They: A Sequence of Unease

TitleThey: A Sequence of Unease
Year for Search1977
AuthorsDick, Kay [Kathleen Elsie](1915-2001)
Pagination94 pp.
Date Published1977
PublisherAllan Lane
Place PublishedLondon
ISBN Number9780571370863 978-1946022288
KeywordsEnglish author, Lesbian author, Swiss author
Annotation

The unnamed narrator lives on the Sussex Coast in an undefined future and describes life as everyone is menaced by a mysterious “they” who are enforcing conformity and the erasure of cultural memory by destroying books and art and killing those who resist. Anyone living alone, “they” see as reflecting an individualism that must be eliminated. “They” approve of children’s cruelty.

Additional Publishers

Rpt. London: Faber, 2022, with an introduction by Carmen Maria Machado. 107 pp. U.S. ed. New York: McNally Editions, 2022, with an Afterword by Lucy Scholes (103-112), parts of which originally appeared as “A Lost Dystopian Masterpiece” in The Paris Review (August 13, 2020). https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/13/a-lost-dystopian-masterpiece/ 112 pp.

Info Notes

The last chapter, “Hallo Love,” was published separately in 1975.

Her papers are held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.

Author Note

The lesbian author 1915-2001) was born in England, raised in Switzerland and England, and then lived in England.

Full Text

1977 Dick, Kay [Kathleen Elsie] (1915-2001). They: A Sequence of Unease. London: Allan Lane. 94 pp. Rpt. London: Faber, 2022, with an introduction by Carmen Maria Machado. 107 pp. U.S. ed. New York: McNally Editions, 2022, with an Afterword by Lucy Scholes (103-112), parts of which originally appeared as “A Lost Dystopian Masterpiece” in The Paris Review (August 13, 2020). https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/08/13/a-lost-dystopian-masterpiece/ 112 pp. The last chapter story, “Hallo Love,” was published separately in 1975.

The unnamed narrator lives on the Sussex Coast in an undefined future and describes life as everyone is menaced by a mysterious “they” who are enforcing conformity and the erasure of cultural memory by destroying books and art and killing those who resist. Anyone living alone, “they” see as reflecting an individualism that must be eliminated. “They” approve of children’s cruelty. The lesbian author was born in England, raised in Switzerland and England, and then lived in England. Her papers are held at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.