It’s Chuffing Magic!
David Lesley Urion was born on the North Wales border in June 1959 and has been living in Murcia since 2001. He has a BA (Hons) degree in Youth and Community Education from the University of Wales and has held a whole host of varied and challenging jobs in a nomadic life since leaving school;
some more enjoyable and long-lasting than others obviously, but all providing unique learning experiences that have often come in handy as poem topics; farm hand, engineering draughtsman, police officer, forklift truck driver, youth and community worker, garden designer, school book salesman, football coach, translator, tour guide, mystery shopper, mentor, TEFL teacher and ultimately creative writing tutor in two fantastic Siberian universities.
This lifestyle and the memories and emotions experienced are reflected in the range of his published short stories and poetry which have been translated into Russian and Spanish and have enabled David to gain inspiration from the multitude of environmentally and ethnically different locations where he has lived or felt ‘at home’ throughout a happy life.
Watch out for his next book coming out later in 2014 – Wombat Goes Walkabout, a Gruffalo-style illustrated children’s book set in Siberia about the adventures of a wombat who accidentally ends up living in the wilds with a slightly eccentric glamorous granny and her yeti friends.
Who or what or where will he write about next?
In Praise Of Rails is a nostalgic collection of fifty railway-related poetic gems that will inspire you to find out more about the memorable locomotives, events, people and places that have shaped our island race’s unique obsession with all things trains, that began with the starch-shirted days of Stephenson’s Rocket and still survives today with the sleek and sexy Eurostar.
Love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t get away from trains in the UK. Everywhere you go, from the biggest city to the most solitary spot, you’re sure to find a new generation of rolling stock or ancient relics to remind you of Britain’s great railway heritage not too far away if you look hard enough. This is not just an excellent insightful poetry collection; it delves into and celebrates the social fabric and factual history of Britain too.
Famous locomotives have been written about; Sir Nigel Gresley, Mallard, Tornado, Flying Scotsman, Northern Belle, Jacobite (undisputed greatest railway journey in the world), plus coal shunters, miniature railways, lost lines, stations, tunnels, secret sidings, boat trains, the importance of the navvies, Woodham’s in Barry, a restored signal box, National Railway Museum and STEAM to name but a few.
Written by award-winning poet and creative writing tutor David Leslie Urion, this Word Play published book is now available to buy via Amazon and Createspace in traditional print and Kindle formats. If readers/members/subscribers or friends quote code 3XDM69GF when purchasing the book via Createspace.com up to 30th April they will be entitled to a 10% discount off the retail price. Industry discounts are available to museums, bookshops and other retail outlets.