The Writers of Wales Database

LEWIS, DAVE

Website: www.david-lewis.co.uk

Dave Lewis is from Pontypridd and has always lived in Wales, except for a year in Kenya. Dave has degrees in Zoology (Cardiff University) and Software Engineering (Glamorgan University). He is published in numerous magazines and webzines both in the UK and overseas.

Dave published his first poetry collection - Layer Cake (Ponty Press) in 2009 and was a runner-up in Literature Wales’ 2009 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, judged by Stevie Davies and Niall Griffiths, with his short story ‘Onions’. This story was taken from his second work - Urban Birdsong (Ponty Press, 2010), a collection of short stories, poetry, prose and one song.

Dave's third book, Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses (Ponty Press, 2011), is a poetry collection split into five sections and accompanied by photographs on his web site. It contains the poem ‘Learning in Gaps’ which was highly commended in the New Writer competition judged by Helen Ivory.

Dave has worked for the BBC, written newspaper columns for the local press and content for many websites. He is founder and organiser of the international Welsh Poetry Competition which seeks to discover new writing talent. In July 2011 he published The First Five Years (Ponty Press) – a poetry anthology containing over 100 winning poems from the Welsh poetry Competition.

In October 2011 Dave published his first novel, Ctrl-Alt-Delete (Ponty Press), a Facebook cyber-stalking, murder mystery, love story set in south Wales. A year later he released a modern haiku collection – Haiku (Ponty Press, 2012) and in April 2013 he published the much awaited sequel to his first novel - Raising Skinny Elephants (Ponty Press) which sees the saga continue, in Kenya.

Reviews:
With respect to Layer Cake (Ponty Press, 2009)

"…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

With respect to Urban Birdsong (Ponty Press, 2010)

"…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 respect to Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses (Ponty Press, 2011)

"…From the first eponymously titled poem, we realise that Dave Lewis' work possesses an energy and freshness that lifts his imagery and empathy way above the work of many less ambitious poets…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

"...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...This is another book to savour, full of surprises, but more importantly, full of answers in an ever distracting modern world...”
Mark Davies

With respect to Ctrl-Alt-Delete (Ponty Press, 2011)

“…The novel for the Facebook generation. An ambitious tour de force that should put Wales well and truly on the international crime thriller map…”
Mark Jones

“...A witty and intelligent read, with a helluva twist at the end. Highly enjoyable, thoroughly recommended…”
Julie Ovens

With respect to Haiku (Ponty Press, 2012)

“…Dave Lewis is a unique voice in the poetry world. His new collection is filled with a range of vivid, often quirky, word pictures. He is adept at making every word count…”
Moira Andrew

“…Unconventional, unapologetic, unpretentious! Dave Lewis' Haiku gives us an interesting taste of outside-the-box thinking…”
Jolen Whitworth

''...Modern Haiku which addresses the everyday and yet somehow brings out those snapshot insights that resonate with the reader. This book comes highly recommended...'
Mark Treacher 

Selected Publications:
Layer Cake (Ponty Press, 2009)
Urban Birdsong (Ponty Press, 2010)
Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses (Ponty Press, 2011)
The First Five Years (Ponty Press, 2011)
Ctrl-Alt-Delete (Ponty Press, 2011)
Haiku (Ponty Press, 2012)
Raising Skinny Elephants (Ponty Press, 2013)

All books can be purchased from Dave’s web site – www.david-lewis.co.uk