Natalie Ann Holborow is a winner of the Terry Hetherington Award and the Robin Reeves Prize and has been shortlisted and commended for the Bridport Prize, the National Poetry Competition, the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine, and the Cursed Murphy Spoken Word Award among others.

Her writing residencies with the British Council, Literature Wales and Kultivera have seen her writing and performing poetry in Wales, Ireland, Sweden and India.

Little Universe is her third full poetry collection. Natalie lives in Swansea, is a proud patron of local charity The Leon Heart Fund, and runs marathons to raise funds.

https://natalieholborow.com/

https://www.instagram.com/natholborow/

Zoë Brigley is the author of three books of poetry published by Bloodaxe: Hand & Skull (2019), Conquest (2012), and The Secret (2007). All three are UK Poetry Book Society Recommendations. Poems from the collections have won an Eric Gregory Award for the best British poets under 30, have been longlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize for the best international writers under 40, and were Forward Prize commended. She became editor for Wales’ leading poetry journal Poetry Wales in 2021, and she is now Poetry Editor for Seren Books jointly with the poet Rhian Edwards.

Kristian Evans is a founding editor of Modron Magazine, which publishes writing on the ecological crisis. He’s the author of pamphlets, Unleaving (2015), and Otherworlds (2021), and with Zoë Brigley edited 100 Poems to Save the Earth (2021), an anthology of contemporary poetry. He was a judge for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2023, and in the same year was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Environmental Poet of the Year Award. He lives in Bridgend, south Wales.

EVENT CANCELLED

Further events are planned

Aberystwyth Arts Centre/Theatr Gron/Round Theatre,

https://aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/

Darlleniadau am yr Hinsawdd /Climate readings 

with Robert Minhinnick, John Barnie, Katie Gramich, Samantha Wynne Rhydderch, Laura Wainwright, Matthew Francis. 

Event free/Rhad ac Am Ddim but discretionary. Croeso cynnes i bawb.

Hilary Llewellyn-Williams is one of the most renowned poets of her generation in Wales. Hilary was one of the original patrons of Sustainable Wales.

Hosted by Robert Minhinnick

With regular poetry open mic & film

From 8pm - pay what you can afford, supporting Sustainable Wales.

GREEN ROOM above SUSSED, during the Elvis Festival Porthcawl.

The Green Room returns, surrounded by Porthcawl’s Elvis Festival.

Friday, September 23 at 8pm, Robert Minhinnick hosts.

James Street Porthcawl CF36 3BG - near the bandstand.

Zoë Brigley, Kristian Evans & Robert minhinnick return to the Green Room with readings of new works.

https://www.francespresley.co.uk/

THE EDGE OF NECESSARY

An evening of innovative and experimental poetry at Sustainable Wales' 'Green Room' with John Goodby

The Green Room - Friday 31 May 8PM

Professor John Goodby is a poet and critic, author of "Under the Spelling Wall", a major study of Dylan Thomas's poetry, and an editor of Thomas's Collected Poems

He is also, with Lyndon Davies, editor of "The Edge of Necessary -- an Anthology of Welsh Innovative Poetry 1966-2018."

John will introduce and read selections from this pioneering anthology, and from his own poetry collections.

Open mic and more, to follow. All welcome.

Above SUSSED, BYOB

4/5 James St., Porthcawl CF36 3BG

tel: 01656 783962

Follow us on twitter:

@1thegreeneroom

@suswales

FRIDAY, MARCH 29. 8pm.

P.C. EVANS at Green Room, Sustainable Wales, 5, James St., Porthcawl CF36 3EP

On the last day of the Brexit process, Sustainable Wales is delighted to feature a EU-wide event.

Originally from Abercynon, PC. Evans describes himself as a “citizen of nowhere”.

Now based in Amsterdam, Paul will read his own poetry, written whilst living and working in that city’s Red Light district.

A strong open mic will feature Gerry Ray, with poetry about his life in Spain; while Paul Woodford, will provide a Brexit film.

Of course, there will also be pro-Brexit voices heard in this popular literary gathering. In 2016 the Bridgend constituency voted 54.6% to 45.4% to leave the EU.

Robert Minhinnick will read poems published during his tenure as editor of the international magazine, ‘Poetry Wales’.  Free copies will be presented to all who pay £4 entrance.

 A warm welcome to all /  Croeso cynnes i bawb.

