Lewis, Gwyneth

(1959- )

   Welsh poet, born in Cardiff, she was educated at Pontypridd, Glamorganshire, but Welsh is her first language. She studied English at Girton College, Cambridge University, and received a Ph.D. in English from Oxford; her thesis was on eighteenthcentury literary forgery. She also studied at Harvard and Columbia Universities and worked as a freelance journalist in New York; on returning to Britain she worked on BBC television. She was appointed Wales's first national poet in April 2005 and is one of the Poetry Book Society's "Next Generation" poets. She has written an oratorio for six hundred voices, The Most Beautiful Man from the Sea, with music by Richard Chew and Orlando Gough. Two in a Boat: A Marital Voyage (2005) is an hilarious prose account of a slice of life with her husband. She has received six literary awards. Some of her poetry publications in English: Parables and Faxes, 1995. Zero Gravity, 1998. Keeping Mum, 2003. Chaotic Angels: Collected Poems, 2005. Some of her poems: "Herod's Palace," "Six Poems on Nothing," "Sunday Park," "The Bad Shepherd," "Walking with the God," "Welsh Espionage."

   Sources: Biography of Gwyneth Lewis (http://www.gwynethlewis.com/). British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). New Blood, Neil Astley, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 1999. New Women Poets. Carol Rumens, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 1990. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Harvill Book of Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. Michael Schmidt, ed. The Harvill Press, 1999. Twentieth Century Anglo-Welsh Poetry. Dannie Abse, ed. Seren Books / Dufour Editions, 1997.