Last night I read alongside a mix of fellow Parthian writers and regular contributors to the now sadly defunct Square magazine to celebrate the launch of J. Brookes’ Selected Poems. 

​I had a great night at Tiny Rebel in Cardiff – cheers to Square editor Nick Fisk for the invite!

Photos © Simon Oconnor. 

Not a rain cloud in sight ☔️

(Eglwyswrw is a village in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where it rained for eighty-five consecutive days between October 2015 and January 2016. A poem inspired by this news story was included in That Lone Ship)

Finished reading Fflur Dafydd’s novel Twenty Thousand Saints this past weekend, after starting it during a recent trip to the Llŷn Peninsula. Odd to think of the island being uninhabited now, to me it’s filled with Fflur’s brilliant cast of characters. I’ll have to make the trip out next time.‬

I was recently asked to contribute to Wales Arts Review​'s new series of literary vignettes, and you can now read my rambling, diary entry of a vignette on their website: www.walesartsreview.org/vignette-calling-for-the-good-old-days

In the teenage years before I started reading poetry, I probably would have called Pete Doherty a poet – in that way that Jim Morrison and Bob Dylan are called poets, the way that angered Gregory Corso. Calling a lyricist a ‘poet’ is a way that people attempt to legitimise their craft – as if writing songs is a lesser art.
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These vignettes "provide glimpses into the thinking of Welsh writers and their experiences; from the day-to-day to the extraordinary." I've been enjoying reading this series so far – thanks to Wales Arts Review for asking me to contribute.

If you haven’t already seen it, here’s my advert for Nationwide Building Society! So pleased to have been asked to write a poem for their ‘12 Voices’ campaign. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas, here’s to everyone enjoying a much-needed lie in this Boxing Day.

Two years makes it a tradition! This year’s ghost story for Christmas Eve is 'The Toll House' by W. W. Jacobs.

Last year's ghost story

My trip up to Aberystwyth Arts Centre to read at Llyfrau Aber Books was worth driving in a storm for. Such a lovely venue and great to hear Mari Ellis Dunning read again and catch up afterwards. Thanks for having us!

Thank you to everyone who came to the hometown launch of That Lone Ship at TechHub Swansea last Friday night. It was so nice to see so many people I know in the same room. Thanks also to Joe Bayliss for playing for us – ‘For You’ was on repeat in my (slightly hungover) head all Saturday morning.

Ann Bjerregaard has just posted a lovely write-up of the launch on the Parthian Books Intern Blog: "Poems acquire a certain intensity when read out loud in the place they are set, and through the poet’s powerful voice, Swansea became a charmed place." You can read the full write-up here: 
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https://parthianbooksinternblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/18/the-launch-of-that-lone-ship-by-rhys-owain-williams

Fellow Parthian poet Rhian Elizabeth has kindly offered to shine a light on my work during her takeover of the Parthian Books blog. Rhian says some really nice things about me in this interview, including praising my "talent for befriending old ladies and drinking beer." I'm afraid you'll have to read the whole thing for greater context: 

​www.parthianbooks.com/blogs/news/interview-with-a-swansea-boy