Eric Ward

Roy Lewis (1913-1996) was a British poet, novelist, and translator. Born in London, he grew up in a working-class family and developed an early passion for literature. After graduating from Oxford, Lewis worked as a journalist and served in the Royal Navy during World War II. He began writing poetry in his thirties, and his first collection, "The Wild Fox" (1947), won recognition for its originality and social consciousness. Lewis's subsequent works included the novel "The Evolution Man" (1960) and the poetry collections "Self Condemned" (1954) and "The Dolphin" (1964). He was also a skilled translator, known for his English versions of the works of Bertolt Brecht, Paul Celan, and Federico García Lorca. Lewis's work was praised for its honesty, intelligence, and technical innovation. He received the Cholmondeley Award for Poetry in 1966 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1972. Today, he is remembered as one of the most significant British poets of the mid-20th century.