Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author and playwright. He was born in Suva, Fiji, but brought up in London and Abergavenny, and educated at King Henry VIII School Abergavenny, New College, Oxford, and at the University of East Anglia. As an actor he has played Wilfred Owen on stage, and has also presented arts programmes for BBC Wales. Owen's first novel, Resistance (UK Faber, 2007/ US Nan Talese/Doubleday 2008) will be translated into eight languages. His recent collaboration with composer Rachel Portman, The Water Diviner's Tale, an oratorio for children, was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms 2007. Owen is currently a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library.