Nation.Cymru Cultural Highlights 2025: Poetry Round-up

Happy New Year Folks! It was lovely to see both Rae Howells / This Common Uncommon and the win for West Cross Common and my first issue of New Welsh Review (featuring Philip Gross, Clare Potter, Abeer Ameer and the Borzello shortlist) both picked for Nation.Cymru's Cultural Highlights 2025: Poetry Roundup alongside lots of other wonderful poets and publications including Rhian Elizabeth, Sophie Bouchiallard, Menna Elfyn, Poetry Wales's 60th anniversary year (including a poem by Ben Wildsmith!), the Afonydd (Arachne Press) anthology edited by Sian Northey and Vanessa Owen, and Beyond / Tu Hwnt (Lucent Dreaming). I have many more poetry highlights of 2025, of course, but I've been a bit slow gathering them / blogging. I'll definitely miss some here, but... it was a delight to read all the entries for the Borzello Poetry Prize and work with some wonderful poets for Parthian including bringing out new collections by Christina Thatcher (highly commended in the Forward Prizes), Tracey Rhys, Roberto Pastore, Ben Rhys Palmer and Jemma L. King as well as more great poets for the next issue of New Welsh Review out next month, and new Parthian titles yet to be announced. I was also delighted to see Rhian Elizabeth, Natalie Ann Holborow and Siôn Tomos Owen all gaining deserved recognition at Wales Book of the Year, to go to Hay for Natalie Ann Holborow's The Verb reading and Tracey Rhys' BBC Radio Wales spot and to go to That London for the Forwards to see Abeer Ameer's win for her Modron Magazine poem 'at least' and so much more. Congratulations all!

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Cardiff Writer's Circle: Annual Short Story Competition

It was a joy to return to Cardiff Writers' Circle to judge their annual Short Story Competition ... Congratulations all! Here's their round up of the night: Throwback to Monday 23rd June, when we were thrilled to have 12 attendees join us for the Adjudication Event of our annual Short Story C ompetition - the winner and runners-up were announced, received their prizes, and graciously allowed pics to be taken for posterity! A huge round of applause goes to our winner, Gordon Harrop, who is fresh to CWC competitions. Gordon's winning entry served up some diabolical black humour, with a dark twist. Congratulations Gordon, and thank you for submitting such an entertaining and well-written piece! Gordon was joined on the podium by two of our long-standing members, Steve Pritchard and Angela Edwards Rigby, who are no strangers to receiving CWC awards and prizes. It was wonderful to hear their competition entries - Steve's story a page-turning "will-they-won't-they...

Gig Alert: Jemma L. King at Gwyl Lyfrau Abaraeron Book Festival 2025

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...

BOOK REVIEW: 'It deserves to be read far more widely.'

In her engaging review essay 'Fantastical Doubles and Split Selves' in the latest issue of New Welsh Review , author of The Word, JL George, looks at responses to trauma in three recent novels including Fox Bites by Lloyd Markham . Here are three of our favourite snippets: ‘Lloyd Markham’s first full-length novel Fox Bites , set in early-2000s Zimbabwe, takes a similar tack, colliding social upheaval – as viewed through the sometimes-uncomprehending eyes of a young, neurodivergent boy – with smaller, more personal disruptions. The young protagonist, Taban, suffers bullying and isolation among his peers after his family splits apart: his aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin Caleb moving away to a farm which will later be seized during land reforms.’ ‘Taban must resist the temptation to become part of a cycle of abuse, thereby becoming a conduit for the destruction of his world. Although the stakes of the book eventually become world-threatening in the expected way of science fiction...

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