Biography

Owen Sheers (born 20 September 1974) is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and TV presenter. He was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team.

Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974, and brought up in Abergavenny, south Wales. He was educated at King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny, before going on to study at New College, Oxford and the University of East Anglia, where he completed an MA in Creative Writing. During his time at New College, Sheers captained the Oxford University Modern Pentathlon team.

In 1999, Sheers received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors. His first collection of poetry, The Blue Book, was published by Seren in 2000. A collection of poems about family, first love and farming life, it was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year and the Forward Prize for 'Best First Collection'. Following this first publication, Sheers worked on the light entertainment television show The Big Breakfast as a researcher.[3] His debut prose work, The Dust Diaries, was published by Faber in 2004. A non-fiction narrative set in Zimbabwe, it won the Wales Book of the Year in 2005, and was also shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize.

In 2004 Sheers was Writer in Residence at The Wordsworth Trust and was selected as one of the Poetry Book Society’s 20 Next Generation Poets. Sheers' 2nd collection of poetry, Skirrid Hill (Seren, 2005) won a 2006 Somerset Maugham Award. Unicorns, almost his one man play based on the life and poetry of the WWII poet Keith Douglas was developed by Old Vic, New Voices, and performed by Joseph Fiennes.

Owen is currently Professor of Creativity at Swansea University.

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