Today I’ll be interviewing British author Simon Cockshutt also known as Simon Bardwell whom I met on Goodreads and then who became a close friend of mine. I read and reviewed two of his books and enjoyed them thoroughly. I also mentioned him in an article for The Examiner: A Catholic Newsweekly which I wrote focusing on the person of St. Matthew the Evangelist. I then thought of interviewing him for my blog insaneowl.com as I think he writes some really marvellous literary fiction as well as Christian spiritual non-fiction. He has spent 45 fruitful years in the Word Ministry bringing more readers closer to a deeper understanding of the Holy Bible and therefore, it is such a pleasure to have him here on insaneowl.com.
Biography
In his own words: I feel I have a call on my life to work for the unity of Christians. Therefore I seek that which unites us and helps us to be faithful to Jesus. My books are the result of a deeply ingrained word ministry. My vocation is to be a Herald of the Gospel. The truth that sets us free. See John 10.10
Interview
Fiza: After having read two of your books under two of your names, one being your pen name Simon Bardwell and the other your real name Simon Cockshutt, I want to ask you why did you use two names for your literature?
Simon: Simon Cockshutt is my birth name. It is the one that appears on the legal documents.
My original aim was to publish fiction anonymously. I chose the name Bardwell because that was my mother’s maiden name, her father, my Grandfather, being Harold Bardwell. From about the age of seven, I was brought up in a single parent family with an absent father. I am very attached to the surname Bardwell and feel that it is quite a fitting one for an author.
I wanted people who read my fiction to read it without realising that I was a clergyman.
Fiza: Which Simon of the two do you prefer: Simon Cockshutt or Simon Bardwell?
Simon: Simon Bardwell as it reminds me of my mother a woman of strong faith.
Fiza: I really enjoyed your fiction book about a newly appointed Vicar titled ‘Breakfast at Brewer Street’. It was a book right up my alley, and I just could not put it down and was looking for excuses to get back to it day after day. But was it easy to write this novel or did you receive some backlash from your Parish or Church?
Simon: I think writing fiction is always challenging. So far, I haven’t received any backlash from parish or church.
Fiza: Can you tell our readers a few words about your exciting novel ‘Breakfast at Brewer Street’?
Simon: At one level, the book is about someone who follows what they believe is a vision or calling from God. Then at another level. It is about a place in London that is visited by two clergymen. One has good intentions and the other doesn’t. The reader gets to compare the men. The book is intended as an entertainment but is also hopefully thought provoking.
Fiza: Are you planning on writing another novel or novella in the coming days and weeks? Or are you currently working on another kind of project?
Simon: I am currently working on three books. All of them are past first edit and on second or third edit.
Fiza: When I chose ‘Breakfast at Brewer Street’ to read this year 2024, I realized to my astonishment that there was no synopsis to the book on Amazon, just the rave reviews about it. Was that done by you intentionally or was it accidental?
Simon: It was intentional.
Fiza: Describe your writing style in three sentences.
Simon: Lets skip this one, I don’t know how to answer it.
Fiza: Which writers have been your inspiration? What impact have they had on your writing endeavors over the years and especially this year 2024?
Simon: I would name Kurt Vonnegut and Graham Greene as two influences on my writing.
Fiza: I also enjoyed and felt inspired by your spiritual book ‘As A Watchman Waits…’ which I have even mentioned in The Examiner: A Catholic Newsweekly which is a Catholic Magazine that I’m a regular contributor to. I felt that that book truly defined your firm faith and your excellence as a writer of Christian Fiction. How did you come about writing that book?
Simon: I feel that God prompted me to start writing it. Many of the reflections in it came out of prayer walking the town that I live in.
Fiza: I personally prefer your Christian Spiritual Fiction to your fiction, even though your fiction is amazing enough. What about you? Do you prefer your spiritual writings or your fictional titles?
Simon: I think I like them both equally. The Christian writing is like an offering to God, and I try and listen to what He has to say to me and then write about it.
Fiza: I am currently reading another one of your Christian Spiritual Books titled ‘40-Days Holy Spirit: A Retreat’ and yet again I see a work full of spiritual depth, deep faith and a perfect understanding of the wisdom contained in one’s soul. How did you come about penning this book? Was it easier to write than ‘As a Watchman Waits…’? I would love to know.
Simon: I wrote two books that are intended to be a guided retreat. The first one was 40 days: Meditations on Leadership. The second is the Holy Spirit book that you have been reading. I found writing them harder than writing As a Watchman Waits. I think the reason for this is the work I had to put in to try and make them a guided journey. Whereas the reflections in As a Watchman Waits can be read in more or less any order.
Fiza: You have spent 45 years in the Word Ministry. Can you tell my readers something about that aspect of your life?
