Writer Raymond Carver’s Desk Yields Prose Bonanza

It took more than a decade after writer Raymond Carver’s death before his widow, poet Tess Gallagher, sat down and sorted through the old papers in his desk.

But when she finally felt the time was right, Gallagher unearthed a treasure--three unpublished stories that Carver had revised several times but never polished.

“These will be the last writings of Ray’s to offer of this nature. It’s been lovely to have his stories in the house again, of course. A great excitement and a pleasure,” Gallagher said this week in an e-mail interview from Italy, where she is attending a literary festival.

Since Carver’s death from lung cancer in 1988 at age 50, his fans have wondered whether more of his work existed. Many literary critics say the blue-collar author of such award-winning works as “Cathedral,” “Where I’m Calling From” and “Short Cuts” died at the height of his career.

Gallagher had suspected Carver’s desk might contain something special, but she had misgivings about searching through it. As executor of his estate, she feared discovery of unpublished tales would lead to a protracted bidding war.

So she put off the task until she could find an editor she trusted. That person was Jay Woodruff, a friend and senior editor at Esquire.

The first tale, “Kindling,” was published in Esquire’s July summer fiction issue. In the story, a recovering alcoholic purges himself of his past through the metaphor of chopping wood.

“Vandals,” which appears in Esquire’s October issue, examines the definition of vandalism. A third piece, “Dreams,” will be published sometime next year.

The three stories and two other unpublished Carver works will be published by Knopf in a collection of Carver’s stories.