Documenting the life of a community poet
I’m going to post some pieces written for other publications here over the next few weeks, so that they’re all in one place. I’m going to start with I Am Taliesin, which first appeared on the Dark Mountain blog as part of their ‘The Mythos We Live By’ series. This week we continue ‘The Mythos We […]
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I’m delighted to be judging the Oriel Davies Open Writing Competition along with the lovely and talented Chris Kinsey. Closing date 4th November. If you’ve read Rebel Sun you’ll know I’ve had a slight obsession with writing about water (dŵr) for some time so I’m really looking forward to reading the submissions!
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Expectation (neu addo a bygwyth) is one of the political poems from Rebel Sun. The Russian-inspired propaganda artwork by Andy Garside giving the reader the heads-up that left-wing socialist/Marxist/anarchist politics will inform elements of the content. Over a decade ago, when first starting out writing, everything I created was political but after a while I […]
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It wasn’t intentional to use The Guardian twice in a row for #postnewspolitics. In their defence it’s because I haven’t posted one in a while and couldn’t bring myself to spend the extra money a Saturday paper costs on anything else. But now I’m here and the pages are open I’m reminded why I’m becoming […]
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We’re still between vans at the moment so I’ve been relying on public transport when workshopping. The train is always the best option for getting to Cardiff or Swansea from Wrexham and the direct line is pretty efficient but along the coast the service is a bit threadbare (literally some of the seats are falling […]
Read MoreI’ve been wary of hurtling down mountains on the bike (an Orange5 Diva Pro) since getting a bit too feisty and badly wrenching my shoulder on the uplift at Cwmdown a couple of years ago. Since then I’ve found the sprint triathlon’s swim, bike, run more appealing – until this month.
Read MoreI’ve been blogging recently about working as a Writer, Community Arts Practitioner & Educator (in Y Gogs) and received a number of supportive and positive replies. The latest blog, a radical proposal for community arts and education also received a largely positive response but there was one element to the proposal that seemed to cause contention […]
Read MoreYears ago during an interview with a local newspaper I gave my title as Community Poet. Afterwards a more experienced writer explained I shouldn’t use the word community because it’s twee and suggests the work is somehow less in comparison to hi-end-art. I’m still baffled by this. Community shapes everything. No artist is born, or […]
Read MoreI’m not sure how I imagined the journey when first setting out as a freelance/self-employed writer seven years ago. It’s been a difficult but ultimately rewarding expedition, especially considering the only thought was: forward and onward and don’t look back.
Read MoreThis page might not look much but it’s some notes from yesterday’s poetry workshop as part of my residency at Marleyfield Care Home through Age Cymru’s cARTefu project.
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