We are delighted to announce the final placements of the Wales Poetry Award 2021, judged by Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch and sponsored by Literature Wales. The first, second and third award winners will all be published in a future issue of Poetry Wales, as well as receiving cash prizes and Seren book bundles. You can read all…
Kandace Siobhan Walker: How I wrote ’16 The Academy’
Interviewed by Zoe Brigley Every year I try to write a sonnet, and every year I succeed at writing something else. 16 The Academy Capitalism is natural—healthy, actually. We had too many rainforests, we needed more upmarket cafés. We needed austerities like food deserts and mandatory minimums, retirement ages vanishing behind the Earth’s curvature. What…
Wales Poetry Award 2021: The Shortlist
We are delighted to announce the Wales Poetry Award 2021 shortlist. Wales Poetry Award 2021 was sponsored by Literature Wales and judged by Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. Download the shortlist PDF below. The Shortlist In alphabetical order of poet: Tess Biddington A Father Hanged for Poaching Robert Bodman Outsider Miles Bradley Single Man with Dog Faith MW…
Liz Anastasiadis: “How I wrote Phases”
Interviewed by Zoe Brigley “I think what is so captivating about the moon to poets is that it’s this gleaming beacon in the sky. What do we do when we think deeply? Oftentimes people look to the sky for answers, especially clear night skies. It’s a process that’s deeply emotional and yet scientific… We as human beings…
Siôn Tomas Owen on Rugby
Siôn Tomas Owen reads his piece ‘On Rugby’ from the feature ‘Poets on Sport’ in Poetry Wales 57.1
Free Poetry for Schools
In 2020 we launched the first Wales Young Poets Award, created to support young writers during lockdown. Land of Poets is the result of this competition: an anthology collecting the shortlisted poems in both Welsh and English categories, written by entrants aged 10-17 and edited by Eurig Salisbury; Wales Young Poets Award judge, former Welsh Children’s…
Laura Chalar: “How I wrote ‘The infanta walks her poodle after a sandstorm'”
“When that moment arrives, a verse or a phrase will come into my head, and that will be the start of the process. Once I have those few words in my mind, I know that I have a poem, no matter how long it takes for it to take shape.”
Poetry Wales Pamphlet Competition Winner and Shortlist Announced
We are delighted to announce the winning, highly commended and shortlisted poets in the new Poetry Wales Pamphlet Competition 2021, judged by Taz Rahman, Matthew Haigh and Nia Morais. The winning pamphlet will be published by Seren Books in February 2022. Ten shortlisted poets will receive feedback from the judges, while 2 highly commended will…
Andrew Neilson: How I wrote ‘The Hustler’
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was a missing ingredient when I was trying and failing to write poetry as a young man.“ The Hustler We know we can’t finesse what’s been Michael Donaghy I met him twice. Once in my local, where suited he sat with a half of Guinness, his cue in its case like an…