Bill Lewis

Bill Lewis was born in Maidstone, Kent, England. He attended Westborough Secondary Modern School and left in 1968 with no qualifications.[1] In 1975, with his friend, Rob Earl, he started a series of poetry readings called Outcrowd at the Lamb pub, later renamed Drakes' Crab and Oyster House, by the River Medway in Maidstone.[2] Both Charles Thomson and Billy Childish, the later co-founders of the Stuckists group, read at these events.[3]

He spent a year unloading trucks in Chiesmans department store in Maidstone, then in 1976 he had a nervous breakdown, attempted suicide and spent three months in Crossfield psychiatric ward, West Malling.[1] 1977–1978, he studied Foundation Art at Medway College of Art and Design,[1] at the same time as Childish and Thomas von Üricht, another future Stuckist.[3]

In 1979, his interest in Berlin Cabaret, combined with the current punk culture, led him to joining up with Childish, Charles Thomson, Sexton Ming, Rob Earl and Miriam Carney to found the anarchic poetry performance group, The Medway Poets,[2] which he named.[1] The group performed in colleges, pubs and festivals, including the international Cambridge Poetry Festival in 1981.[2] It was the subject of a TV South documentary the following year.[4] In Lewis's performances, he "jumped on a chair, threw his arms wide (at least once hitting his head on the ceiling)."[2]

Sandy Taylor, Bill Lewis, Alicia Partnoy and Adriana Angel - Nicaragua 1989

Darwin J Flakoll (Bud), Bill Lewis and Claribel Alegría - Nicaragua 1989

In 1980, he had a show of paintings at Peter Waite's Rochester Pottery Gallery, as did Thomson, Childish, Sanchia Lewis (no relation) and Sexton Ming, the last two also founder members of the Stuckist group.[3]

1978–82 he was the CSSD Porter at West Kent General Hospital,[1] which provided subject matter for many of his poems at the time. He knew Tracey Emin and helped edit her short stories for her first book, Six Turkish Tales (Hangman books 1987).[4] Since 1982, he has been a full-time artist (though he gave up visual art at this time[5]) with "occasional forays into tomato picking".[6] In 1985, he was appointed as the first writer-in-residence at the Brighton Festival.[7]

During this time he performed at the Kent Literature Festival in Folkestone. His first major collection of poems Rage without Anger was published during this period.

He read and published work on the theme of Human Rights. His poem "Red Guitar" dedicated to the murdered Chilean songwriter Victor Jara, was published in Chilean journals in England and translated into Spanish and published in an underground magazine in Chile.

In 1989 the Nicaraguan poet and storyteller Carlos Rigby invited Lewis to Nicaragua, suggesting he would find the revolution receptive to his poetry. Lewis, with his wife Ann, embarked on a three-month stay in that country. Lewis carried out a series of poetry readings there. Much of his experiences from this journey were later explored in his book The Book of Misplaced but Imperishable Names.

Sydney Carter and Bill Lewis Walderslade 1991

Bill Lewis with Julie Felix backstage before their performance

During this period that Bill Lewis performed three times with '60s star Julie Felix.

In 1999 he was one of the founding members of the Stuckist art group along with Childish, Thomson and Ming. Lewis has been featured prominently in all the key Stuckist shows.[1] In 2004, he was one of the fourteen "founder and featured" artists in The Stuckists Punk Victorian held at the Walker Art Gallery for the Liverpool Biennial.[8]

In the 1990s Lewis experimented with singing some of his poems often using a frame drum made for him by an American Indian drum maker and also a Native American horn rattle. His sung poems have influences from shamanic, Latin American and middle Eastern tunes and rhythms.

Throughout the 1990s he carried out many poetry reading tours, six on the East Coast of the United States, he also performed (in English) in Paris, France. Many of Lewis' American readings were organized by Professor Robert Parker Sorlien of the University of Rhode Island. Other readings were funded and organized by The Curbstone Press of Connecticut. The last of these readings was at a festival in Willimantic, Connecticut, where Lewis appeared on stage with Claribel Alegría, Naomi Ayala and Luis J. Rodriguez.

During this period several of his short stories were translated and published in German newspapers and magazines. A few of his poems were also translated into Spanish.

Bill Lewis (standing, right) with the Stuckists group at the Real Turner Prize Show, 2000

Bill Lewis working in his studio 2011

After co-founding, with Dave Wise, The Urban Fox Press, Lewis went on to found The Medway Delta Press in 2005. The first project was a limited edition set of 3 CDs entitled Voices From The Medway Delta, featuring work by Billy Childish, Sexton Ming, Chris Broderick, Bill Lewis, and other names in the Medway scene. The Medway Delta Press has also published a DVD documentary by Carol Lynn on Stuckism.[5]

He was one of the thirteen "leading Stuckists"[9] in the Go West exhibition at Spectrum London gallery in October 2006.

As the 1990s ended and 2000 started Lewis taught courses in mythology for the Kent Children's University (a Kent County Council initiative). The students were aged between 10 and 11 years old.

At the same time he was teaching courses in Myth and Culture and also Creative Writing for Adult Education in Maidstone and on the Isle of Sheppey. It was during one of these sessions on the Isle of Sheppey that future Stuckist painter Joe Machine joined the course as a student. Lewis recognized Joe's talent and later introduced him to Billy Childish and Charles Thomson.

He has had a solo show at the Rochester International Photography Festival.[10]

In 2011 he had his first major solo exhibition at the Deaf Cat Café and Gallery in Rochester, Kent. This was a very successful show with Lewis selling 17 of the 27 pictures.

In the same year Lewis gave a series of lectures on Myth, Culture and the New Paradigm at the University of Creative Arts in Medway Pop-up Gallery. He also exhibited some of his latest paintings in their shows.

In 2012 he was presented with the Literature Award at the Culture and Design Awards for Medway. This was in recognition, not only of his writing, but also his work in the community mentoring younger artists and promoting art and culture in the Medway area.

In 2017 Lewis become a member of COLONY: A Community of Artists. This group of artists work in a variety of mediums and all have a reputation outside of the group. Their aim is not only to exhibit together but also to support and encourage each other. The group was officially launched in October 2018 at the Halpern Gallery, Chatham, Kent.[11]

In 2020 Bill had some of his poems translated into Italian by Silvia Pio and they were published in the online magazine 'Margutte' Read it here: