Gail Evans

 

Born on November 1, 1958 in Carltonville, South Africa, to a mine mechanic and an architectural draughtswoman, Gail Evans as a child dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. In spite of winning awards and obtaining honors in her ballet exams, her life took another turn and the ballet fell away to be replaced by Speech and Drama, for which, after four years training, she obtained a Higher Diploma in 1980 from the Pretoria Technikon. For the next six years she starved in the garret, as her mother warned her she would do if she followed this career path, working in radio, on stage for P.A.C.T (The Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal), in television shows, as a telecine operator for the S.A.B.C. (South African Broadcasting Company), doing theatre reviews for the arts magazine Scenario, and more often than not, waitressing in order to put a roof over her head and food in her mouth. In 1985 she married an engineering geologist and spent the next couple of years traversing un-charted territory in Southern Africa in an old Landover, top speed eighty kilometers an hour, with carrycots wedged between the dashboard and the back of the seat, with a large supply of water purification pills in order to make up babies bottles and a hoard of plastic bags in the glove compartment for dirty nappies. It was during this time, largely due to the influence and experience of writing for the arts magazine Scerario, that she became addicted to the keys on a type writer. Thus began a fourteen year journey through type writers, to computers, lots of research and many nights of soul searching, culminating in her first published title, The Firstborn Of God. Resolving the Contradictions in the Bible.

Since first publishing The Firstborn of God in 2000, Gail explored the genre of fiction as opposed non-fiction and published Time Trials. "A wacky new age novel" as she describes it, that follows the journeys, spiritual, physical and political of Miriam, in the months leading up to the inauguration of Nelson Madela as the first democratically elected President of South Africa. Gail followed up Time Trials with yet another genre, a travel and meditation guide, Meditations In My Favourite Places In Southern Africa published in 2001. The woman who once dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, now attends performances of the Johannesburg Ballet company at the Civic Theatre, regularly attends the Grahamstown Festival (a feast of theatre, literature and art in the Eastern Cape), and whenever she has the time to spare, travels as much as possible both in Southern Africa and abroad. Her love of the African terrain shines through in every word that she has written In Meditations In My Favourite Places In Southern Africa. as well as her deep seated interest in spirituality which weaves a thread throughout all of her work. Visit Gail online at http://gailevans.tripod.com/gailevans/

 

"Gail Evans has achieved a unique and superb combination, renewing and rejuvenating the reader externally and internally. This book will help you to relax, enjoy and become one with Nature as well as your Inner-self. Highly recommended." Ram Varma. Meditation facilitator and author of "This Splendid World of Yours," and "Be Still and Know..."

 

Pageonelit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing
a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Gail Evans: I grew up in Pretoria where the smell of jasmine fills the air in spring, the Jacarandas overshadow the city with purple blooms in early summer, the Union Buildings are massed with rose buds and bougainvillea pours over every second fence.

My earliest influence came from Miss Sinclair, my grade 6 teacher who read us Olive Schreiner's "The Story Of An African Farm" and encouraged us to write poetry and prose. The First book that I ever bought for myself when I was eleven years old was "The Silver Plume," a collection of Schreiner's writings. Luckily my Grandmother owned a bookshop and was able to obtain a copy. Perhaps this bookshop was also an influence. How could one not end up loving books when your earliest years were spent sitting on the floor, surrounded by shelves filled with the magic of stories, wisdom, poetry and adventure?

 

Pageonelit.com: Why did you write Meditations In My Favorite Places In Southern Africa: A Travelogue for Inner and Outer Journeys. Tell us about this book.

Gail Evans: One lazy Sunday afternoon I was lying on the sofa waiting for the great Muse to fill me with some ideas, some sort of inspiration for a new book. I knew that I wanted to write something, but the question was what? We had just got back from a hike in the Drakensburg Mountains and I was filled with the joy and wonder of nature. My husband and I travel a lot. So, from the word Drakensburg evolved the word travel, from the word travel, the word book. But, I decided that I did not want to write a travel guide with a list of maps, hotels and restaurants. What I wanted to give the reader something of the essence that I had felt in those beautiful mountains with the clean, clear air, the eagles wafting on the breeze and the absolute stillness and peace that I had experienced. And so it began. The 1% inspiration from the Muse and the 99% perspiration from me. In all, I have written about seven different places worth visiting in Southern Africa, each of them totally unique. The Okavango Swamps, The Kurger National Park, The Semi-Desert Karoo, The Forests of Hogsback, The Kwa Zulu-Natal Coastline, The Sterkfontien Caves and lastly, the Mountains of the Drakensburg.

