Lewis, Gwyneth
Persona
Gwyneth Lewis è nata a Cardiff, Galles, nel 1959. E' stata designata poeta nazionale gallese nel 2005.
Ha pubblicato libri di poesia in gallese, la sua prima lingua, e in inglese. La sua prima raccolta di poesie in inglese, "Parables & Faxes" (Bloodaxe Books, 1995), è stata nominata per il Forward Prize for Poetry e ha vinto l'Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Prize. Le poesie della seconda raccolta in inglese "Zero Gravity" (Bloodaxe Books, 1998) si ispirano al lavoro di suo cugino, Joe Tanner, un astronauta, che lavorò sul telescopio Hubble nel 1997. Anche quest'opera è stata candidata per il Forward Prize for Poetry. Con "Y Llofrudd Iaith" (Barddas, 2000), Gwyneth ha vinto il Welsh Arts Council Book of the Year Prize, premio che segnala il miglior libro dell'anno, e per lo stesso premio è stata candidata la terza raccolta di poesie in inglese "Keeping mum" (Bloodaxe Books, 2003).
Nel 2004 la scrittrice ha composto le parole che ornano la facciata del Millenium Centre di Cardiff: «In these stones horizons sing».
Nel suo primo saggio, "Sunbathing in the Rain. A Cheerful Book on Depression" (Harper Perennial, 2002), Gwyneth Lewis racconta come ha sconfitto la depressione. Il libro è stato nominato per il Mind Book of the Year. La seconda opera di saggistica, "Two in a Boat. A Marital Voyage" (Fourth Estate, 2005), è il racconto del suo viaggio da Cardiff fino in Nord Africa a bordo di una piccola barca in compagnia del marito.
"Chaotic Angels" (Bloodaxe Books, 2005) riunisce le poesie delle tre collezioni in inglese.
Nel 2008-2009 la scrittrice è stata Mildred Londa Wiseman Fellow presso il Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University e nel 2009-2010 Joint Sica/Stanford Humanities Center Fellow in the Arts and Humanities presso la Stanford University.
Nel 2010 è stato pubblicato "A Hospital Odyssey" (Bloodaxe, 2010).
Gwyneth Lewis was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1959. She was selected as first national Welsh poet in 2005.
She published six poetry books in Welsh, with her first language being English. Her first collection in English "Parables & Faxes" (Bloodaxe Books, 1995) was short listed for Forward Prize for Poetry (Best First Collection) and won the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival Prize. The poems of her second collection "Zero Gravity" (Bloodaxe Books, 1998) have been inspired by her cousin's work, Joe Tanner, an astronaut who worked on the Hubble telescope in 1997.
With "Y Llofrudd Iaith" (Barddas, 2000), she won the Welsh Arts Council Book of the Year Prize and with "Keeping Mum" (Bloodaxe Books, 2003), her latest poetry work she was also short listed for the same Prize in 2004, as best Book of the Year.
In 2004 she wrote the words adorning the facade of the Millennium Centre in Cardiff: «In these stones horizons sing».
In her first book in prose "Sunbathing in the Rain. A Cheerful Book on Depression" (Harper Perennial, 2002) Gwyneth Lewis tells of how she defeated depression. Her second fiction book "Two in a Boat. A Marital Voyage" (Fourth Estate, 2005) is the story of her voyage on a small boat with her husband from Cardiff to North Africa. "Chaotic Angels" (Bloodaxe Books, 2005) brings together the poems from her three English collections.
In 2008-09 Gwyneth was the Mildred Londa Wiseman Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University and in 2009-10 Joint Sica/Stanford Humanities Center Fellow in the Arts and Humanities at Stanford University.
In 2010 she was given a Society of Authors Cholmondeley Award recognizing a body of work and achievement of distinction.