Wildlife

There are l ots of great free events at Gwyl Lyfrau Abaraeron Book Festival 2025 this Sunday including Jemma L. King sharing poems from her new collection Moon Base One at 11.30am! Go along...

'I write about animals because I love them and find them endlessly fascinating. But I also use them as a way of writing about ourselves, they help me think and feel. Sometimes a yeti with good table manners or a tenacious tardigrade can reveal something about loneliness or resilience in a way a human speaker couldn’t.' https://nation.cymru/culture/ben-rhys-palmer-on-his-poetry-collection-breakfast-with-the-scavengers

Natalie Ann Holborow is r unning a workshop with the Theresa Lola next August on Poetry: Retelling Memories (and you'll be treated to a wonderful guest reading from National Poet of Wales, Hanan Issa). Explore ways to weave the real and re-imagined, use non-linear narratives, utilise repetition effectively, and blur the lines between truth and invention. There will be group workshops, one-to-one tutorials with feedback on your work, and guided exercises that draw out interesting ways to approach your own poetry. More details here: https://tynewydd.wales/course/poetry-retelling-memories/

I had a little treat of a day in That London, walking around, taking in the Lee Miller exhibition at Tate Britain and having a quick look around some of the other exhibitions where I spent some time with Nina and Gwen. I ate Thali. I spotted Bathing on the Roof by Tracey Rhys and Significant Wow by Emily Cotterill in Foyle's, both are reviewed in the latest issue of New Welsh Review . And then I went to see Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at The London Palladium and it was such a special show I'm still dizzy from the magic of it... so here's the set list and a few snaps: and you can read this review of their Manchester show in The Guardian .

I am so thrilled for Abeer Ameer , winner of Best Single Poem Written at the Forwards, as well as Zoë Brigley , Kristian Evans and team at the wonderful Modron Magazine . Abeer is such an important poet of witness, so needed in these times and her words will hopefully, now, reach a much wider audience. Also pictured… my book predictions last night (close, but not full marks) and what I took to be a good sign for Abeer on my walk over… It was such a delight to see lots of lovely poets in real life too!

Coming up at Chapter in Cardiff this Thursday... Parthian Books x Tiger Bay Poetry present an evening with poets Peter Finch , Topher Mills , Ifor Thomas , Dai Smith and Patrick Jones, plus an open mic. See you there! https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/five-guys-in-the-literary-business-tickets-1708444887649

Great to see Natasha Gauthier 's poem, 'Roman curses', up on Ink Sweat & Tears ... Her debut collection is out with Parthian Books next year!

  Next up, next Thursday in Pontypridd... come along, all welcome! Join us at Storyville Books in Pontypridd to celebrate the latest issue of New Welsh Review with readings from our contributors and special guests. Founded in 1988, New Welsh Review is Wales’ foremost literary magazine in English. For over thirty years, it has been central to the Welsh literary scene in offering a vital outlet for the very best new fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry, a forum for critical debate and a rigorous and engaged reviewing culture. Today, New Welsh Review holds true to its original mission statement: to be dynamic, curious, lively and outward-looking, to commemorate the past but to celebrate contemporary excellence and new directions. We’ll be kicking off at 7.15pm with readings from issue contributors Lesley James, Richard Huw Morgan, Natasha Gauthier, Sybilla Harvey, Sam Christie and Roberto Pastore. Special guest Crystal Jeans will also be reading from her brand-new essay collect...

Lovely first reviews in, thanks Mab Jones! On Moon Base One : 'Sometimes we are in the sterility of space; sometimes in the sterility of a hospital; and, in both arenas, we are unsure of next breaths. It is extremely powerful and affecting stuff. 'Because Moon Base One reminds us that wherever we go – however far we drift – we still bring our hearts and our hopes along with us. As a collection, it is impetuously imaginative, taking bold and daring leaps across space and time, which makes for a very thrilling read indeed. And, altogether, it is highly – very highly – recommended.' On Graveyards On Other Planets : 'Formally, the poems are fluid, moving between tight, fragmentary pieces and longer free verse poems that feel like transmissions sent across space. The tone of these may be cerebral, or tender; at times, the language gleams with lyric precision; elsewhere, it’s pared back, letting silence and space have their effect. 'If, like me, you’ve ever turned the ra...

