Owen sheers born 20 september 1974 is a welsh poet, author, playwright and tv presenter. Owens theatrical writing includes his libretto for rachel portmans oratorio, the water diviners tale, which premiered at the royal albert hall for the bbc proms in 2007. Sheers writes in a crisp, clipped diction, full of internal rhyme and abrupt line breaks. His awards for poetry and drama include the somerset maugham award for skirrid hill, the hay festival medal for poetry and wales book of the year award for pink mist, and. He has been included in the independent on sundays list of best british writers and has won an.
Rugbyloving young welsh poet owen sheers talks to nicholas wroe about his debut collection the blue book fri 29 sep 2000 21. The guest list is headed by owen sheers, jonathan edwards, pauline prior pitt and char march. Pink mist by sheers, owen and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Get free shipping on skirrid hill by owen sheers, from. Moving from london and new york to the deserts of nevada, i saw a man is a brilliant exploration of violence, guilt and attempted redemption, written with the pace and grip of a thriller. His awards for poetry and drama include the somerset maugham award for skirrid hill. Owen sheers author owen sheers was born in fiji in 1974 and brought up in abergavenny, south wales. He went to school at king henry viii school in abergavenny, before studying at new college, oxford and the university of east anglia, at which point he completed an ma in creative writing. Buy a cheap copy of resistance book by owen sheers. Owens first novel, resistance has been translated into eleven languages.
Owen sheers, born in fiji in 1974 and brought up in abergavenny, south wales, was the 1999 winner of both an eric gregory award and the vogue young writers award. Mar 06, 2008 synopsis resistance opens in 1944, as the women of a small welsh farming community wake one morning to find that their husbands have gone. His nonfiction includes the dust diaries and calon. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. Resistance by owen sheers overdrive rakuten overdrive. He has been included in the independent on sundays list of best british writers and has won an eric gregory award. Owen sheers books list of books by author owen sheers. In calon, owen sheers takes a personal journey into a sport that defines a nation.
See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Andrew motion, the poet laureate, was featured alongside owen sheers. The green hollow i saw a man calon the gospel of us safari white ravens read more. Owen cowrote the screenplay for the film adaptation. Much of contemporary poetry draws on postmodern values, and consequently is skeptical about loves ability to last. His awards for poetry and drama include the somerset maugham award for skirrid hill, the hay festival poetry medal for pink mist, and the amnesty international freedom of. Buy skirrid hill by owen sheers with free delivery. Born on september 20, 1974, he has written several books, plays, and poems. Sheers cleverly takes us back in time to see how michael began his career as.
Sheers is drawing a parallel between the amazons of greek. Welsh romantic that i am, exactly halfway through this remarkable first novel i came across a passage that sent a shiver down my spine. Owen sheers was born in suva, fiji in 1974, and brought up in abergavenny, south wales. He is known for being a poet, author, playwright, and tv presenter. The dust diaries, his zimbabwean nonfiction narrative, won the wales book of the year award.
Upon visiting the family, owen discovers that joana came from a family that was a little bit dysfunctional. However, owen sheers is a contemporary poet who grew up in south wales. In easter 2011 owen wrote the script and novelisation the gospel of us for the passion. Sep 29, 2000 rugbyloving young welsh poet owen sheers talks to nicholas wroe about his debut collection the blue book fri 29 sep 2000 21. His debut prose work the dust diaries, a nonfiction narrative set in zimbabwe won the welsh book of the year 2005.
He has also written the dust diaries, a prose work retracing the steps of a. The winner of an eric gregory award and the 1999 vogue talent contest for young writers, his first collection of poetry, the blue book 2000, was shortlisted for the arts. June 9, 2015 accidental deaths in war and at home engender terrible lies and guilt in this highly original, engrossing literary thriller. Owen sheers was born in suva, fiji in the year 1974, and brought up in london as well as abergavenny, where his parents returned to after he was born and he lived most of his life. The plot centres on the inhabitants of a valley near abergavenny in wales in 194445, shortly after the failure of operation overlord and a successful german counterinvasion of great britain. His plays include the passion and the two worlds of charlie f. He is one of the 2004 next generation poets named by the poetry book society. His first novel, resistance, was translated into ten languages and adapted into a film. Resistance is an alternative history novel by welsh poet and author owen sheers. Join us for a summer celebration of poetry hosted by aardvark books. Owen sheers is currently considered a single author. Owen s first novel, resistance has been translated into eleven languages. The dust diaries, his zimbabwean nonfiction narrative won the welsh book of the year. Something very bad has happened, we learn in the first sentence of owen sheerss new novel, i saw a man, something that changed all of their lives.
