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Ewan Morrison
Ewan Morrison (2014)
Born	1968 Wick, Scotland
Education	Glasgow School of Art
Awards	Royal Television Society Best Drama Award Saltire Society Literary Award for Fiction Book of the Year Scottish Book of the Year (SMIT) Fiction Prize Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Writer of the Year Award The Guardian Not the Booker Prize
Website	www.ewanmorrison.com

Ewan Morrison (born 1968) is a Scottish author and screenwriter. His novel Nina X won the Saltire Society Literary Award for Fiction Book of the Year 2019. He also won a Royal Television Society Best Drama Award. Literary critic Stuart Kelly described Morrison as "the most fluent and intelligent writer of his generation here in Scotland".

Early life

Morrison was born in Wick, Caithness in 1968. His parents are singer Edna Morrison and the poet and librarian David Morrison. In interviews and essays, Morrison has talked about his unorthodox childhood as a "hippie experiment". He experienced childhood bullying because he grew up as a cultural outsider and had a stutter. His father also became an alcoholic. These experiences influenced his voice as a writer.

Morrison graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1990. He learned to manage his stutter and began work as an art critic.

Career

Morrison worked as a television and film writer and director from 1990 to 2004. He was nominated for three BAFTA Awards and won a Royal Television Society Best Drama Award. From 2003 to 2005, he was a resident scriptwriter at Madstone Films in New York.

In 2006, he received the UNESCO/Edinburgh City of Literature residency in Varuna, Australia. His first feature film, Swung, was an adaptation of his first novel and was produced by Sigma Films in 2007.

Morrison writes for magazines and newspapers and has published eight novels and one collection of short stories, as of 2021.

The Last Book You Read and Other Stories

Morrison's first book, The Last Book You Read and Other Stories, is a short story collection that explores modern relationships in the era of globalisation. The Times said the collection was "the most compelling Scottish literary debut since Trainspotting". Bertold Schoene in The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Literature, said "undeniably Morrison’s collection of short stories makes a contribution to contemporary world literature". The Last Book You Read and Other Stories led Morrison to being short-listed for the Arena Man of the Year Award in 2006. One of the stories from the collection was made into the film None of the Above.

Swung

Morrison's first novel, Swung, explored sex and swinging. The novel was about yuppie couple living in Glasgow who get involved with the swinging scene. The novel was adapted into a film in 2014, with Morrison contributing the screenplay.

Distance

Distance was Morrison's second novel. It explored phone sex and parenthood. The Telegraph said, " narrative voice is completely original. His prose feels utterly contemporary, with a smooth, readable texture." The Times called it "utterly compelling...Morrison is one of the finest novelists around". However, other reviewers found the book depressing; The Scotsman noted, "A death would liven things up" and there is "too much verbiage conversational psychotherapy."

Ménage

Morrison's third novel Ménage, is about three dysfunctional artists living a life of debauched squalor within a bisexual ménage à trois in 1990s London. Morrison based the novel on his experiences within the fashionable nihilistic circles of the New British Art Scene in his years after art school. The nove was inspired by the ménage à trois between Henry Miller, his wife, and her lover.

Close Your Eyes

His novel, Close Your Eyes, concerns a woman, Rowan, who was brought up in a hippie commune in the 1960s and 1970s, returning twenty-five years later to search for the mother who abandoned her. Morrison has, in interview and articles, described the book as a partly autobiographical reaction to 'coming to terms with a hippy childhood' and being raised by political extremists.

Close Your Eyes won the Scottish Book of the Year (SMIT) Fiction Prize in 2014. He also received the Writer of the Year Award from the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards in 2012.

Tales from the Mall

Morrison's Tales from the Mall is "'a mash-up of fact, fiction, essays, and multi-format media that tells of the rise of the shopping mall". Writer James Frey called it a "new form of literary storytelling".

Tales from the Mall won The Guardian Not the Booker Prize in 2012 and was a finalist in the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award and the Creative Scotland Writer of the Year Award.

