Owen Sheers is a Welsh writer, poet, and playwright whose work deals primarily with nature, war, identity, and relationships. As a talented writer working in multiple mediums, he infuses poetry into all his work. In the past he has called himself “a poet who writes in other forms.” Sheers has authored two poetry collections and is the winner of multiple awards, including the 2005 Somerset Maugham Award, the 2013 Hay Festival Medal for Poetry, and the 2018 Wilfred Owen Poetry Award. He is the author of the novels The Dust Diaries, Resistance, and I Saw a Man, the novella White Ravens, and the verse drama Pink Mist, among others. He has also written for TV and radio programs.
Sheers's work often focuses on the importance of place. His poems are marked by beautiful lyrical moments that offer useful insights into life, land, and the borders constructed between us—borders that are both geographical and interpersonal. One example is the way in which Sheers draws upon his Welsh heritage in his first poetry collection, The Blue Book. The speaker states that an empire is constructed “Not just with stakes in stolen land, / But with strength of tongue as well as strength of hand.” Many of Sheers's poems consider past events and how they affect the present. Though loss is ever-present in his work, he reaches across time and the spaces between human beings to unearth connection.
Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet whose work examines the inextricable link between humans and nature. Originally published in Sheers's 2006 poetry collection Skirrid Hill, "Mametz Wood" is a poem that reckons with events from the past; specifically,...
Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet (born in Suva, Fiji) who created two poetry collections, The Blue Book and Skirrid Hill which won the Somerset Maugham Award. Born on September 20, 1974, he has written several books, plays, and poems. He is known for...
Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet whose work uses nature to symbolize human affairs, emotions, and relationships. First published in Sheers's 2006 collection Skirrid Hill, “Winter Swans” is a poem about a couple experiencing issues in their...
