Llongyfarchiadau i bawb!

We had a great afternoon at The Harris, taking part in World Poetry Day.  Beryl, Betty, Gwynfor, Jenny and Pat read and talked about their chosen poems and Gwen and I chimed on on the triumphant final claim of Colli Iaith .

We’re delighted that The Harris Museum and Art Gallery gave us this opportunity to read and translate some of Wales’ best loved poems and share some of the richness of the Welsh poetic tradition.  We’re also grateful to Lorna Smithers for letting us flow on from her session about Brythonic/Cymric poetry and mythology.

Preston.fm (103.2)  has been covering this week’s poetry events and will be reporting and playing recordings on their Arts Show.  The programme broadcast this Sunday, 22nd, from 9.00 am covers the earlier part of this week.  We hope to feature in the 9.00 am programme the following Sunday, 29 March.

Lorna talked a little about early Welsh poetic tradition.  For anyone interested in the intricate sound patterns of cynghanedd , which is still emphatically alive in modern Welsh,verse, the best introduction is Singing in Chains by Mererid Hopwood (who herself has won all Wales’ top literary prizes).  It is written for English speakers and comes with CD.  Its updated edition (published by Gomer) comes out at the end of May and costs £9.99.