After his compulsory military service, Evan Davies qualified as an architect at the University of Port Elizabeth and, thereafter, studied Urban Design at the University of Cape Town. Several years behind a drawing board convinced him that instead, he should go farming in the Klein Karoo - an arid, pristine, South African hinterland. While financially unrewarding, or at times even intimidating, this allowed him to shoo baboons out of his house, ride horses, be charged by lions, wrestle pigs to the ground and grow olive trees. He could also wear shorts, shave infrequently and develop a permanent farmer's suntan while writing poetry in the evenings, or watching the stars. Currently, he is in Cape Town, with custody of his two talented teenage sons until they mature. Here, he cooks well enough because he has to, reads a lot of history and science, writes the odd poem and annoys everyone on Facebook - all the while pursuing his new main professional interest, which is forging Iron Age-type swords. He has a suburban forge - with all the smoke and hammer noise necessary to annoy the neighbours properly - and the physical demands, creativity, applied technical knowledge and the parenting combine in a satisfying life experience.
