It’s a delight to be the Scots Language Centre’s Makar (poet) for March 2024. The Centre promotes and supports Scots. https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/29
The poem below is from my collection Sanctuary: There Must Be Somewhere published by Seren Books.
During Wales in London Week, around St David’s Day, there’s a celebration of the significant contribution to London of Welsh culture. On February 29th WalesPENCymru held a poetry reading and music event at The Poetry Society’s Poetry Cafe to mark the organisation’s thenth anniversary. The theme was ‘Wales as a Multilingual Country’.
The Wales branch of PEN is one of the largest in terms of membership. It is affiliated to PEN International.
PEN promotes literature and defends freedom of expression. It campaigns on behalf of writers around the world who are persecuted, imprisoned, harassed and attacked for what they have written. It has committees representing writers in prison, translation and linguistic rights, women writers and a peace committee.
A glance at WalesPENCymru’s website shows the range of events and campaigns that run throughout the year http://walespencymru.org/ They are all designed to support the freedom to speak of writers and journalists worldwide and also in Wales and the UK.
I was invited to read my poem, ‘Colony’ which is about what happens to language in the process of colonisation and I wrote a new poem for the event, ‘Wales/Cymru’.
At the London event we listened to the National Poet of Wales, Hanan Issa (below). And to Wales PEN Cymru’s president, the renowned Welsh poet, Menna Elfyn.
The Turkish writer Mehmet Ali Alabora spoke about living in Wales and the importance of the Welsh language.
The Kurdish musician, Ali Zeynel (below) played and sang in his minority language and then gave us the Welsh folksong, ‘Dacw ‘nghariad i lawr yn y berllan’.
photos and video by Dominic Williams of https://write4word.org/write4word
Watch the event on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsioNQ3TddM
In my collection, Sanctuary https://www.serenbooks.com/book/sanctuary-there-must-be-somewhere/ I have a poem written for Letter With Wings, an Irish PEN campaign for the release of the unjustly imprisoned jounalist, Nedim Turfent. Thankfully he was released in Novemeber 2022, after 6 years in prison.
The launch issue of https://linktr.ee/thebelfastreview
Excerpt: On 1st December
We are living at a time when, through the media, we see power being wielded ruthlessly. We witness the destruction caused by war and by wayward market forces. Often the two are linked. There’s so much conflict happening that the news can hardly keep up with it. It can feel overwhelming.
The 2023 Reuters Institute digital news report states that close to 36% of news consumers say they avoid news, often or sometimes. To some extent this is prompted by concern to protect mental health. We need accurate and trustworthy news but its frequency and pervasiveness across platforms can lead to feelings of helplessness – knowing so much; able to do so little.
And some interests will encourage us to stay passive; to undervalue the good we can do; to leave politics to the powerful; to neglect the power of compassion, generosity, solidarity. I try to describe that cynical outlook in this short poem:
DECEMBER 28th
After Christmas – always – Childermas: Slaughter of Innocents; Threat Neutralised.
The Prince of War, glistening with success, allures us.
This, he says, is what you want. Not a stable, sheep-herding losers, a star.
At Christmas time 2 of my poems were included in Amethyst Review.
On Christmas Day: What The Stars Want To Tell Us
And on 28th December, the commemoration of The Massacre of the Innocents
The third edition of Ulster Scots anthology, ‘Yarns’ includes my poem
THA GOOLDEN WHUN
Ulstèr fowk ir like tha whun,
thoarny wi’oot an goold wi’in;
prood tae be thrawn, naw taen in
bi chancers’ flum;
tha fit yince plantit, nat fer muivin
whutiver come.
But wha wi whun wud be acquent
shud aye be minefu tae tak tent
nat tae be deggert ower an rent
bi stab an birsie;
an ‘stainch’ is ‘dour’ less it be blent
wi safnin mercie.
Thoarny tha whin – an tha wile rose
that in tha yin Ulstèr hedgera growes.
Tha whun’s a wal – an yit tha rose
is mairch an boondrie;
houls tha line in lichtsome claes
gainst al an soondrie
Hard tae be saft though we intend it.
‘Gin bein gommed we’r well defendit.
Still, whun an rose, baith bricht, baith scentit,
cud stan fur this:
Alloo oor goold an dinnae stint it
– less jag, mair kiss.
This is the third anthology, published by the Ulster Scots Community Network, November 2023. It’s a showcase of new poetry and prose, including from some writers publishing in Ulster Scots for the first time.
After Christmas – always – Childermas:*
Slaughter of Innocents; Threat Neutralised.
The Prince of War, glistening with success,
allures us. This, he says, is what you want.
Not a stable, sheep-herding losers, a star.
On the website of https://thelonelycrowd.org/2023/12/28/new-poetry-december-28th-by-angela-graham/ The Lonely Crowd December 28th.
The image is part of a depiction of the Slaughter of the Innocents on the floor of Siena Cathedral, 1481.
*The medieval Coventry Carol refers to the Slaughter of the Innocents, the killing of all male infants in Bethlehem ordered by King Herod to eradicate ‘the infant king’ the Wise Men had told him had been born. It is commemorated on 28th December every year and has long been known in England as ‘Childermas’. My poem is published in Amethyst Review for this date 2023.
The illustration header is part of the marble inlaid floor of Siena Cathedral depicting the Slaughter (c. 1481).