Simon: I believe if God calls you to ministry, He will help equip you. So, strangely enough, my secular employer sometimes trained me in things that will be useful for them, but also for ministry. Examples of this are public speaking, making presentations and even writing work manuals in plain English.
During the right of ordination for deacons in the Catholic Church, you are given a book of the Gospels. The bishop says to you. “Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you now are. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” I took this to heart and have tried to live as a herald of the gospel. Announcing the Good News about Jesus Christ in various ways.
Fiza: Who was your role model while growing up? Who also was the person instrumental in making you so close to God that you landed up becoming a Deacon?
Simon: I would say this was a combination of my mother, my grandfather and a Franciscan priest our family knew and who used to come and stay with us, a Father Bruno.
Fiza: What is your poison while writing or reading? Tea or Coffee? Or is it something else?
Simon: Mainly many cups of strong tea! There is a loose leaf blend that is sold in the UK called Yorkshire Tea.
Fiza: Name a few of your all-time favorite books and explain how they have impacted your life.
Simon: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Fiza: What are you reading currently?
Simon: I have just started Foster by Claire Keegan
Fiza: What are the kind of books that make you tick? Name and describe one of the best books you’ve ever read apart from the Holy Bible.
Simon: Henrik Ibsen – The Doll’s House. It is about a woman who is challenged by a set of circumstances to rethink her relationship with her husband.
Fiza: Define your Word Ministry in five sentences.
Simon: Do you know how hard some of your questions are! My Word ministry is a chance to introduce people to Jesus Christ. The purpose of that invitation is to provoke a desire for them to want to know Christ. The invitation is to have a relationship with the Risen Lord. To see that Jesus is King of Kings and our redeemer. But that also he is our friend.
Fiza: Did you identify closely with the Vicar protagonist in the novel ‘Breakfast at Brewer Street’ or is there nothing similar to that Vicar and your own personal life?
Simon: No, I don’t identify with the protagonist. Well not directly anyway. I think the thing is I was wanting to make up a story about what happened if you took what Jesus said to its logical conclusion. Jesus was criticized for spending time with sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, the protagonist merely tries to follow his example after having met Rosie.
Fiza: What impact has your family had on you becoming a writer on Amazon? Who is your greatest support in all your life’s choices and endeavors and why?
Simon: I would like to skip this question.
Fiza: I am so excited to see that you’ve got your next spiritual book ‘Homespun Thoughts: Accessing Streams of Living Water’ coming out on the 1st of December 2024. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. I simply can’t get enough of your spiritual writings. Tell my readers more about this latest release of yours and how different it is to your earlier spiritual works.
Simon: Out of the three previous books that is most like my first one As a Watchman Waits. I am hoping that it will help increase the faith of the people who read it.
Fiza: What opinion do you have about the following:
(i) Your vocation as a Deacon
(ii) Your role as a father
(iii) Your opinion about how God’s Word is taught today compared to 45 years ago when you started out your Word Ministry.
Simon:
(i) God knows me quite well and he wants me to be his servant and a herald of the gospel.
(ii) I love being a father. It was difficult to begin with as I had no role model of a father growing up. God healed me though and it turned out that I enjoy being a father. I now see it as one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
(iii) The core gospel is the same and will never change if we want to be authentic as followers of Christ. We also need to understand the world that we now live in and find the way to explain that Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
Fiza: Which is the best literary spot you’ve visited? Why is that spot very important to you as an author?
Simon: It is the Hardy Tree near St Pancras in London. It fell down in 2022. However, it reminded me that even the world-famous author Thomas Hardy had an ordinary wage earning life before he became famous. See https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/27/historic-hardy-tree-falls-in-london
Fiza: I seem to have grown quite fond of you as we both share a profound love for God’s Word and His Christian Church. I feel whenever we converse and send messages to each other that indeed God is present there with us as we guide each other towards living our respective vocations fruitfully. I also love the Bible passages we ponder over when we pray for each other. Have you felt the same about someone else in the same way in the past? If so, tell my readers more about this person.
Simon: I think it is the love of Jesus, of God the Father and a thirst for the Holy Spirt that unites us. It has happened before to me that God has connected me with those that he wants me to travel with.
Fiza: Have you yet written your magnum opus?
Simon: Not yet and time is running out! I have cancer and so can’t write many further books. I do think authors are challenged to “write their hearts out” in their books.
Conclusion
Fiza: I really enjoyed interviewing Simon Cockshutt on my blog insaneowl.com today. You can find all of Simon Cockshutt’s books easily on Amazon as Simon Cockshutt or by his pen name Simon Bardwell. Please feel free to reach out to him on Goodreads as Simon Cockshutt) or by his pen name Simon Bardwell or on his website and do check out his amazing books. I hope to interview Simon once again soon in the near future on this blog which contains quality bookish content always.
Copyright © 2024, Fiza Pathan
Leave a Reply