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From Bengal to Wales: Sophie McKeand Explores Indian Landscapes in New Recording
The keen, passionate, yet dreamy voice of Sophie McKeand drifts out of the speakers as she recites her poems 'Morning Prayer' and 'Dharma.'
North Welsh poet and performer Sophie McKeand went to the Bengali Region in India in 2017 as part of the cultural exchange program “The Valley, The City, The Village.”
Listen to the full recording on Soundcloud.
Hay Festival Wales 2017 Podcast: Indian and Welsh authors explore the meaning of place
Welsh and Indian authors reflect on the theme of place in their writing at this podcast recorded at the Hay Festival Wales 2017. The poets took part in the Hay Mela: a series of events at Hay Festival that were part of the UK India Year of Culture 2017- a year of cultural exchange marking the 70th anniversary of India’s independence. In this British Council podcast recorded at the Hay Festival Wales 2017 with host Georgina Godwin writers from West Bengal and Wales talk about their cross cultural collaboration through the project Village, City and Valley. Read More and Listen to...
Sophie McKeand Blogs about Rebel Sun for Poetry Wales
'The poems in Rebel Sun knit together all of the various elements of experimentation, politics and community I’ve been immersed in over recent years, with a strong focus on (re)connecting with the natural world. I am as much a part of the north Wales landscape as any oak or wave or starling and Rebel Sun is acknowledgement of that.'
'Explaining the exact nature of a poem feels too didactic, but this collection is absolutely about taking a stand politically. I see the after-effects of colonialism as a patriarchal dish still being force-fed to the land and her people in Wales. But after a long winter, maybe spring is coming.'
Read the poem and the blog in full on the Poetry Wales website
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Caught by the River: Sophie McKeand on #IndiaWales
In the holy city of Varanasi the waxing moon is a hammock and I am Alice, fallen down the rabbit-hole into an oddly strange-yet-familiar land where sacred bulls wade freely through tight alleys because they are a living representation of Nandi who serves the god Shiva. I wake in darkness at 5.30am to rolling bells and a woman chanting through loudspeakers. Men dressed in red robes weave fire torches before The Ganges as the sun rises in answer to their summons. We climb through this liminal space onto a rowing boat where the crease of oars counts time along the...
