Nes Draw
Nes Draw
Winner of the 2016 Wales Book of the Year (Poetry)
Mererid Hopwood is one of the best-known poets writing today in Welsh who made history as the first woman to win the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod - our annual cultural festival - for a long poem in cynghanedd. Nes Draw is the first collection of her poetry and consists largely, though by no means entirely, of poems written in these very tight forms, which she has explained as both craft and art in an excellent English volume Singing in Chains, essential reading for anyone who comes to her poetry from outside.
Her poetry has a tender inwardness, exploring the deepest recesses of the heart where conscience and an inner light unite with sensitivity to suffering to overcome division and challenge power. She likes to use the second person singular, establishing a direct human bond, for "the impersonal verb is a merciless device." But alongside the strongly pacifist pieces there are lighter and more occasional poems reflecting the many-sided activity of a poet in contemporary Wales.
Mererid is an accomplished linguist with strong German and Spanish, well aware of the difficulties and pleasures of translating poetry. She has travelled widely, taken part in workshops with poets and translators in Europe, India and South America, translated work by Paul Celan and Lorca and published academic work on Johann Peter Hebel. Her work awaits a talented and adventurous translator whom, in many cases, she would be able to meet half way.
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Gomer (2016)
208pp
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Gomer (2016)
Elinor Wyn Reynolds
Gwasg Gomer
Llandysul
Ceredigion SA44 4JL
Cymru/Wales, UKelinor@gomer.co.uk
www.gomer.co.uk
Videos
Watch Author discuss and read from Meet the Author: Manon Steffan Ros
Watch Author discuss and read from Poetry Connections on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Jasmine Donahaye on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Translating Minority Languages in the Literary Translation Centre
Watch Author discuss and read from Digwyddiad Diwrnod Rhyngwladol Mamiaith 2021
Watch Author discuss and read from Alun Davies | Ar Lwybr Dial (Pursuit of Vengeance)
Watch Author discuss and read from Cyfnewid Anrhegion
Watch Author discuss and read from Iaith y Nefoedd (The Language of Heaven) | Llwyd Owen
Watch Author discuss and read from Mari Strachan on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Aled Islwyn on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from The Party Wall | Stevie Davies
Watch Author discuss and read from The Jeweller | Caryl Lewis, translated by Gwen Davies
Watch Author discuss and read from We Could Be Anywhere By Now | Katherine Stansfield
Watch Author discuss and read from Footnotes to Water | Zoë Skoulding
Watch Author discuss and read from Gwirionedd | Elinor Wyn Reynolds
Watch Author discuss and read from Stillicide | Cynan Jones
Watch Author discuss and read from The Mission House | Carys Davies
Watch Author discuss and read from Wing | Matthew Francis
Watch Author discuss and read from Filò | Siân Melangell Dafydd
Watch Author discuss and read from Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru yn cyflwyno Ffon yr Her Gyfieithu i Grug Muse yng Nghricieth on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Her Gyfieithu 2020 Translation Challenge
Watch Author discuss and read from Zafer Şenocak 'Nahaufnahmen’
Watch Author discuss and read from Grug Muse 'Craffu' on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Eleoma Bodammer 'Close ups' on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Tony Bianchi on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Damian Walford Davies on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Owen Martell on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Fflur Dafydd on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Wiliam Owen Roberts on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from https://player.vimeo.com/video/14972312
Watch Author discuss and read from https://player.vimeo.com/video/14851476
Watch Author discuss and read from https://player.vimeo.com/video/26593990
Watch Author discuss and read from https://player.vimeo.com/video/16725923
Watch Author discuss and read from https://player.vimeo.com/video/26594982
Watch Author discuss and read from Siân Melangell Dafydd on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Lloyd Markham on Bad Ideas/Chemicals
Watch Author discuss and read from Llŷr Gwyn Lewis on Rhyw Flodau Rhyfel (Some Flowers of War)
Watch Author discuss and read from Llŷr Gwyn Lewis on 'Fabula'
Watch Author discuss and read from Richard Gwyn on The Blue Tent on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Eluned Gramich - Woman Who Brings the Rain on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Angharad Price on O! Tyn y Gorchudd on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Manon Steffan Ros on Llyfr Glas Nebo on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Niall Griffiths on Broken Ghost on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Richard Gwyn on Stowaway: A Levantine Journey on Vimeo
Watch Author discuss and read from Darllen y Byd - Llenyddiaeth Ryngwladol i Blant yn y Gymraeg
Reviews
‘Every poem includes layers of meaning which are revealed gradually. New meaning can be found on every reading, and when read in context with the other poems found in the collection, meanings change again. In this ambiguity lies the poetry’s charm. The poems reveal further secrets with every reading; their simplicity creates imaginative opportunities for the reader to play with the poet’s ideas.’
Gwales