My guest is Ewan Lawrie, whom I know through our shared publisher. I met Ewan in January in a pub in Islington, where he launched his debut, Gibbous House. We had Singapore in common, where we had both gone to school in our parallel lives. We enjoyed reminiscing about the places familiar to us. In recent years, I have also trusted Ewan with my manuscripts. He is a wonderful editor.
We have a special treat. We are publishing an original poem by Ewan. This Zen-tastic poem really resonated with me, and how uncertainty is our certainty:
We Are Unwise
by Ewan Lawrie
We are unwise in matters
of trust
and belief
and love.
We are unwise in matters
of whom
and what
and when.
We are unwise in matters
of change
and vision
and hope.
We are unwise in matters
of why
and which
and if
we are unwise,
it matters not.
Ewan, please tell us about a picture you like that readers will appreciate.
I first came across this as the cover of a Deep Purple album (Mk1 – no Gillan, no Roger Glover), whilst at boarding school. The designer used only a detail of Hieronymous Bosch’s most famous work. I was sure I recognised it from somewhere. A print of the painting hung beside the staircase outside the art room. When we lived in Spain, my wife and I took the train from Malaga Province to Madrid on my birthday, just to visit the Prado where The Garden of Earthly Delights is on permanent display.
Unlike many famous works of art, it was not disappointing. (Hey, Mona, are you Lisa-ning?).Grue, gothic avant-la-lettre and just plain whacky, I love it.
Yeah, I am Lisa Ning! That was most entertaining, and I am very honoured and proud to have Ewan’s guest post today.
About Ewan:
Ewan Lawrie is the author of “Gibbous House”, originally published by Unbound. The novel is part of The Moffat Trilogy. He is one of a small team of editors for the writers’ web-site, ABCTales.com.
Whilst serving 23 years in the Royal Air Force, including 10 in Cold War Berlin and 12 more flying over the rather warmer conflicts that followed, Ewan began writing. In the main this was to pass the time during long, boring flights over desert countries. After a while, this way of killing time developed into a passion.
Until 7 years ago, Ewan lived in the south of Spain, inland from the Costa Del Sol. He used to enjoy an occasional beer in bars where no one spoke English, at least not to him, in case they ended up in his notebook or somewhere worse. When not doing that, he used to write, but occasionally he taught English to Andalucians and other hispanophones.
Having spent 9 months renting in Manchester’s hipster equivalent of Shoreditch, West Didsbury, Ewan is now living in Elland in the Calder Valley, where the scenery is as inspiring in its way as that of Spain (and the beer is cheaper than in Manchester).
Ewan has had stories and poetry published in several anthologies. His first poetry collection was published by Cerasus Poetry in October 2018. His second, ‘Abandoned Flowers’ was published September 2023. No Good Deed is his second novel and a sequel to Gibbous House. At The Back Of The North Wind is the third and final novel in The Moffat Trilogy. Other novels include Smokescreen and Fools Rush In.
The Gibbous House Man, as some call him, is working on both his next novel and a further poetry collection.
All of his books are available here.