The idea for the Meditations at the end of each chapter evolved a bit more slowly. I realized as I was writing, that each experience was a meditation in itself, a meditation on the special nature of a specific place, it's attributes, it's beauty and the uniqueness of that specific environment. From there, I decided to relate a specific place to a specific chakra. The Okavango Delta is for me, an ideal example of the first chakra.

 

Pageonelit.com: You've written three books -- Meditations In My Favorite Places..., Time Trials and The Firstborn of God. How are these books different? How are they the same?

Gail Evans: There is one major factor that weaves itself throughout my work and that is the religious spirituality factor and the quest for human beings to find self-empowerment, to individuate and to connect with the Supreme being, however you may see it. In "The Firstborn of God," I focused on the contradictions in the Bible and their implications and influences on the world today. In "Time Trials" I had a look at how we could still individuate and reach a point of self-empowerment in spite of harsh, political realties that strongly effected my life living in South Africa during the apartheid years. In "Meditations In My Favorite Places In Southern Africa," I have taken a much more gentle view. Weaving together the wonder of nature, the seven charkas, of human evolution towards self-empowerment and the slow unfolding that we experience within one lifetime.

 

Pageonelit.com: What has been your feedback from readers and book reviewers? What do they say to you about their interpretations of these books? What do they like about the book?

Gail Evans: The Firstborn of God. Resolving the Contradictions In The Bible has generally had good reviews although my views are contrary to accepted opinion. If anything, my readers have responded with a genuine appreciation for the hypothesis that I have put forward. Some, who had turned their backs on the Bible altogether because of the contradictions found within it's pages, have since picked up that book again and found new meaning, encouragement and purpose behind the texts.Stan Marut from the United Kingdom said:

" .... I am sure that this book will be controversial if read by fundamentalists, but to those with an open mind who ultimately wish to seek the truth unencumbered by steadfast doctrine and creeds, it will provide ample food for thought. Gail Evan's erudite scholarship is a credit to her...."

"The Firstborn of God," is unique in that I have come up with a theory that very few people who write in this genre, have considered. You will have to read it to find out. However, if you are comfortable in your orthodox point of view, this is not the book for you and I am not out to seek converts.

Time Trials has had very mixed reviews. You either love it or hate it. The writing style is completely off the wall. I have advertised this book as a "Wacky, New Age Title," which is the truth. But then, that is how many of us felt during the eighties and early nineties in South Africa. On the one hand you had what appeared to be a first world society with all the toys and gadgets. On the other, you had people being burned, shot and stabbed a couple of blocks away from where you lived. I remember one very dichotomous situation. I was driving my boss's BMW through the streets of Johannesburg. He was an opera buff and the tape playing in the cassette was "Nessun dorma." Next to me at the traffic lights, six military policemen dressed in black sped by on motorbikes with assault rifles strapped to their backs. Two blocks away, a huge gathering of over five thousand people were working their way through the streets chanting, smashing car windows and breaking into shops. The combination of the opera and the horror takes some getting used to. Even today, there are many South Africans from all sides of the conflict who suffer from post traumatic stress. So the writing style in "Time Trials" is a reflection of my own memories, my own attempts at coming to terms with the harsh realties that we lived through. This book is not for the feint hearted. For example, Graham Hamer, the author of "Paperchase" had this to say:

"...It's difficult to know where to start with a book like Time Trials, particularly since I seemed to get from it something which other reviewers clearly did not. ...The great strength of Time Trials is that it offers a message of hope. Clearly, different readers get that message from different viewpoints. Maybe that was the way the author intended it. Maybe Gail Evans has the tolerance to leave her book sufficiently ambiguous that the reader can interpret as he or she will. Either way, Time Trials is an excellent narrative of one person's search for truth in a world full of extremes....."

Whilst another reviewer said the following:

"....This book is a mess. The language tries to soar, but fails due to the weight of the words. The story tries to be something it's not, too. I consider myself open-minded and willing to consider most any idea that would explain the madness of the world, but I couldn't follow the plot of this work. ..."

As I said, you will either love it or hate it. It is not for the feint hearted . But anyone who has suffered violence in any form and the consequences of post traumatic stress, will understand the genre of this book.

