Unicorns, Almost

by Owen Sheers

Unicorns, Almost portrays the short life of World War II poet Keith Douglas, from his childhood through four engagements to his fighting in the Western desert, his accelerated education as a poet and his early death three days after the Normandy D-Day landings at the age of twenty-four. It is the story of his Faustian pact with a war that would nurture his unique poetic voice before taking it away. It is also the story of his desperate race to see his poems in print.Widely recognised as the finest poet of World War Two, Keith Douglas was championed by Ted Hughes as an important influence. Hughes wrote the introduction to Douglas's Collected Poems, published by Faber.Unicorns, Almost by Owen Sheers opened at The Swan Hotel, Hay-on-Wye, in May 2018.

Genres: Plays

78 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

OWEN SHEERS is a poet, author and playwright. His first novel, Resistance, was translated into ten languages and adapted into a film. The Dust Diaries, his Zimbabwean nonfiction narrative, won the Wales Book of the Year Award. His awards for poetry and drama include the Somerset Maugham Award for Skirrid Hill, the Hay Festival Medal for Poetry and Wales Book of the Year Award for Pink Mist, and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award for his play The Two Worlds of Charlie F. His most recent novel is I Saw a Man, which was shortlisted for the Prix Femina Etranger. He lives in Wales with his wife and daughter. He has been a New York Public Library Cullman Fellow and is currently Professor in Creativity at Swansea University.

Reviews

[SallyandBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once I’d learned this was about World War Two and a poet and not forgetting by Owen Sheers I was sold.
This is a play about the poet Keith Douglas who died at the young age of 25 and fought in the second worl war.

I normally love Owen Sheers Poems,prose,plays type of books but this one although had some good parts didn’t wow me.

Maybe I need to re read it again soon?

[Andrew Gallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating dramatised version of Keith Douglas’ memoirs of the North Africa campaign 1942/3 in which he was a tank commander with the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry. I love his poetry, and this was a lovely way to bring this poet and war hero to life. (Killed in Normandy 1944.)