Features and Interviews
How I Wrote 'Mother and Child'Interview with Poetry Wales for their 'How I Wrote a Poem' series – May 2022
"Whatever rules I decide to impose upon a poem, for me it really comes down to how it sounds when read aloud – which I suppose is my attempt to control (or guess) how it will be read by a reader. At home I tend to write with the door closed, so I can repeatedly read the poem aloud and make sure the rhythm feels right as it emerges." Read the poem and the rest of the interview on the Poetry Wales website |
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A470 Interactive MapRevealing the inspiration behind the poem 'A Mountain We Climb' for Arachne Press' A470 Interactive Map – February 2022
"Travelling from our home in Swansea, we would join the A470 at Builth Wells and then follow the road all the way north to the point where it ends on Llandudno’s seafront. Towards the end of the long journey we’d pass the tiny village of Melin-y-Coed, where my grandfather was born and raised until his family moved down to Swansea in the 1920s." Read the rest of the post on the Arachne Press website |
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Find Your Space: Behind the ScenesInterview with Swansea University following the comissioning of Find Your Space – June 2021
"Poetry has this incredible power to move people, inspire people, and also – perhaps more importantly now – connect people as well. It offers a space to connect people who maybe have completely different experiences. You can read something in a poem and really understand where that person's coming from." Watch the rest of the interview on Swansea University's YouTube channel |
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New Gothic Review: Author Q&AInterview with New Gothic Review following the publishing of Passengers – June 2021
"For me, the best gothic literature creates a state of disquietude in the reader. When I pick up a gothic story I’m really hoping for that crescendo: a slow build towards an almost claustrophobic feeling of dread by the end. This is often driven by a willingness in the characters to seek out and confront what they shouldn’t. In gothic literature we see people doing what their entire being tells them not to—knowing that they shouldn’t explore the noise upstairs, for example, but doing it anyway." Read the rest of the interview on New Gothic Review's website |
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Unlatched Podcast: Episode #4Reading and discussion of the poem 'The Search Party' on the fourth episode of Unlatched Podcast – May 2020
Unlatched Podcast is an ongoing project run by Amy Hodkin and Jessica Kashdan-Brown. Bringing together performers and listeners in a way that respects the importance of social distancing, the podcast aims to offer a space to relax, share and hopefully distract yourself from the world for a few minutes. Listen to the episode on the Unlatched Podcast website |
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The Poetry Question: #TPQ5Picking five favourite poetry books for The Poetry Question's #TPQ5 series – February 2020
"This anthology is my poetry bible; I’ve discovered so many of my favourite poems and poets by simply opening it on a random page. With 500 poems to leaf through it’s a bit of a tome, but there’s something comforting about its weight. And even if you do manage to exhaust it cover to cover, there are two sequels: Being Alive and Being Human." Read the rest of the interview on The Poetry Question's website |
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New Welsh Writers: Rhys Owain WilliamsInterview with Jamie Gillingham for The Cardiff Review's New Welsh Writers series – November 2019
"I think most writers struggle to switch off, and perhaps we never completely do. Everything we encounter in life has the potential to provide that flash of inspiration. Feeling attuned to the world around you in that way is such a positive experience, giving you those moments of absolute creative thought, but it can also be a huge strain on your mental health. The screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan said that “being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.” I completely agree with that. Writing often feels like a task that needs to be completed, with rewards if you do and repercussions if you don’t." Read the rest of the interview on The Cardiff Review's website |
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Interview with a Swansea BoyInterview with fellow Parthian poet Rhian Elizabeth for her takeover of the Parthian blog – September 2018
"I love Swansea, and I’m fiercely proud of it as my hometown. However, I hadn’t realised that it had such a large presence in the collection until both Emily Blewitt and Joe Dunthorne mentioned it in their blurb quotes. I suppose the danger of writing about a specific place, especially one that isn’t that well known in worldwide terms, is that you’ll be dismissed as a ‘local poet’. But I think as long as readers can recognise something in that place you depict, even if they don’t know it intimately themselves, then the poem can travel." Read the rest of the interview on the Parthian Books website |
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Launch of 'That Lone Ship' – A Recap
A recap of the Swansea launch of 'That Lone Ship' by Parthian intern Ann Bjerregaard – September 2018
"Many of the poems in That Lone Ship are inspired by situations and places in Swansea, and it was with a particular relish that the poet read these aloud. 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." Read the rest of the recap on the Parthian Books Intern Blog |
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A Community of WritersBlog post written for the Hay Festival's International Writers' Blog – June 2017
"The last time I performed on a Bank Holiday Monday, I was 14 years old and 'first saxophonist' in Morriston Concert Band. This lofty position as lead on the reed wasn’t based on ability (I could barely read sheet music, and mimed playing along to most of the band’s repertoire), but instead on the simple fact that I was the only saxophonist. Looking back, I realise my old band mates were very kind, as it must have been painfully clear that the saxophone part was missing from many of our songs." Read the rest of the blog post on the Hay Festival website |
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