Everyone who has read "Meditations In My Favorite Places In Southern Africa," regardless of where they live has responded in much the same way and has said that they now view vacations and nature in a totally different light. Rather than rushing through places, taking photographs and collecting souvenirs, they are now stopping to "smell the roses" so to speak. I think one of the reviews that I got from Nathaniel Lott, the author of "House At Trinity Corners," best sums it up. He says:

" .... Gail Evans paints word pictures that seemingly come alive; beautiful images of some of Southern Africa's most famous sites. Devoting a chapter to each site she ends the chapter with a meditation. By holding the image in mind while engaging in the meditation, we are allowed to internalize it and claim it as our own. A unique spiritual experience. Thank you, Gail...."

Pageonelit.com: In another interview you said, 'My vision is a world of total religious, racial and sexual tolerance and equality. I hope to see the Third World achieve health, wealth and happiness in my lifetime.' Please explain..

Gail Evans: One only has to look at Nigeria, India, Tibet or the Middle East in the last two years to understand what I mean by religious intolerance. Racial intolerance is a subject close to my heart, coming from South Africa as I do. The situation in Bosnia was one of both religious and racial intolerance. The Taliban in Afghanistan and the fact the female circumcision is still carried out in East Africa are examples of sexual intolerance and a lack of equality. As for the third world, specifically my own continent being Africa, I would like to see it rise from the ashes where poverty, a lack of education, unemployment, lack of medical expertise, starvation and suffering eventually become things of the past. Things that the children will read about in history books. The continent is rich. Rich in people and rich in resources. There is absolutely no reason why, with a bit of planning, hard work and a crack down on corruption, this dream of mine should not come about.

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell me about your publishing experience -- The good, the bad and the ugly ...

Gail Evans: The good - I fianlly got published. Three times no less. Thanks to iUniverse.com and the new Print On Demand technology which is going to change the face of publishing.

The bad - many rejection slips that undermined my confidence in myself. But this is an experience shared by many authors. Part of the package. Part of paying your dues.

The ugly - there is only one thing worse than a rejection slip. A review that categorically states that you should have saved a tree!

 

Pageonelit.com: Are you working on a follow up? Or something totally different?

Gail Evans: At the moment, I am not working on a follow up. All three of my titles have been totally different. To be quite honest, I do not know what is coming next. So,..... I will wait for the Muse to strike me with the deepest passion, a passion that will not even heed the call of hunger!

 

Pageonelit.com: What was the last book you read?

Gail Evans: "Patricia de Lille" by Charlene Smith. Patrica de Lille is a politician in South Africa. I would vote her for President any day. She is the stuff that dreams are made of. An (can you believe it?) honest politician.

 

Pageonelit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing.

Gail Evans: I love reading, which of course enhances my own work. Movies and travel. New places, new smells, sounds and tastes. I am planning to do the Camino through northern Spain in the near future. Inspired by Paulo Coelho and Shirley Mclaine.

 

Pageonelit.com: Tell us about South Africa where you live -- How has South Africa effected your life? Your writing?

Gail Evans: I am deeply grateful to be a South African. Without having grown up in this country, I would have missed out on so many lessons, so many experiences. I have leant what it means to be non-racial, non-violent, to uphold equality in all spheres of life. To accept others, no matter what their religious faith may be. My life in this country has had many ups and downs. When I was a child, I was only allowed to socialize with white, Christian groups, due to the aparthied laws and due to my family's own bias. Because of these experiences - racial, social, religious and sexual equality weave a thread throughout everything that I write.

And as I do this interview, it is difficult to concentrate. You see, it is Sunday and the whole neighborhood has turned up. Motorbikes are roaring in the back yard. There is a computer Lan party going on in my diningroom and you can't walk through it without tripping over extension cords. There is screaming and shouting and much laughter coming from the swimming pool and through it all I have to smile. My household today represents the United Nations. As Desmond Tutu said, we are a Rainbow nation. Well Mr. Tutu, they are all here in my backyard! The black and the white of them. The Indian and the colored of them. The Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist of them. It has been a long road that I have traveled, ever since the day when I was 10 years old and my Grandmother kicked me out of her bookshop because I brought my two black friends along to read comics. Did she do it because she was afraid of the law? Or because of her own bias? I loved her too much to ask. My, how things have changed. And for the better I might add!