Alfred Russel Wallace's book The Malay Archipelago, published in 1869 as a piece of scientific exploration, became the default 'travel guide' for the region, right up until the publication of the Lonely Planet Guides. So it was perhaps fitting that writer Avi Sirlin was in Ubud, in Indonesia, to talk about his biographical novel The Evolutionist: The strange tale of Alfred Russel Wallace.
Wallace was an English scientist and explorer, who travelled to the Amazon and to what was then termed the 'Far East', developing his theories of evolution and natural selection, at the same time as Charles Darwin. In fact, he sent one of his most significant papers to Darwin for comment and review.
Was it Wallace's class, personal style, lack of finances and connections, or something else that meant he faded from popular memory?
Canadian writer Avi Sirlin became fascinated by this prickly character and his extraordinary life story, and turned the life into a novel.
He spoke to Kate Evans at the Ubud Writers Festival in late 2015.