Nina X

Morrison's seventh novel, Nina X, was published by Fleet Publishing in 2019. Written as a journal, the novel is about a woman who was raised in a commune-cult without toys or books and escapes into the outside world. Nina X won the 2019 Saltire Society Literary Award for Fiction Book of the Year.

How to Survive Everything

How to Survive Everything is Morrison's eighth novel, published by Contraband in 2021. This thriller is about a teenager who is abducted by her father who believes the world is ending. It is written in the style of a survival guide. The novel was longlisted for Bloody Scotland's The McIlvanney Prize.

Themes and style

According to scholar Marie-Odile Pittin-Hedon, Morrison's fiction and essays "show the author’s overwhelming, constant concern with the place of the human in a Globalised world." She notes that he shares concerns with the postmodern sociologist Zygmunt Bauman.

For Morrison's first five books, he practiced "experiential writing", throwing himself into new experiences to write about them "from the inside", including becoming a swinger, a secret shopper and a New Age convert. Since Close Your Eyes, his writing has explored the limits of imagination, idealism and freedom.

Morrison's writing has been mistaken for that of a female writer, and it has been said that "he writes convincingly from a woman’s point of view about such topics as breastfeeding, depression and how it feels to abandon your child".

Morrison has often commented on how he uses writing to unravel the utopian/apocalyptic mindset that he was brought up with. In 2016, he gave a TED Xtalk on the history and consequences of Utopian projects. He has written articles about why collectives and Utopian projects do not work and why people cling to the hope they offer.

Personal life

Morrison divorced his first wife and spent a year living as a swinger. Morrison is married to scriptwriter Emily Ballou and they sometimes collaborate on screenwriting. He was originally a supporter of Scottish independence, however, he later publicly stated that he had changed his mind and voted for the union with the UK.

Selected works

Film and television

• The Contract (1995), director and screenplay
• American Blackout (2013), screenplay co-written with Emily Ballou
• Swung (2015), screenplay
• None of the Above (2018), screenplay

• The Lovers (2000), director
• American Blackout (2013), screenplay co-written with Emily Ballou

Novels

• Swung (Jonathan Cape, 2007) ISBN 9780224078764
• Distance (Jonathan Cape, 2008) ISBN 022408237X
• Ménage (Jonathan Cape, 2009) ISBN 0224084402
• Tales from the Mall (Cargo, 2012) ISBN 0956308376
• Close Your Eyes (Jonathan Cape, 2012) ISBN 0224096230
• Nina X (Fleet, 2019) ISBN 0708899021
• How to Survive Everyting (Contraband, 2021) ISBN 1913393151

