Magazines
Below are links to the various magazines, webzines, blogs and web sites that Dave has been published in, plus any competition wins or reviews. Why not visit the web sites and read other quality work or even download / buy a copy of a magazine. Remember! Keeping these publications going is the only way we can stop the bland, boring verse propagated by the arts council elites and gravy train season ticket holders.
Magazines / webzines
The Heron's
Nest
haiku in 'December issue'
HQ Poetry
Magazine
Poem: Sunday Morning,
two haiku in #39&40
Shamrock
(Irish Haiku Society Journal)
two haiku in #19
Presence
haiku in #45
Gold
Dust Magazine
Poem: Girl from Albany Road
BottleRockets
haiku in #12
Red Poets
Poems: From Ponty to Port Elizabeth, Sabi, The Phoenix Capsule, Bike in
the River Taff, Sponsors of...
Ink,
Sweat & Tears
Poems: Bobby, Merthyr Bus Stop, Quite early one morning
The Journal
Poems: Sirhowy
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Poems: Kris cross, Human Nature, Death in Fiji
Monkey Kettle
Poems: Toothless
Bolts of Silk
Poems: Over weekend washed cobbles, a Penguin in Cardiff
Origami Condom
Poems: With a Yes and a No
The Beat
Poems: Skip a Beat
Read This Magazine
Poems: Grinding Down, Afternoon Shift
Gloom Cupboard
Poems: A Kenyan Accident, 41 Ladysmith Rd
Inclement magazine
Poems: Grab, Rev Jones returns home early from Fiji, Bundle
The Seventh Quarry
Poems: Elephant, Bandi
Spark Bright
Poems: Africa
Treeblog
Poems: Hope
Square magazine
Poems: A Kenyan Accident, Bobby, With a Yes and a No, 41 Ladysmith Rd,
Fragment, Now and Then Prose: Global Warning
Bottom of the World
Poems: Boats, Miners Dog, Glazed Olives, Human Nature
Open Mouse
Poems: Wordsworth in 2006, Boats
BBC Sport
Column on regional rugby fiasco
Buzzle.com
Pontypridd pubs review
Great Writing
A few poems online here
Tontine Student Newspaper (University of Edinburgh)
Poems: 41 Ladysmith Rd, Afternoon Shift
New Magazine (African Dreams)
Poems: A Kenyan Accident
Never Bury Poetry
Poems: Bobby
Reviews
Praise for Sawing Fallen Logs:
"From the first eponymously titled poem, we realise that Dave
Lewis's work possesses an energy and freshness that lifts his imagery
and empathy way above the work of many less ambitious poets. The element
of surprise in each poem, however short, is even more startling coming
as it does from such uncluttered writing. Last lines are an example,
while phrases such as ‘trees as tall as ships’, ‘a severe lack of
hares’, ‘the brittle grass of misunderstanding...’ will surely enhance
the readers' own perceptions of the world around them. This collection's
structure too, works well under its five separate headings, and the
diverse forms used in several poems adds visual variety. A wonderful
read. Buy it!"
- Sally Spedding
"Dave Lewis is a vital voice of the Valleys, in touch with both the
streets and the natural world. His free-flowing verse makes him a Welsh
son of the Beats."
- Mike Jenkins
“Dave Lewis has done it again! A superb collection of ‘Zen-like’
poetry, not the usual pseudo-academic bullshit churned out by most of
the arts council hangers-on but a cutting edge piece of art guaranteed
to make us all sit up and take notice. A cyclic collection divided into
five parts, each one able to stand alone yet each also flows easily into
the next. We find ourselves transported from the beauty and fragility of
nature past ex-lovers and exotic far off lands before finally returning
home to the valleys and close family – a wonderful sense of time and
place. The last poems highlight an obsession with his local environment
where sparse verse expertly pin-point what surrounds, influences and
controls us all. This is another book to savour, full of surprises, but
more importantly, full of answers in an ever distracting modern world.”
– Mark Davies
“Dave Lewis is an accomplished photographer who moves easily between the
beauty of an ecological landscape and the stark reality of urban decay.”
– Andrew Davies, The Gallowbirds
To read the fantastic review from 'Gold Dust Magazine' visit Dave's
blog -
click here.
Praise for Urban Birdsong:
"Dave Lewis offers us multiple
perspectives in this musical travelogue through a modern Wales and
beyond. Honest, raw and mysterious. Just when you think you’ve worked it
out a twist, a turn, a sensuous push. This collection is finely honed
each word carefully chosen. From the intimacy of family and friends, to
lovers and laughable locals a quality of authenticity shines through.
The writer’s eye for detail is finely observed and he is never afraid to
confront authority head-on. The prose pieces are well crafted and show
great range and the final poem in the collection is about as perfect as
a poem can get – an absolute masterpiece! Avant-garde? Revolutionary?
