John Barnie is one of Wales's most distinguished and respected literary figures, well-known for both his creative and discursive abilities. He has published several collections of poetry, prose fiction and essays, most notably The King of Ashes (Gomer, 1989) which won a Welsh Book of the Year Award. His verse novel Ice was published by Gomer in 2001. His most recent publications are Sea Lilies: Selected Poems 1984-2003 (Seren, 2006) and Trouble in Heaven (Gomer, 2007). Formerly editor of Planet, he also translates from Danish and lives near Aberystwyth and performs with the bilingual poetry and blues group Llaeth Mwnci Madog / Madog's Moonshine.