John Keith Ewers (13 June 1904 – 9 March 1978) was a novelist, poet, schoolteacher and short story writer from Western Australia.[1][2][3] He was the second son of Ernest Ewers, orchardist, and his wife Annie Eliza, née Gray. When he was 6 years old, his mother died.[4] Ewers was educated at James Street Intermediate and Perth Modern schools, and at Claremont Teachers' College. He began writing while he was a young teacher. The Australian Journal published in 1924 was his first short story, under the nom-de-plume, J. K. Waterjugs,[5] a play on the meaning of ewer. He wrote early on in his career in Our Rural Magazine and Walkabout.[6]
Ewers was involved in the Western Australian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers and was its President.[7] He campaigned to preserve "Tom Collins" House (the home of Joseph Furphy, author of Such is Life), in the Perth suburb of Swanbourne.
He also co-authored, with Deirdre Ellis Weston, the following grammar textbooks that were used widely throughout Western Australian schools during the 1950s to 1970s.
- Weston, Deirdre Ellis; Ewers, John Keith (1950–1959). English for High Schools. Perth, Western Australia: Carrolls. OCLC 219859645.
- Ewers, John Keith; Weston, Deirdre Ellis (1971). Passport to Understanding. Melbourne, Australia: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0170049035. OCLC 27499632.
- Ewers, John Keith; Weston, Deirdre Ellis (1973). Passport to Adventure. Passport Series. Melbourne, Australia: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0170049019. OCLC 220402061.
Works
- Money street : a novel (London, 1933)
- The story of the pipe-line : being an account of the construction of the Coolgardie water scheme with some chapters on the early history of Western Australia (Perth, 1935)
- Fire on the Wind (London, 1935, Hodder & Stoughton)
- Tell the people! : an explanation of the little-known writings of Joseph Furphy (Tom Collins) in the light of their value for Australia to-day (Sydney, 1943)
- Tales from the Dead Heart (Sydney, 1944)
- Men Against the Earth (Melbourne, 1946)
- Perth Boys' School, 1847-1947 : the story of the first hundred years of a great school, with a background of the history of education in Western Australia (Perth, 1947)
- For Heroes to Live In (Melbourne, 1948)
- Harvest and Other Stories (Sydney, 1949)
- With the Sun on My Back (Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1953)
- Who Rides on the River? (Sydney, 1956)
- Bruce Rock (1959)
- The western gateway : a history of Fremantle (Nedlands, 1971.2nd rev. ed.)
- I came naked : a selection of verse 1970-1975 (Black Rock, Vic. 1976.)
- Long enough for a joke : an autobiography (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1983)
Notes
- ^ Ewers, John. K (1983) Long enough for a joke : an autobiography Fremantle, W.A. : Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN 0-909144-72-9
- ^ Bibby, Peter (1982) The ultimate honesty : recollections of John K. Ewers, 1904-1978, with some glimpses culled from his works / edited by Peter Bibby. Perth [W.A.] : Fellowship of Australian Writers, W.A. Branch ISBN 0-909497-20-6
- ^ Gregory, Jenny, 'Ewers, John Keith (1904–1978)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ewers-john-keith-10138/text17901, accessed 16 July 2011. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (MUP), 1996
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- ^ Telegraph linesmen of the Nor'West. Walkabout, Nov. 1938, p. 19-21
- ^ The odyssey of the jolly swagman : presidential address delivered at Ninth Annual Corroboree of the Fellowship [of Australian Writers (W.A. Section)], held at Australian Natives' Association clubhouse, Riverside Drive, Perth, November, 1947. Perth : Fellowship of Australian Writers, W.A. Section, 1947