Short story collection

• The Last Book You Read and Other Stories (Chroma, 2005) ISBN 1845020480

References

1. Kelly, Stuart (6 May 2019). "Book review: Nina X, by Ewan Morrison". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
2. McGinty, Stephen (17 February 2024). "I'm the victim of a misguided experiment in utopianism". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
3. Gunn, George. "Obituary: David Morrison, poet, painter, editor, and librarian". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
4. Wilson, Mike. "Time and place: Ewan Morrison". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
5. Morrison, Ewan (22 June 2008). "My father made me scared to speak". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
6. ^ Gallix, Andrew (28 August 2009). "More Thanatos Than Eros". 3:AM Magazine. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
7. Morrison, Ewan. "Coming to terms with a hippy childhood". The Times. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
8. Morrison, Ewan. "Ewan Morrison & Matthew Fuller on the UK's first digital arts prize". Imaginaria. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
9. ^ "Ewan Morrison - Literature". British Council. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
10. "Ewan Morrison". Glasgow Film Theatre. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
11. Andreas Wiseman (6 November 2013). "Works swings for Kennedy's Swung". ScreernDaily.com. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
12. Gordon, Greg. "For Ewan The Only Way is Up". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
13. Schoene, Berthold (2007). The Edinburgh Companion to Contemporary Scottish Literature. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748623969. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
14. "Ewan Morrison". British Council. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
15. "None of the Above. 16 min. Directed by Siri Rodnes". Edinburgh International Film Festival. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
16. ^ Thorne, Matt. "Review: Distance by Ewan Morrison". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
17. Welsh, Irvine (21 April 2007). "Boys keep swinging". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
18. ^ "Swung". Sigma Films. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
19. Johnstone, Doug. "Distance by Ewan Morrison". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
20. "Book review: Distance". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
21. "Book review: Ménage, by Ewan Morrison". The Scotsman. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
22. Morrison, Ewan (5 July 2009). "Death of a Nihilist or Obituary for a Nobody". 3AM Magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
23. Housham, Jane (23 August 2013). "Close Your Eyes by Ewan Morrison – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
24. Wilson, Mike. "Time and place: Ewan Morrison". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
25. Moore, Lucy. "Close Your Eyes by Ewan Morrison". Female First. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
26. Morrison, Ewan. "Coming to terms with a hippy childhood". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
27. Morrison, Ewan (8 March 2018). "Why Utopian Communities Fail". Areo Magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
28. "Finalists of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards Announced". Creative Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
29. Bump, Philip (4 December 2012). "Scot who stood up to Trump development deservedly named 'Top Scot'". Grist. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
30. Ferguson, Brian (29 November 2012). "Farmer who took on Trump triumphs in Spirit awards". The Scotsman. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
31. "Ewan Morrison: Shopping Channeled". The List. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
32. TALES FROM THE MALL: Fact & Fiction from the lost age of Globalisation. Litmus. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2019 – via Amazon.
33. Jordison, Sam (15 October 2012). "Not the Booker prize: The winner". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
34. Brown, Criag. "Kelman and Welsh vie for top Scots literary prize". The Times. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
35. "Creative Scotland awards: The nominees". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
36. ^ "Nina X by Ewan Morrison review – life after Comrade Chen". The Guardian. April 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
37. ^ Forbes, Malcolm (8 March 2021). "Ewan Morrison Topples Our Expectations". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
38. "The Saltire Society announces winners of 2019 Literary Awards". Creative Scotland. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
39. "Review of How To Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison". Scotsman Online. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
40. "How To Survive Everything by Ewan Morrison". Saraband. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
41. "McIlvanney Prize Longlist 2021". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
42. ^ Pittin-Hedon, Marie-Odile (2015). The space of fiction: voices from Scotland in a post-devolution age. Scottish Literature International. ISBN 9781908980090. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
43. "Theme: #FindX". Ted.com. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
44. ^ Christie, Janet. "Interview: Ewan Morrison, author of Close Your Eyes". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
45. "A Conversation with Ewan Morrison". Radikal News. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
46. ^ "Why we would be happier without Utopia". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
47. Morrison, Ewan (9 May 2018). "Why we would be happier without Utopia". Sceptical Scot. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
48. Morrison, Ewan (8 March 2018). "Why Utopian Communities Fail". Areo magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
49. ^ Lowry, Brian (24 October 2013). "TV Review: 'American Blackout,' 'War of the Worlds:' Tapping into Fear in Different Eras". Variety. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
50. "Ewan Morrison – YES: Why I Joined Yes and Why I Changed to No". 15 September 2014.
51. "The Contract". Torino Film Fest. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
52. "Swung (2015)". Letterboxed. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
53. "None of the Above (2018)". Siri Rødnes. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
54. "Film: The Lovers". British Council. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
55. Lowry, Brian (24 October 2013). "TV Review: 'American Blackout,' 'War of the Worlds:' Tapping Into Fear in Different Eras". Variety. Retrieved 17 February 2024.

External links

• Official web site

• 1968 births
• Living people
• People from Caithness
• Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art
• Stuttering
• 21st-century Scottish novelists
• 21st-century Scottish screenwriters