Great Welsh Writers: Alun Lewis

Alun Lewis is considered by many to be the finest British writer of the Second World War. Born in the south Wales valleys, he was just twenty-eight when he died in service overseas. Yet the poems, letters and stories that he left behind make him a true great of Welsh literature. To mark the centenary of his birth, this Great Welsh Writers special traces the life and work of Alun Lewis, from the hardship of a Cwmaman boyhood to the extremes of wartime India. Along the way, we hear the poems of love and death that made him a critically-acclaimed best-seller. The secret that Alun Lewis hinted at in his final poems is also uncovered: a passionate love affair that transformed his life, but led him closer to death. The programme features the memories of Alun’s widow Gweno, now aged 102, and insights from leading poets Owen Sheers, Andrew Motion and Gillian Clarke.