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Hay Festival 2005

Talk Poetic

Poetry has always been significant in Wales. Here are some of the country's best known bards.

Starred names (*) are appearing at the festival.

Dannie Abse
Jewish Welsh writer, acutely aware of his dual roots. He cherishes the unusual and eccentric in humans and has written 12 volumes of much-loved poetry, as well as several novels.

Gillian Clarke
Writes lyrical, often ironic, poems that draw on landscape, family and Welsh myth. Links her body and emotions with nature, creating a distinctive female voice that has influenced younger poets.

Tony Curtis
Professor of poetry at the University of Glamorgan who writes in Welsh and has published over 20 books including Seren (The Arches).

Menna Elfyn*
Political poet with a passion for the Welsh language and identity, whose work vividly describes imprisonment and liberation. Describes herself as a Christian anarchist.

Peter Finch
Writes innovative, experimental poems, often involving performance and sound recording. Has published more than 20 collections.

Kathryn Gray*
Gray shot into the limelight last year when her first collection The Never Never was shortlisted for the prestigious TS Eliot Prize. The modern world comes living and breathing out of her poems, which skilfully combine quick-fire associations and emotional complexity.

Gwyneth Lewis*
Writes in Welsh and English, and plays with meaning and form, for example, by laying out poems like faxes and grappling with Americanisms in the Welsh language.

Robin Llwyd
Author of Rebel ar y We, the first volume of poetry in the Welsh language to be published on the web.

Deryn Rees-Jones
Young writer who produces vivid poems full of striking characters and unexpected images.

Lloyd Robson*
Irrepressible performance poet-artist-musician, powered by urban energy.

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Hay Festival 2005

Talk Poetic

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