Gavin Ewart

Gavin Ewart FRSL
Born	Gavin Buchanan Ewart 4 February 1916 London, England
Died	23 October 1995(1995-10-23)(aged 79) London, England
Education	Wellington College
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge
Occupation	Poet
Spouse	Margo Bennett ​ (m.1956)​
Children	2
Awards	Cholmondeley Award,1971 Michael Braude Award for Light Verse,1991

Gavin Buchanan EwartFRSL(4 February 1916 – 23 October 1995) was a British poet who contributed toGeoffrey Grigson'sNew Verseat the age of seventeen.

Kenilworth Court,Putney, London

Kenilworth Court blue plaque

Early life

Ewart was born in London to George and Dorothy (née Turner).His father was a successful surgeon atSt George's Hospitaland his paternal grandfather wasJames Cossar Ewart,the Scottish zoologist.His two younger sisters, Nancy and Jean were born in 1917 and 1920, respectively.

Ewart educated atWellington College,before enteringChrist's College, Cambridge,where he received aB.A.in 1937 and anM.A.in 1942.

After active service as aRoyal Artilleryofficer duringWorld War II,he worked in publishing and with theBritish Councilbefore becoming an advertisingcopywriterin 1952. He lived atKenilworth Courtin Putney, London, and a blue plaque at Kenilworth Court commemorates this.

Poetry

From the age of 17, when his poetry was first printed in Geoffrey Grigson'sNew Verse,Ewart acquired a reputation for wit and accomplishment through such works as "Phallus in Wonderland", andPoems and Songs,which appeared in 1939 and was his first collection.

TheSecond World Wardisrupted his development as a poet, however, and he published no further volumes untilLondonersof 1964, although he did write the English lyrics for the "World Song" of theWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

From 1964, he produced many collections, which includedThe Gavin Ewart Show(1971),No Fool like an Old Fool(1976),All My Little Ones(1978),The Ewart Quarto(1984),The Young Pobble's Guide to His Toes(1985), andPenultimate Poems(1989).The Collected Ewart: 1933–1980(1980) was supplemented in 1991 byCollected Poems: 1980–1990.

The intelligence and casually flamboyant virtuosity with which he framed his often humorous commentaries on human behaviour made his work invariably entertaining and interesting. The irreverent eroticism for which his poetry is noted resulted inW. H. Smith's banning of hisThe Pleasures of the Flesh(1966) from their shops.

As an editor, he produced numerous anthologies, includingThe Penguin Book of Light Verse(1980). He was the 1991 recipient of theMichael Braude Award for Light Verse.

Ewart's life and poetry are the subject of a book entitledCivil Humor: the Poetry of Gavin Ewartby Stephen W. Delchamps (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press,2002).

Personal life and death

In 1956, Ewart married Margo Bennett, and they had two children.An atheist, he was a member of theBritish Humanist Association.

Ewart died from prostate cancer atRoyal Trinity Hospiceon 23 October 1995, at the age of 79.Nigel Spiveyrecalled interviewing Ewart for theFinancial Timesover a lunch the day before his death, at which 'the main item on the agenda was alcohol, not food'. The following day Spivey received a call from Mrs Ewart: "There are two things you need to know," she said. "The first is that Gavin came home yesterday happier than I have seen him in a long time. The second – and you are not to feel bad about this – is that he died this morning."

Selected bibliography

• 1939:Poems and Songs
• 1964:Londoners. Pleasure of the Flesh
• 1971:The Gavin Ewart Show
• 1976:No Fool like an Old Fool
• 1977:Or Where a Young Penguin Lies Screaming
• 1978:All My Little Ones
• 1980:The Collected Ewart: 1933–1980
• 1984:The Ewart Quarto
• 1985:The Gavin Ewart Show: Selected Poems 1939–1985
• 1985:The Young Pobble's Guide to His Toes
• 1987:Late Pickings
• 1989:Penultimate Poems
• 1991:Collected Poems: 1980–1990

As editor

• 1980:The Penguin Book of Light Verse

Honours

• Cholmondeley Award,1971
• Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature,1981

External links

• "Gavin Ewart"at the Poetry Archive.
• ObituarybyAnthony ThwaiteinThe Independent,24 October 1995
• Obituary(additional information) byDavid GascoyneinThe Independent,25 October 1995
• "Archival material relating to Gavin Ewart".UK National Archives.