Profile of Dr William Lewis

Name:

Dr William Lewis

Position:

Senior Lecturer (Theatre/Creative Writing)

Email:

w.r.lewis@bangor.ac.uk

Location:

Creative Industries Building

Phone:

+44 (0)1248 388497

Dr William R. Lewis is a native of Anglesey who graduated from Bangor University where he later gained a doctorate in creative writing. In the 1975 National Eisteddfod he was awarded the Drama Trophy for his controversial play Gerallt Llywelyn (1976). He has since established himself as one of Wales’ most industrious and experienced playwrights and scriptwriters, and has written for theatre, television and radio. He was for several years a regular member of the scriptwriting team of Pobol y Cwm (BBC Cymru), S4C’s flagship soap opera.

He has been employed on two occasions to write the National Eisteddfod’s commissioned play: Tŷ Mawr was written for the 1983 Anglesey National Eisteddfod and Ffrwd Ceinwen for the 1999 Anglesey National Eisteddfod.

As a lecturer in the Drama Department and then the Department of Welsh, he maintained the tradition established by his renowned predecessor at Bangor, John Gwilym Jones, of staging theatrical productions with undergraduate students. Not only did he introduce them to classic Welsh texts, but also to the work of European dramatists such as Strindberg, Ibsen and Vaclav Havel. Generations of students have benefited from his work: a number of them have since established themselves as professional actors, among them Arwel Gruffydd, Dafydd Emyr, Gwenno Hodgkins, Nia Roberts and Ffion Dafis. His exceptional contribution as a teacher and trainer was recognised when Bangor University awarded him one of its coveted Honorary Teaching Fellowships.

He has also produced theatrical works for the professional and amateur stage. Gymerwch Chi Sigaret? by Saunders Lewis is but one of his productions for Theatr Gwynedd Company and he also provided a stage adaptation of Daniel Owen’s classic Welsh novel, Enoc Huws, for the same company. In 2006 he was invited by the Theatr Fach company in Llangefni to produce his own play, Golf.

As a critic he has published extensively on the life and work of the dramatist, writer and critic, John Gwilym Jones. William R. Lewis is also co-editor of Ysgrifau Beirniadol (‘Critical Essays’) and will publish his first novel in 2007.

William R. Lewis is currently on a secondment to the National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries, but continues to contribute fully to the School of Welsh teaching provision.

Selected Publications

Ffrwd Ceinwen (Anglesey National Eisteddfod commissioned play) (Holyhead: Taff Press, 2000), 155.

http://www.gwales.com/reviews/?isbn=9780948469725&tsid=41

Golff: Drama Dair Act (Llanrwst: Carreg Gwalch Press, 2000), 131.

http://www.gwales.com/reviews/?isbn=9780863816109&tsid=39

Ymylau Byd (Holyhead: Taff Press, 1999), 62.

http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?isbn=9780948469695&tsid=43

Writers of Wales: John Gwilym Jones (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994), 120.

http://www.gwales.com/bibliographic/?isbn=9780708312513&tsid=37

‘Areithiau Hirion Dramâu John Gwilym Jones (1): Y Brodyr’, Llên Cymru, 22 (1999), 108-24.

‘Areithiau Hirion Dramâu John Gwilym Jones (2): Diofal yw Dim’, Llên Cymru, 23 (2000), 192-207.