Schlei · Essay 001 · 6 min
The Old Swede and the Society for a Proper Death.
In Schleswig, the cathedral gets the visitors. The smaller chapel keeps the stranger history.
Latest · Schlei · Essay 008 · 10 min
The Island That Kept Its Name
Schleimünde, the Lotseninsel, and the considerable work of looking peaceful.
Lighthouse, 3 October 2020. Pneutje / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized, converted to WebP. Source · Licence
The short version
The interesting part is usually underneath.
Daniel Rowan writes about machines, people, work and place—and the awkward consequences of decisions made by somebody who has already left the meeting.
Explore the storiesAlong the Schlei
From Schleswig towards the sea.
Three stops on the same long inlet. The fourth is on the cover.
Schlei · Essay 006 · 6 min
The Fence They Could Not Afford to Remove
At Kappeln, a modest line of posts has outlasted fishing disputes, plans for demolition and the persistent conviction that somebody ought to tidy it away.
Schlei · Essay 007 · 9 min
The Ship That Goes Nowhere
A figurehead in a car park, a village that moved, and a coast that revises its own map.
Selected work · Field note 002
The Mountain with Two Correct Heights
On the Fichtelberg, a simple question produces two answers, an 1864 stone has moved, and a peace bell waits behind the ice with a damaged voice.
No political system has yet resisted the conclusion that a commanding view would be improved by coffee.
From the field note
New stories · Scotland & Ireland
Curious things, properly checked.
03 · St Kilda3 min
The Post Had No Timetable
A small wooden boat carried island letters across the Atlantic. One later took ten years to arrive.
04 · Lucan2 min
Two Bottles, One Drawer
Two stone vessels resurfaced in a museum drawer. Their supposed journey to an Irish ringfort is still a question.
05 · Dublin1 min
The Cat Was Not on the Guest List
A feral visitor to Dublin Zoo entered the museum record by a route no one would recommend.
About
Curiosity with its sleeves rolled up.
Daniel Rowan is a writer interested in the systems beneath ordinary life: the machines, decisions, objects, histories and people that keep things moving after the polished explanation has stopped being useful.
The work begins with records, interviews, objects and inconvenient questions. Documented fact is kept separate from recollection, inference and a good story that still needs checking.
The aim is clarity without condescension; warmth without syrup; and, where the material permits it, enough dry humour to keep everybody awake.
Complicated things, made readable.
Not made stupid.
Commissions & rights
A useful brief beats a mysterious opportunity.
Editorial
Reported features, essays, cultural and industrial history, technology and work, and place-led writing in English or German.
Fees
Standard article commissions begin at €500. Research-heavy features, interviews and commercial assignments are quoted by scope.
Rights
First publication, reuse, translation, syndication, exclusivity and buyout rights are agreed separately. “All rights” is not punctuation.
Contact
Bring the real brief.
Publication or client, subject, intended use, approximate length, deadline, fee and rights requested. That is enough to begin sensibly.