Winner 2024 Wales Book of the Year Poetry Award
Chaired Bard of 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales

In Gruffudd Owen’s award-winning second collection we revisit, a few significant years down the line, the playful, thoughtful voice first introduced in his debut, Hel Llus yn y Glaw (Gathering Bilberries in the Rain). The world has changed in that time, and whilst political and personal upheavals form much of the backdrop to this volume, the poet’s characteristic interplay of humour, sincerity and cynicism remain, although this time with an arguably sharper edge.

Capturing the experience of so many Welsh speakers who have moved away from their square mile, Owen’s linguistic angst permeates this wide-ranging collection, which also satirises the (dis)comforts of middle-class Cardiff life, and reflects on the realities of parenting a child on the autistic spectrum. The result is a warm and deeply honest collection about change, love, captivity and a scrap of freedom.