Information and Books

Email: llwydowen@yahoo.co.uk
Twitter: @Llwyd_Owen

Llwyd was born in 1977 and grew up in Cardiff. He attended Ysgol y Wern and Glantaf High School before studying for a degree in Communications at Bangor University. Since graduating in 1998 he has worked a wide variety of jobs, including bus driver, door-to-door salesman, warehouse lackey, press officer, television presenter and call-centre minion. When not writing fiction, he works as a translator. He lives in the Rhiwbina area of the capital with his wife and daughters. 
The author won the 2007 Wales Book of the Year award for his novel Ffydd, Gobaith, Cariad (Y Lolfa, 2006), which he adapted into English and published as Faith Hope & Love through Alcemi in May 2010.

He has published seven Welsh language novels to date with Y Lolfa, while his latest English language adaptation, The Last Hit, was published in April 2013. 
He is currently writing his tenth novel, which will be published in March 2016 on the tenth anniversary of his first publication.




Selected Publications:
Ffawd, Cywilydd a Chelwyddau (Y Lolfa, 2006)
Ffydd Gobaith Cariad (Y Lolfa, 2006)
Yr Ergyd Olaf (Y Lolfa, 2007)
Mr Blaidd (Y Lolfa, 2009)
Faith, Hope and Love (Alcemi, 2010)
Un Ddinas Dau Fyd (Y Lolfa 2011)
Heulfan (Y Lolfa 2011)
The Last Hit (Y Lolfa 2013)
Y Ddyled (Y Lolfa 2014)

Reviews:

With respect to Faith, Hope and Love (Alcemi, 2010) (http://bit.ly/1JllStQ) 

“Owen’s savage indictment of Britain’s welfare programs and its socialized medicine is strong stuff by itself, but it’s the tragic personal story of Alun as he spirals full of self-inflicted guilt toward an ironic, violent conclusion that packs the real emotional punch. Owen unflinchingly reveals how easy it will be to “rage, rage, against the dying of the light.”
Publishers Weekly USA

“An absorbing fable… enjoyable and pacey… providing a thoughtful take on what it means to be alive and how suffering can control and overwhelm you.”
Time Out London

“Shifting in time and cutting the social classes of Cardiff, Faith Hope and Love is a well-plotted, pacey, urban thriller evoking the city of Cardiff and exploring notions of memory and identity.”
South Wales Argus

Deftly plotted and pitch-perfect in its pacing. From the outset, the reader is invited to anticipate what comes next… The thrill lies… in the steady yet inexorable unfolding of events as Alun’s loyalties and sense of identity are alternately challenged, changed and confirmed… an unconventional thriller…. The plot is not typical of the genre, but the psychology at play most certainly is. As with any good thriller or tragedy, we watch, mesmerised and powerless, as the circle closes… Alun, of course, believes every time that what he is doing is right, not necessarily for himself but for the people he loves. And thus martyrs and tyrants are made… Faith, Hope & Love, with its pacey, often humorous surface gliding over deeper waters, should bring him the wider readership and acclaim he deserves.
Suzy Ceulan Hughes, New Welsh Review
“Wales’ answer to Irvine Welsh.”
Red-Handed Magazine


With respect to The Last Hit (Y Lolfa, 2013) (http://bit.ly/1K8i4BQ) 

If you're easily offended by swear words and very strong language then you should probably move on right away – because this is a book that will leave you reaching for the nearest bin, muttering about the state of society, and pitying the poor mother of young Llwyd Owen. This author is not a man bound by subtlety of subject! 

Opening with a particularly brutal murder scene with echoes of the wonderfully descriptive Niall Griffiths at his finest skull-crushing moments, this book has everything that has made the seedy underbelly of Wales such a compelling subject in some contemporary fiction: torture scenes so graphic they cause involuntary retina spasms, prostitutes dripping rancid with disease, and ghastly, fetid characters who lurk in the shadows, so full of hate, self-loathing and cruelty that you struggle to imagine them owning a heart… 

But don’t run away with the idea that Owen has simply painted an exotic portrait of pain and misery merely for effect. Amidst all this glorious gore, a carefully crafted plotline appears – succulent storylines wending their way inextricably together, asking a lot of difficult and searching questions of the reader. The key characters have an almost cavernous depth to them, with protagonist Tubbs an excellent example of a conflicted character whose difficult emotional background invites readers to hate, love, pity and celebrate in almost equal measure. 