I’m not sure, but one thing is for certain there is no pretentious
bullshit here."
- Mark Davies
"A melodic safari through a valleys consciousness."
- Andrew Davies, The Gallowbirds
"Dave Lewis’ second collection, Urban Birdsong, is a work of
enormous range and scope both in terms of its form and subject matter. A
Welsh writer who can move the reader from the local to global, from
Merthyr to Monterey, and back again. Shared pain, shared laughter, and
we are all as one, and all the richer for the experience. Carefully
observed; funny and sad; accessible and illuminating: a must read
collection of verse and prose."
- John Evans
"Dave Lewis brings together the personal and social in poems and
prose set in pubs, fields and bedrooms. From Ponty to Africa, he makes
places come alive with both humour and the senses."
- Mike Jenkins
"With subjects, settings and situations from near and far, all
delivered with a personal and down to earth understanding, I found Urban
Birdsong engaging, humorous, insightful and wonderfully emotive too.
This book has been written with a natural and positive sensitivity that
shines forth throughout it's contents. A real treat to read, and
certainly not a collection that will just sit and go dusty in the
bookcase; it is a book that I shall return to over again. I thoroughly
enjoyed it!"
- Claire Rees
"Loved the book. What a great insight into Wales and its people.
Congratulations are due as it gave me a few insights I had not
previously had."
- Cllr. Mike Powell
Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2009 judges adjudication:
"...the world of Onions is an enclosed one; specifically, a
valleys curry-house at a weekend, in which we witness the clash of
several disparate cultures, all of which the writer powerfully evokes
with the briefest of sketches. The epiphanic moment at the story's close
is expertly done: the headlights of a passing car beam into the
restaurant, and 'the people were lit up, momentarily, clear as diamonds
[and] Mohammed could see for the first time in his life'. A remarkably
controlled piece of work."
- Stevie Davies & Niall Griffiths
Back cover of Layer Cake:
"Dave Lewis is a poet, teacher, zoologist, web designer, global
traveller, husband, father, newspaper columnist, and so many other
things. He is a 21st Century Renaissance Man; a genuine multi-tasker; a
man who's life history and work reflects and documents so many of the
changes that effect us all today.
"His poetry is honest and direct. Each word is effective. Each word is
easily understood. Unlike so many others today, he writes from the heart
and soul, from raw emotion; he has drawn on his wide ranging knowledge
and experience to evolve a style, an elevated poetic diction, which
eschews artifice and ornate language. To do otherwise, to court
obscurity, to write for just a small coterie, would be for him to miss
the mark. Dave Lewis' poetry is for everyone, not just the metropolitan
intelligentsia, or Arts Council elite, or pseudo University academics.
"Although a true son of his native South Wales Valleys, his work moves
from the local, to the national, to the international; he aspires to a
universal discourse, beyond the here and now, and beyond class, or
localness, or country.
"His subject matter is both urban and naturalistic and reflects not only
a love of towns and cities but also his awareness and passion for the
wild landscapes that lie beyond - from the wet streets of his home town,
Pontypridd, and the sunlit switchbacks of San Francisco, to the lush,
green, Breconshire mountains, and the dry, arid, deserts of Kenya
"This excellent collection of Dave Lewis' work is highly recommended and
it should help establish poetry to its rightful place as a vital form of
artistic expression for everyone."
- John Evans
Praise for Layer Cake:
"It's not often that a collection of poems inspires and uplifts you. It's something that happens as rarely as a good British summer, in fact. But Layer Cake by Dave Lewis is just as unusual and welcome.
In the stuffy world that poetry can be, this collection really is a breath of fresh air. This collection of unique and different poems comes from the heart, with subjects as diverse as Boats and Stevie Nicks!
Each poem reads like a story and conjures an image in your mind, from the highly sensual evocations in Grinding Down to the succinct and to-the-point Portrait of Churchill.
Dave Lewis is obviously well-travelled and his poems Africa and Kenya take you to these places without having to endure Gatwick! But closer to home, Dave also creates poignant images of his home country with well-crafted gems like Pen-y-Fan and Y Bont.
All in all, this is an interesting and entertaining collection
which is well worth reading."
- Amanda Weeks
Competitions
Rhys Davies Short Story Competition
In 2009 Dave gained a runner-up spot in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition run by the Academi and judged by Stevie Davies and Niall Griffiths for his story Onions which appears in his second book Urban Birdsong.
Web links: click here / click here
The New Writer
The poem Learning in Gaps, which appears in Dave's third book
Sawing Falling Logs For Ladybird Houses was highly commended in the Single
Poem category in the 2010 Prose & Poetry Prizes, judge Helen Ivory.
The poem was published in The New Writer magazine and web site.
Web link: click here
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