Rhys Owain Williams RSS

JAMIE GILLINGHAM What do you find are the most enjoyable and most challenging aspects of writing/being a writer? RHYS OWAIN WILLIAMS I think most writers struggle to switch off, and perhaps we never completely do. Everything we encounter in life has the potential to provide that flash of inspiration. Feeling attuned to the world around you in that way is such a positive experience, giving you those moments of absolute creative thought, but it can also be a huge strain on your mental health. The screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan said that “being a writer is like having homework every night for...

Here are some of a selection of great photos taken by Simon Oconnor of the poetry extravaganza recent Cardiff launch event for J. Brookes' new and selected poems. Featuring a plethora of names from the very well established to the emerging on the Cardiff Spoken Word Scene, with a wonderful plentiful audience to boot, much fun was had. Here's a selection:   See the album in full on Facebook Find out more about J. Brookes  

Our four poetry titles, released as a series in October 2018, have all been favourably reviewed by Gareth Leaman in the latest issue of Poetry Wales.  'The most emotively immediate of the four, Mari Ellis Dunning's Salacia brings to life a world in which Welsh women do not write their own stories, but rather have stories written upon them. We encounter rarely heard voices from the history and mythos of Wales and beyond, with an intense focus on the struggle of ensuring these voices ever reach an audience, achieved through an acute sense of the literal physical pressures of misogynistic...

We've had some lovely features, reviews and feedback for our new batch of poetry titles. First up, New Welsh Reader featured 3 of the 4 titles in their new issue, and seemed to like them... 'Rhys Owain Williams’ That Lone Ship is part of a handsome quartet of new poetry published by Parthian Books this autumn. […] In this collection, Williams explores the ghostly ripples that are cast out by everyday happenings, reflecting on and weaving together the disparate strands of experience that make up life. The poet explores the profound and the ridiculous, the private and the public, as...

As much as I love talking about myself, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about someone else for a change. Rhys Owain Williams is the first of several writers who are going to be contributing in some way or another to this blog.

I first met Rhys a couple of years ago at the Hay Festival. We were both part of the Hay Writers at Work Scheme, this amazing project that sees a group of writers from Wales sent to the festival for 13 days to write, network and, basically, develop professionally.

I liked Rhys straight away. He was a late recruit, joining up with us on the second year of the scheme, but he easily slotted into our group. We drank beer. Lots of beer. We attended events and workshops with famous writers and agents. We listened to each other’s poetry. We sat outside in the Green Room and talked about our collections which were, at this point, just fragmented words in various notepads, half formed ideas in our heads, their front covers like adverts for holidays we could only imagine going on.

I mostly liked Rhys because we had the same sense of humour. He’d share funny stories about the B&B he was staying at and the old lady who ran it, Betty, describing their early morning conversations, her ornaments and her concern for his well-being during his stay. I imagined him sneaking back in the middle of the night, creeping up Betty's stairs like a burglar after one of our group’s drinking sessions at The Old Electric Shop, like Betty was his Nan or something and he didn’t want to disappoint her with his antics.

As well as having a talent for befriending old ladies and drinking beer, Rhys is also a fantastic poet. The nice part about our friendship is that those conversations in the Green Room about our first poetry collections became a reality. We were both offered publishing contracts, at the same time, by the same publisher.

Rhys’ collection is different to mine though, in that he uses a lot of styles and poetic devices. He’s a poet who has clearly worked on his craft for years and that shows – every word counts, every word has been thought out, making an extremely moving and accomplished debut collection.

I’m really looking forward to touring with our books. It’s exciting having a new book out anyway but it’s even better being able to share the journey with someone I know. Rhys has his own launch in Swansea tomorrow (Friday 14 September).

You can buy his book That Lone Ship HERE.

I asked him some questions.

Over and out. X

the last polar bear on earth by Rhian Elizabeth is available from our online shop for £8 and free P&P (UK)