His debut prose work, the dust diaries, a travel memoir set in zimbabwe, was shortlisted for the royal society of literatures ondaatje prize and won the welsh book of the year 2005. Owen sheers has written two collections of poetry, the blue book and skirrid hill. He was educated at king henry viii comprehensive, abergavenny and new college, oxford. The main reason why owen was asked to look into this case is that it is believed that it is somehow linked to a treasonous plot to overthrow the current. Owen sheers has 36 books on goodreads with 14732 ratings. A first volume by a highly regarded fijianwelsh poet, recent winner of a vogue award for young writers. He was educated at king henry viii school abergavenny, oxford, new college, and the university of east anglia. Jun 01, 2007 resistance by owen sheers 320pp, faber. Owen sheers is the author of the blue book, the dust diaries, skirrid hill and the novel resistance. Twicewinner of the wales book of the year, his books of poetry include skirrid hill, winner of a somerset maugham award, the baftanominated the green hollow, and the verse drama pink mist, winner of the hay festival poetry medal. Owen also visits joanas family to fully understand where she is coming from. Michael, a writer, and tv journalist caroline are in their 30s when they meet, marry, and move to wales in a love story that is a marvel of freshness and compressionand a.
About the author owen sheers has written two collections of poetry, the blue book and skirrid hill. Here, sheers presents relationships as difficult, but through the natural imagery of swans lifelong devotion, suggests love between two people can triumph. Resistance is a beautifully written and powerful story set during an imagined occupation of britain by nazi germany in world war ii. His first collection of poetry, the blue book, was shortlisted for the wales book of the year and the 2001 forward poetry prize. He has published two poetry collections, the blue book and skirrid hill which won a somerset maugham award. The dust diaries, his zimbabwean nonfiction narrative, won the welsh book of the year. The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading of owen sheerss resistance. Drawing on interviews and unprecedented access with players and wru coaching staff, calon presents an intimate portrait of a national team in the very best tradition of literary sports writing. Buy skirrid hill by owen sheers from waterstones today. Owen sheers is the author of the blue book, which was shortlisted for the welsh book of the year and the forward prize for best first collection, and the dust diaries, which won the welsh book of the year and was shortlisted for the ondaatje prize.
We personally assess every book s quality and offer rare, outofprint treasures. In a remote and rugged welsh valley in 1944, in the wake of a german invasion, all the men have disappeared overnight, apparently to join the. A group of german wehrmacht soldiers stay there after men leave to serve in the covert british resistance. Owen sheers takes the reader from close observation of the domestic sphere to some of the most important questions and dilemmas of the contemporary world. The winner of an eric gregory award and the 1999 vogue young writers award, his first collection of poetry, the blue book seren, 2000 was shortlisted for the wels. His novel resistance has been translated into ten languages and was made into a film in 2011. I saw a man begins with the moment when michael turner writer and recently widowed walks into his neighbours house josh and samantha and their two daughters a family he has grown close to, since moving back to london. The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading of owen sheers s resistance. In 2018 he was awarded the wilfred owen poetry award. Motion described sheers as the poet most likely to create new advances in the field of poetry. He was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team.
Occasionally he trips over his own tongue in overstuffed lines that recall hopkins at his most overwrought, but mostly these poems are lean and muscular, if somewhat mannered. Synopsis resistance opens in 1944, as the women of a small welsh farming community wake one morning to find that their husbands have gone. His second, skirrid hill, described by the guardian as a beautifully elegiac collection was published in 2005. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. In his hugely anticipated debut novel, owen sheers has produced a beautifully imagined and. Unicorns, almost, a one man play about the life and work of wwii poet keith douglas, was developed with old vic, new voices. In the gospel of us, owen sheers reimagines as fiction his play the passion, a threeday dramatisation set in the streets, beaches and clubs of port talbot, codirected by and starring michael sheen. We hope they will enrich your experience of this mesmerizing novel.