Interview by Zoë Brigley Nearly all my poems begin as scrawled notes in a notebook, often so messy I can barely read my own writing. This Pot of Earth I do not know why I keep watering this pot of earth with no bloom, except that nothing that thirsts should be left to go dry….
Author: Frances Turpin
Frances is Poetry Wales' Magazine Manager
Steve Griffiths : How I Wrote ‘We need a definite programme’
Interview by Zoë Brigley [W]ith every first draft, there are things that need sharpening and shaping, and things that will not fly, and their removal improves it We need a definite programme Small birds from several continents sing beneath a high safety net. Soon we must make a move. We need a house, a child,…
Katy Evans-Bush : How I Wrote ‘From Lines by Kenneth Patchen #13’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I write largely by ear. In my teens I was obsessed with Mozart, and folk music… and I’m absolutely sure that both of these taught me about pacing and register and the tonal possibilities of form. From Lines by Kenneth Patchen #13 It wasn’t much of a summer. You could as…
Wales Poetry Award 2022 sponsored by Literature Wales | Judged by Gwyneth Lewis
Wales Poetry Award, a national competition to discover the very best international contemporary poetry Update 15.05.2023: Winners Announced! Wales Poetry Award 2022 closed for entries in January 2023, and the shortlist and winners were announced in May 2023 Wales Poetry Award 2023 will be open for submissions in September 2023, exact dates TBC. Follow our…
After Dickinson and Disability
Poetry Wales are delighted to announce an online panel at the Tell It Slant Poetry Festival To celebrate the launch of our disability-themed Summer 2022 issue, Poetry Wales Editor Zoë Brigley hosts a panel of poets from the issue alongside Dickinson critic Michael Davidson. While some readings of Dickinson’s poetics focus negatively on her potential…
Jane Burn: How I Wrote ‘Translation / Acts’
An essay by Jane Burn “Choosing the form for a poem is a process built from endless negotiations” Note: Due to the formatting style of this poem, we have had to embed it as an image rather than as text as we usually do. To read a plain text version, please see this file: On…
Gareth Writer-Davies: How I Wrote ‘A Voyage Round The Moon’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I wanted to emphasise the tradition of voyaging of slipping over the horizon to end up God-knows-where and white space was important for adding drama A Voyage Round The Moon After John Gohorry and as the voices crackled then died the craft disappeared on the far side all contact lost the…
Kostya Tsolakis: How I wrote ‘Marble bf’
Interview by Zoë Brigley I kept thinking of the block of marble – tall and narrow, I imagined – the Charioteer of Motya was carved out of… My voice, its pace, was then guided by this tall and narrow form Marble Bf But a Greek would never think of a charioteer like this. – Historian…
Amanda Rackstraw: How I Wrote ‘Rewrite’
I can be an editing bully. I believe in making words know why they are there. Rewrite In the script he sees his mother age with dignity. There’s a slowing down; then he finds her, elegant, wisdom pooling in her eyes. _____ A mollusc hauls itself across the ward, catheter swinging from Zimmer, chicken feet…