of Henry Green and, with the late novelist Emma Tennant, the father of Matthew Yorke.