And it is exactly with these evocative characters, the effortless storylines that melt together with every enthusiastic page-turn and a bottle full of pure unadulterated filth that Llwyd has crafted something that comes deliciously close to a modern classic. Only occasionally letting himself down with dialect that at rare moments stutters from his characters in less-than-entirely-believable manner, this is a spellbinding novel – and one I would heartily recommend! 

‘Not everyone deserves a happy ending’ warns the front cover… Yeah, sure, but Llwyd Owen certainly does! 
Jack Clothier

Try as I might to avoid writing 'fanzine' style reviews for this site it is difficult to avoid playing the role of 'cheerleader' where Llwyd Owen is concerned. This is the second of his six Welsh language novels published by Y Lolfa to be translated into English and one can only hope that the other three will follow shortly. Whilst 'Faith, Hope & Love displayed all the hallmarks of a classic tragedy this book is much lighter in tone. 'The last Hit'  has been described  as a feelgood novel and certainly there are happy endings though not everyone comes out of it well.  In some ways it resembles a Welsh Western. Our hero Al Tubbs gets the girl and revenge against his evil stepfather in a final showdown in which he exacts 'moral' retribution for the years of abuse and deceit he has suffered at his hands.

'The Last Hit' boasts a full complement of sleazeball characters who would be at home in the pages of any Irvine Welch novel but it is not without humour. In fact it is intensely and darkly comedic throughout. 

The many humorous touches enrich a  narrative which moves at a breathless pace as it builds towards its grisly climax. A real page turner, this is a book that you'll probably finish in a day and be left wanting more. An unreserved five star recommendation.
Ceri Shaw

There are certain images of Wales that are hard to shake: male voice choirs, coal miners, rugby, sheep, women in strange costumes playing the harp, the seriously-suited chapel-goer. None of these appear in ‘The Last Hit’ by Llwyd Owen, a previous winner of the Welsh Language Book of the Year. He is far more interested in the underworld, the seedy secrets that lie underneath the respectable veneer, a Welsh…er…Irvine Welsh.

The story of Tubbs, a sensitive man-mountain of a hitman, moves along at a rollicking pace. Left to avenge his mother’s death by finding her killer, he works for his surrogate father, T-Bone, a none-too-pleasant leader of the local biker gang. There’s clearly a dark secret involved somewhere and in the process of revealing it we come across a cast that’s great to read about but whom you probably wouldn’t want to meet. There’s the slapstick pair of Vexl and Gimp from Barry, Luca the rock star who resides in west Wales and Petra, the Merthyr girl with a heart of gold and nerves of steel. And there’s a great deal of drugs. Characters are rolling up,  crushing pills and snorting at every possible opportunity. And loving it.

There are some memorable set-pieces. The opening is enigmatic and atmospheric, whenever Vexl and Gimp appear there are some great touches of humour and you can’t help but root for Tubbs from the opening few sentences, even as he kills a far-too-talkative Scouser. But it’s not all action. There are some serious issues discussed: the nature of violence, domestic violence, corruption and prostitution. Even under the surface of the enjoyment of substance abuse there is plenty of sadness and tragedy, of how people’s lives get caught up in a web others have spun for them. Trapped and alone, with the foolishness of her own desire for Gimp and destroyed by prostitution and drugs is the tragic figure of Vicky. Tubbs himself is trapped and in Petra we see how easy people, women especially, can become victims of male power and violence.
However, this is a feel-good story and our hero is Tubbs. Owen enjoys telling the story and the novel is a page-turner, all leading up to a fitting climax as the various strands are drawn together. If you’re looking for a book to read on the beach this summer or, as might be the case, looking for a book to read while waiting for the incessant Welsh rain to stop, you should enjoy ‘The Last Hit’. It won’t win the Booker but strap yourself in, it’s quite a ride.
Rhodri Jones (The Lone Reader)