A University of Bolton PhD Creative Writing student’s new poetry collection has been named Poetry Book of the Month by The Observer and will feature on an exhibition at the prestigious Southbank Centre in London.
Formerly a British Judo Champion, Owen Lowery suffered a spinal injury while competing in a charity tournament and is now paralysed from the shoulders down.
He completed his MA in Creative Writing at the University of Bolton and is currently doing his PhD, concentrating on the poetry of Keith Douglas, a soldier killed in action during the Second World War.
The collection, Rego Retold, includes 50 poems in response to individual paintings by one of the most distinctive and compelling voices in contemporary art, Paula Rego.
Lowery’s poetry has appeared in Stand and PN Review, and has been listed in the Bridport Prize, the Welsh Open Poetry Competition, the Virginia Warbey Prize, and the International Sonnet Competition.
Publisher Carcanet said of his collection: ‘Drawing on the often disturbing themes of Rego’s works, power, violence, the body at its most vulnerable , Lowery creates poems that both interpret the visual and move away from it into new narratives.
‘Rego Retold is a fascinating exploration of the interplay of word and image; it is also a poet’s personal tribute to one of the most significant artists of our time.’
