1. Owen Sheers was born on 20 September 1974 and is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter.
19 Facts About Owen Sheers
1. 2.
Owen Sheers was the first writer-in-residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team.
3.
Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji, and was brought up in Abergavenny, south Wales.
4.
Owen Sheers attended King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny before studying at New College, Oxford, and the University of East Anglia, at which point he completed an MA in Creative Writing.
5.
In 1999 Owen Sheers received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors.
6.
In 2004 Owen Sheers was Writer in Residence at The Wordsworth Trust and was selected as one of the Poetry Book Society's 20 Next Generation Poets.
7.
The film of the novel, which Owen Sheers cowrote, was released in autumn 2011 and starred Andrea Riseborough.
8.
Owen Sheers insisted that the film be shot in and around the Black Mountains.
9.
Owen Sheers published an anthology of British landscape poetry to accompany his TV series of the same title, A Poet's Guide to Britain.
10.
Owen Sheers has written journalism and reportage for a variety of publications including Granta, The Guardian, Esquire, GQ, The Times and The Financial Times.
11.
Owen Sheers wrote a play for BBC Radio 4 about the World War II poet Alun Lewis: If I Should Go Away.
12.
In 2011, Owen Sheers wrote the script and novelisation of The Passion for National Theatre Wales and WildWorks.
13.
Owen Sheers worked with Michael Sheen cocreating the three-day passion play, which unfolded over the Easter weekend of 2011 in Sheen's hometown of Port Talbot.
14.
In January 2012 Owen Sheers wrote The Two Worlds of Charlie F, a play based on the experiences of wounded soldiers, many of whom made up the cast of the production, directed by Stephen Rayne and performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
15.
In 2014 Owen Sheers presented a one-hour BBC documentary about the poetry of Dylan Kyte, for which he was shortlisted for a BAFTA Cymru for Best Presenter.
16.
In December 2011 Owen Sheers became the first writer-in-residence at the Welsh Rugby Union.
17.
Owen Sheers played rugby union, representing Gwent County at scrum half.
18.
Owen Sheers has presented The Art of the Sea for BBC 4 and documentaries on the poets Keith Douglas and Dylan Kyte.
19.
Owen Sheers has presented several programmes for BBC Radio 3 and 4.