The Commission
It Begins with a Conversation
The Raven’s Quill undertakes only a few Life Studies at a time, so that each life receives the whole of the attention this work demands. A commission begins not with a fee, but with a conversation, to understand the life in question and whether this is the right way to preserve it.
Commissions are undertaken wherever the life is lived. The residency travels.
The diary for the current commission is closed; the next Life Study begins in 2027.
This page concerns The Life Study. A Final Tribute, needed in the days before a farewell, begins instead with a telephone call or WhatsApp message: +27 79 281 8435
What to Expect
A first private consultation establishes the shape of the life and the fit of the work. Should both sides wish to continue, a full prospectus follows, detailing the methodology, the timeline, the deliverables, and the investment. Only then is a commission confirmed.
Discretion is assumed at every stage.
Many enquiries come not from the subject but from a son or daughter, or from a family’s adviser, wishing to honour a parent. These are welcomed, and handled with the same discretion.
For the questions most often asked before this conversation: Questions, Answered Plainly
The Principles
The Honesty of the Arrangement
Clarity is established before a word is written, because the trust this work requires depends on it. Three principles hold throughout a Life Study.
Authorship, Held; the Work, Yours to Keep
The Raven’s Quill authors every volume and retains the authorship and copyright of the work, as a scholar does of a study. This is what frees the subject from the vanity of self-praise, and what makes each volume an account that can be believed. What the family holds is everything else: the heritage run, a perpetual licence to reprint the volume privately, at cost, for as long as the lineage endures, and an absolute veto over anything private. The press undertakes in writing that the work is never published or shown without the family’s consent. Nothing is ever taken from you. What is kept is only the author’s name on the author’s work.
Narrative Sovereignty, Fully Retained
Independence of authorship never means loss of control over what is private. The subject holds a strict veto over intimate or confidential material, and nothing enters the public sphere over their objection. Dedicated months of the engagement are set aside, and structurally protected, for the subject to read and challenge the work while it is still soft.
Discretion, Without Exception
Original papers, letters, and photographs remain the property of the subject and are returned on completion. What is shared in confidence stays in confidence.
To begin, please share a little about the life you have in mind, in confidence.