John K. Ewers

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 Ernest Ewers, orchardist, and his wife Annie Eliza, née Gray. When he was 6 his mother died.[4] He was educated at James Street Intermediate and Perth Modern schools, and Claremont Teachers' College. He began writing while he was a young teacher in the West. The Australian Journal published (1924) 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 magazine[6]

He 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, grammar textbooks English for High Schools Perth, W.A.: Carrolls,[8] Passport to Understanding, Melbourne : Thomas Nelson (Australia), 1971,[9] and Passport to Adventure, Melbourne : Thomas Nelson (Australia), 1973[10] which were used widely throughout Western Australian schools during the 1950s to 1970s.