Features and Interviews
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
