Dear Member,
Just a reminder that on June 17th at The Arts Club we will be trying something a little different: an informal and relaxed literary evening of readings and discussion with two of Wales' finest writers, Owen Sheers and Dannie Abse. A contrast of generations and style but a common link through their love of poetry and their Welsh heritage. Previously these two great authors have appeared on stage together at The British Library, so we are very privileged to host them at Wales in London!
This event will be one of our informal evenings - smaller than the dinners - giving members a chance to meet each other before and after the readings and have a drink.
Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers was born in 1974 and brought up in Abergavenny. He is the winner of an Eric Gregory Award and the 1999 Vogue Young Writer’s Award. His first collection of poetry, The Blue Book was short-listed for the Wales Book of the Year and the Forward Poetry Prize Best 1st Collection, 2001. His debut prose work The Dust Diaries, a non-fiction narrative set in Zimbabwe, was short-listed for the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize and won the Wales Book of the Year 2005. Owen’s first novel, Resistance was short listed for the Writer's Guild of Great Britain Best Book Award 2008 and is due to be filmed later this year. His recent collaboration with composer Rachel Portman, The Water Diviner’s Tale, an oratorio for children, was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms. He has made a number of television appearances as contributor and presenter most recently on BBC4. He is currently working with the actor Michael Sheen and the new National Theatre of Wales on developing a work to be premiered in Port Talbot in 2011.
Dannie Abse
Apart from being one of Wales' foremost poets of the past sixty years, Danny Abse has been a practicing doctor and Cardiff City supporter! He has received numerous literary awards and fellowships for his writing and in 1989, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wales. His first poetic volume, After Every Green Thing, was published in 1949. His autobiographic work, Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve, was published in 1954. He won the Welsh Arts Council Award in both 1971 and 1987, and the Cholmondeley Award in 1985. He has been a Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature since 1983. His poetry collection, Running Late, was published in 2006, and The Presence, a memoir of the year after his wife died, was published in 2007; it won the 2008 Wales Book of the Year. The book was later dramatised for BBC Radio 4. In 2009 he brought out a volume of collected poetry. In the same year, he received the Wilfred Owen Poetry Award.
Event location: The Arts Club, 40 Dover Street, London W15 4NP.
Event Price: £20 (to include drinks and “nibbles”).
Spaces are limited - book now to secure your place!
http://www.walesinlondon.com/events.aspx?Eventid=50 / contact Bridget on bridget.robinson@rllj.com
Kind regards,
Robert
