Jonathan Edwards (poet)
Jonathan Edwards (born 1979) is a contemporary Welsh poet, who was born in Newport, South Wales and grew up in Crosskeys.[1] He won the Terry Hetherington Award in 2010, prizes at the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and the Basil Bunting award in 2012.[2] His first book, the poetry collection My Family and Other Superheroes, won a £1,000 first-place prize at the Ledbury Poetry Festival's International Competition in 2014,[3] and the Costa Book Award for Poetry in 2014.[4] He received a BA in English and American Literature and an MA in writing from the University of Warwick.[2] Edwards teaches English at a secondary school in Monmouth.[5][3]
Edwards describes My Family and Other Superheroes as reflecting a sense of Welsh pop culture and its relation to broader Western culture, history, family, and the lives of ordinary people.[6] According to coverage of the Costa Award by The Daily Telegraph, "celebrities and fictional characters such as Sophia Loren and Evil Knievil collide with reflections on the social architecture of working class Welsh valleys."[7]
References
- ↑ Kirstie McCrum (2015-01-05). "Crosskeys poet bags Costa prize for debut collection". Wales Online.
- 1 2 "Jonathan Edwards - Seren Books". Seren Books. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
- 1 2 Emma Mackintosh (2014-10-31). "Teacher wins top poetry prize". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
- ↑ "English teacher Jonathan Edwards wins Costa poetry prize". BBC. 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
- ↑ "A discussion with poet, Jonathan Edwards". 2014-12-12.
- ↑ Jonathan Edwards. "Gregory Peck, Evel Knievel and the Chartists: on My Family and Other Superheroes". New Welsh Review (104).
- ↑ Vincent, Alice (5 January 2015). "Wartime adaptation of Five Children and It wins in Costa Book Award categories". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-01-20.