George Ewart Evans

I’ve long been a fan of the work of oral historian George Ewart Evans and avid reader of his books. His wife was headmistress at Needham Market Primary School when I was there in early 1960s, and in my teens, I worked for a while on a farm at Blaxhall, where he had lived in the early 1950s. He collected the stories his neighbours told him, of how life had been when they were young, in the late 19th century.

My creative writing MA gave me both the opportunity and inspiration to write my own book on rural East Anglian life. Each chapter opens with some of his stories, moves on to some of my experiences working on local farms, and closes with interviews with people who today are bringing back ways those Evans interviewed would recognise.

As we all adapt our ways to reduce our impact on climate change, there are so many things we can learn from our past. You can find out more about my book here.