A lovely double poetry launch for Ben Rhys Palmer and Roberto Pastore at Waterstones Cardiff tonight! Some snaps…

I t is great to see Breaking a Mare being read far and wide. It popped up in Kim Moore's September reading on her Shaw and Moore Substack (with Clare Shaw). A couple of extracts below: 'This is a fantastic collection, published by the wonderful Welsh press Parthian Books . The poems are lyric poems that stand on their own, but they also tell a wider, fragmented narrative of a girlhood spent on a farm, amongst horses. It’s a book that revels in the physicality of writing about work, and perhaps unusually - women’s work on farms, and it’s also a story of daughters and mothers and the difficulties and love that exists between them.' [...] 'I have so many favourite poems in here, and was heartened to see that a poem from the collection has been included in the 2025 Forward Prize anthology. Another favourite of mine is “Unearthing” - an amazing poem which recounts a teenage sexual encounter and finishes ‘it is only now I realise my body / was not the fuel in this story but...

In Cambridge tonight: A conversation-led poetry reading on the intersections of body and nature, resilience and adaptation... Join poets Christina Thatcher and Alice Willitts (plus special guests) for a conversation-led reading, where they dig into the intersections of body and nature. In these one-off events, Thatcher and Willitts share intimate reflections on resilience and adaptation— inviting us to reflect on what breaks us and what ultimately makes us stronger. A spirit of curiosity will enliven the event, with questions from the audience welcome. In her collection Kiss My Earth, Alice Willitts grapples with the powerful forces of climate breakdown, menopausal energy, and eco-spirituality, offering a bold feminist voice that speaks to our fractured world. Meanwhile, Christina Thatcher’s Breaking a Mare delves into farm life, rodeo riding, and women’s work, uncovering the tensions between rural landscapes and ecological awareness. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/silence-speaks-chri...

Great to see Ben Rhys Palmer in the Western Mail today, interviewed by Jenny White: ‘a dazzling debut that fuses apocalyptic nightmares with humour and dreams of hope…. A breathtaking dance on the edge of time … [his humour] cuts like a knife, but also sparkles like real Champagne.’ Launching at Waterstones Cardiff this Thursday!

I t is great to see the latest issue of New Welsh Review in the magazine lover's mecca, Casa Magazines NYC!

Join us in store as we welcome Roberto Pastore and Ben Rhys Palmer for the launch of two joyful, tender, and deeply human poetry collections. https://www.waterstones.com/events/poetry-launch-roberto-pastore-and-ben-rhys-palmer/cardiff

  I got home from Greece to some lovely book post last night… out from Parthian now…

‘In Wales I stopped feeling so much of an outsider. There’s something about this place that is undeniably collective… Go to a poetry reading now, you can feel it in the room, the need for each other.’ https://nation.cymru/culture/on-being-a-poet-in-wales-roberto-pastore/

Wales, for me, always had the potential for mermaids. As a child, it was my own personal blank canvas upon which to project my earliest poems and stories... Jemma L. King https://nation.cymru/culture/on-being-a-poet-in-wales-jemma-l-king/

The rainy season is packing its bags here in Guadalajara, and so am I. I’ll miss the sweet smell of damp earth steaming in the morning sun. I’ll miss the miniature jungle our garden has become... Ben Rhys Palmer https://nation.cymru/feature/letter-from-guadalajara/

Bert’s in the news today. Big thanks to Jenny White for this lovely interview in the Western Mail: 'There is a sense of imminent doom and ferocious hope, resplendent even in despair. His use of language is beautiful, elegiac, yet never overwrought' – Jenny White,  Western Mail

I'm absolutely thrilled for Christina Thatcher whose poem 'The Female Rodeo Clown' from her latest collection Breaking a Mare has been included in the 2026 Forward Book of Poetry! Being Highly Commended means Christina's work was championed as one of the very best published this year, selected from over 500 submissions. Lovely to see lots of other great names on the list including Ness Owen, Abeer Ameer and Pascale Petit. Grab yourself a copy! https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571397679-the-forward-book-of-poetry-2026/