Breathing Life Into New Places: a note from the publisher
Our team (with a bread version of company pet Pethos) at the Ethos Festive Sale in December 2022. Loved the event for its convivial energies, with more than 20 artists, craftspeople and independent businesses participating and cost-sharing rental.
Dear Reader,
Like a face mask, the new year is a filter: crossing the threshold into 2023, we bring what we must do, and leave behind what we cannot.
For Ethos Books, we knew we needed to start physically meeting people, including travelling overseas with the easing of Covid restrictions. This is what we must continue in 2023.
Like the wind, the new year breathes life into new places: we follow our instincts to find and uncover pockets of inspiration and collaboration.
This is a letter to invite both continuity and creative disruption into our lives—to 2023!
Five Truths and a Lie
1.
Experiments with Reality
I tested the reality of
glass—hit it really hard
with ice
and was surprised:
it cracked
on repeated impact.
2.
A poet said he can no longer do poetry when his country is at war. He spends his days doing volunteer work to support refugees and raising funds through social media channels. The last I heard, he was purchasing and retrofitting jeeps for use by the army. These nights, he sleeps easy having done an honest day’s work.
3.
Beauty inspires us towards virtue. Our spirit depends on it.
4.
In the new year, the number of titles published by Ethos Books will total less than the fingers of two human hands put together. They span just as many categories: non-fiction, poetry, essay, novel and short story. They offer, in no particular order:
(a) comfort from logic,
(b) a place to return away from home,
(c) silence as a holding space,
(d) a blueprint for a better tomorrow, and
(e) invention as a path to understanding.
5.
Earlier in December this year, we launched the Ethos Membership Programme. Three weeks later, I dreamt that a patron donated generously. In my dream, our team discussed how to attract even more donations by creating community platforms for members and patrons, platforms for conversation and critical thinking, where judgement can be suspended and fellow feeling reciprocated.
Natsuo Kirino, the Japanese novelist, warns us about the dangers of an easy sense of justice, as well as the weakening of the critical spirit.
6.
The poet is a person I met at the George Town Literary Festival.
The poet is a reference for you and me.
Poetry, story and writing give meaning to our lives.
Our authors and our editors and their work have the power to orientate our decisions.
You and I are part of the larger whole.
In 2023, we will honour our connectedness by renovating our home, together.
Kah Gay
Publisher
To receive more thoughtfully-penned weekly letters freshly delivered to your mailbox, subscribe to Attunement here: bit.ly/ethosletters
For Ethos Books, we knew we needed to start physically meeting people, including travelling overseas with the easing of Covid restrictions. This is what we must continue in 2023.
Like the wind, the new year breathes life into new places: we follow our instincts to find and uncover pockets of inspiration and collaboration.
This is a letter to invite both continuity and creative disruption into our lives—to 2023!
Five Truths and a Lie
1.
Experiments with Reality
I tested the reality of
glass—hit it really hard
with ice
and was surprised:
it cracked
on repeated impact.
2.
A poet said he can no longer do poetry when his country is at war. He spends his days doing volunteer work to support refugees and raising funds through social media channels. The last I heard, he was purchasing and retrofitting jeeps for use by the army. These nights, he sleeps easy having done an honest day’s work.
3.
Beauty inspires us towards virtue. Our spirit depends on it.
4.
In the new year, the number of titles published by Ethos Books will total less than the fingers of two human hands put together. They span just as many categories: non-fiction, poetry, essay, novel and short story. They offer, in no particular order:
(a) comfort from logic,
(b) a place to return away from home,
(c) silence as a holding space,
(d) a blueprint for a better tomorrow, and
(e) invention as a path to understanding.
5.
Earlier in December this year, we launched the Ethos Membership Programme. Three weeks later, I dreamt that a patron donated generously. In my dream, our team discussed how to attract even more donations by creating community platforms for members and patrons, platforms for conversation and critical thinking, where judgement can be suspended and fellow feeling reciprocated.
Natsuo Kirino, the Japanese novelist, warns us about the dangers of an easy sense of justice, as well as the weakening of the critical spirit.
6.
The poet is a person I met at the George Town Literary Festival.
The poet is a reference for you and me.
Poetry, story and writing give meaning to our lives.
Our authors and our editors and their work have the power to orientate our decisions.
You and I are part of the larger whole.
In 2023, we will honour our connectedness by renovating our home, together.
Kah Gay
Publisher
To receive more thoughtfully-penned weekly letters freshly delivered to your mailbox, subscribe to Attunement here: bit.ly/ethosletters
