Writing
Dave Lewis has written content for various web sites for many years, including the now defunct BBC Wales Scrum V fanzine and four hugely successful rugby sites with Rivals.net. He has also written an infrequent newspaper column for the Pontypridd Observer. He has written poetry since his teens and been published in a number of literary magazines and web sites. He has just published his second book.
Urban Birdsong
In May 2010 Dave published his second book - Urban Birdsong - a book of short stories, poetry, prose and one song. To buy this collection just click below:
Buy direct from the author by clicking the button below:
or buy from Amazon.co.uk
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
New work from Dave's second book:
Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2009
Dave was named as one of the runners-up in February 2010 for his short story 'Onions', taken from his second book 'Urban Birdsong'. To see the list of winners - click here.
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
Layer Cake
In March 2009 Dave published his first book of poetry - Layer Cake - spanning the last 24 years. To buy this collection just click below:
Buy direct from the author by clicking the button below:
or buy from Amazon.co.uk
About:
"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
Sample poems from Layer Cake:
Poetry magazines / webzines
To see magazines where Dave has been published go to the links page.
Poet of the Month
Dave was chosen as "Pure Poetry's - Poet of the Month" by Nick Fisk for April 2009.
Columns
Below are a list of newspaper, magazine and website columns. Most columns pop-up in a new window in Word format:
- Tweens (20/08/09)
- The Times They Are A Changin' (31/12/08)
- To Haka Or Not To Haka (02/12/08)
- Autumn Woe (20/11/08)
- The 5th Region (03/09/08)
- Tourism Ponty Style (20/06/08)
- Greening Our Towns (21/05/08)
- Pool For Thought (27/04/08)
- Land Glorious Land (27/04/08)
- Committees (08/03/08)
- Fishing For Success (11/11/07)
- The Master Plan (28/10/07)
- Johnny's Bike (11/11/07)
- Ducks In A Row (01/07/07)
- Pushing Ponty (01/05/07)
- Where Have All The Students Gone? Far, Far Away (24/01/07)
- Christmas Shopping (01/12/06)
- Wales, Wales, Wales (14/11/06)
- I Had A Dream (25/09/06)
- Halloween (22/09/06)
- Merging On The Ridiculous (08/01/04)
Listings
Academi website listing -
click here.
Poem Hunter -
click
here.
Press
Free Press Release -
click here.
Wales Online -
click here.
Free Press Release -
click here.
Pure Poetry -
click here.
Welsh Tartans -
click here.
