Delighted to be asked to contribute a poem to this stunning new charity anthology. Voices / Lleisiau is a collection of responses to contemporary Welsh artworks by seventeen Welsh writers, including Gillian Clarke, Eric Ngalle Charles and Zoë Brigley.

My poem – 'The Centre of the Earth Can Be Projected to the Closest Point on the Surface' – is about being told that my hometown was the centre of the world, and not yet finding a reason to disagree. It's written in response to Haf Weighton's artwork 'Growing on Green Lanes', and is accompanied by a Welsh translation from Manon Rhys. You can listen to me reading it here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rqEIQ6P3Qi4

Copies of Voices / Lleisiau can be ordered from Nichola Hope via her website www.nicholahope.com. All proceeds from the sale of the anthology will be donated to Velindre Cancer Centre.

Diolch yn fawr to The Cardiff Review for publishing 'Lost Cat', a poem about that time my cat went missing and so I became intimately acquainted with every backstreet in Brynmill.

​You can read the poem here: www.cardiffreview.com/post/2023/03/18/lost-cat

My short story 'The Chimes of Graig Trewyddfa' is published today on New Gothic Review. A ghost story set in my hometown Morriston, it's accompanied by this incredible illustration by Joseph Gough. Diolch to all at New Gothic Review for publishing it! You can read it for free at the link below:

newgothicreview.com/2023/01/25/the-chimes-of-graig-trewyddfa

Tan-y-Lan Terrace is the street my Gran actually lived on, and the idea for the story came from me walking her dog late at night and hearing an unseen ice-cream van. Everything else is mostly fiction, but I can't promise you won't see a robed figure if you ever visit Graig Trewyddfa...​

I spent National Poetry Day yesterday in the company of Emily Vanderploeg, Rae Howells, Natalie Ann Holborow and (in spirit) Mari Ellis Dunning at Waterstones, Swansea. A great event showcasing their recent collections and also delving into the behind-the-scenes writing processes. All the collections are available now from Parthian Books.

Poem from each poet + links to buy their books.

Absolutely delighted to have a new poem and an accompanying interview published by Poetry Wales today. 'Mother and Child' is inspired by two of Josef Herman's paintings at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea – a place my mother took me to regularly when I was growing up.

​Earlier this week I visited the gallery and one of the paintings mentioned in the poem – 'Miners' (1951) – is actually on temporary display at the moment as part of  Glynn Viv's 'Art and Industry: Stories from Wales' exhibition. As I say in the poem, it still steals a breath.

Diolch yn fawr to Zoë Brigley and Poetry Wales for publishing the poem and asking me a few questions about my writing process for their #HowIWriteAPoem series. You can read the poem and the interview on their website: ​

​poetrywales.co.uk/rhys-owain-williams-how-i-wrote-mother-and-child

The A470 is a 186-mile road that stretches across Wales from shore to shore, and I’ve got a poem in this new bilingual anthology celebrating it from Arachne Press. Diolch to editors Ness Owen and Siân Northey for choosing it, and also to Siân for translating it into Welsh!

The poem, ‘A Mountain We Climb’, is inspired by the regular journeys my mother and I made to visit my auntie in Llandudno when I was very young, often accompanied by my grandparents. You can read a little more about the inspiration behind it here: www.arachnepress.com/books/poetry/a470/melin-y-coed

A470: Poems for the Road / Cerddi'r Ffordd is the Books Council of Wales ‘Book of the Month’ for February so look out for it on displays in bookshops across Wales, or alternatively order a copy directly from Arachne’s website: www.arachnepress.com/books/poetry/a470

¿Hablas español? I don’t unfortunately, but if you do then you can read interviews with me and other contemporary Swansea writers in this brand new book on Dylan Thomas by Juan Pablo Bertazza: Himnos al sol en la oscuridad ('Hymns to the sun in the darkness’.) Diolch to Juan for inviting me to be a part of it!

Alternatively, if your Spanish is as bad as mine, the mind-blowing Google Translate app can do this for you. It’s not a perfect translation but honestly…we are living in the future.

Really pleased to have a haiku in the latest issue of Frogpond Journal, which has just arrived at my door all the way from Seattle, USA. A lovely surprise too, in a magazine of 158 pages, to find myself sharing one with Paul Chambers, the only other Welsh writer in the issue.

There's a free sampler of some of the poems, essays and reviews from the issue on the Haiku Society of America's website, where you can also order a copy of the full issue.

Free sampler: www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond/2021-issue44-2/index.html

Order a copy of the latest issue: www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond/previousissues.html