Further details: 01656 773627

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26 at 8pm, charity, Sustainable Wales, hosts poet MARGOT FARRINGTON. Click to enlarge images in this post.

Margot Farrington (website)

Margot will give a reading of her work and sign copies of her books. These include Rising and Falling, Flares and Fathoms, and Scanning for Tigers.

Margot Farrington is a poet, writer, and performer. Trained in theater—her earliest love—she has read and performed widely as poet and as storyteller, garnering praise both for her work and for dynamic readings and performances. The author of three full-length poetry collections, her prior book was “Scanning For Tigers” (Free Scholar Press, 2014), her fourth collection "The Blue Canoe Of Longing" is forthcoming. Other writing includes essays, interviews, and reviews of poetry and art. Visual works include collage—pieces she has exhibited in galleries. Among her awards are fellowships in poetry from Norton Island, The I-Park Foundation, The Clocktower, and grants from NYSCA/DEC and the Athena Foundation. She is a two time Pushcart Prize nominee, most recently in 2015. As writer-in-residence, she has worked in urban and rural environments, serving diverse populations. She has also taught workshops at libraries, literary centers, schools, and prisons. As juror, panelist, curator, and coordinator, she has been involved in many literary endeavors. Farrington is founder and director of Writers At The Eyrie, the Brooklyn based residency program she launched in 2014 www.writersateyrie.org Born and raised in New Jersey, Farrington later moved to New York. Since the 1980s she has lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and in Treadwell, NY. (Image: Tony Martin)

For a full description of awards and activities click here

Tony Martin (website)

A short film will be screened that celebrates Tony’s life, which includes his work as a ‘light artist’. He is one of the first who, in the 1960s, initiated light-shows with rock groups, such as San Francisco’s Grateful Dead. A true pathfinder.

TONY MARTIN arrived to San Francisco in 1962, promptly forging creative alliances and lifetime friendships with “new music” people Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, and Ramon Sender. When the San Francisco Tape Music Center moved to its location at 321 Divisadero St., Martin was invited by co-directors Sender and Subotnick to become the Visual Director. With special attention paid to working in the tape music medium, as well as performing regularly, they joined with Mills Center for Contemporary Music in ’67. During the SFTMC days Martin was responsible for numerous visual compositions, including Terry Riley’s In C performance, as well as Sender’s Desert Ambulance. Martin was deeply engaged in experimenting with light via overhead and slide projectors, mixing paint, oil, water, and objects to build his light compositions. His following grew as a culture of psychedelia pervaded the 1960s and his light shows became popular amongst bands such as Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead. During this time he began to build "interactions" by engineering entire environments using sensors and mirrors. By the late ’60s he returned to New York City where he continued his focus for these types of installations; time and time again synthesizing his technological skills with painting as a moving image. A painter at heart, he continued to do so with consideration of his experience working with his viewer-activated sculptures, as well as his devotion to the medium of light — maintaining a thread that binds all aspects of his work. His latest piece entitled Proximity Switched Installation (2012) is a clear culmination of a lifetime of experimentation/production. A video demonstration of this installation will be available to view online at the time of the books release and includes musical accompaniment by Compound Eye (Spring Press).

THE VARIABLE PLACE is the first book of its kind to tie together over 50 years of Tony Martin's work. It includes an in-depth interview with Martin by Will Cameron, Albert Herter and the editors. As well as a special introduction by long-time friend/collaborator Pauline Oliveros. Available as a limited edition release of 350, 104 pp, full-color, 8” x 10”, perfect bound.

“Tony Martin has always been first with light. He is the inventor of the original light show, as well as interactive media and the first implementation of projected, scalable vector graphics. These all combined original ways of deciphering illumination with tightly synchronized engineering.” (Read More at Brooklyn Rail)

There will also be an Open Mike for local writers.

For Sustainable Wales, Robert Minhinnick commented:

“We’re delighted to be able to highlight the creativity of this extraordinary couple.

“Margot and Tony live in New York, and this is Margot’s only Welsh performance. Not to be missed!”

Everyone welcome! Croeso cynnes i bawb.

Entrance £4

Two Exciting poets! Plus Open Mic.

Frances Presley is a writer who now lives in London. Her innovative work is published by Shearsman. A recent book, ‘Sallow’, comes from Leafe Press. http://www.francespresley.co.uk

Christopher Cornwell is also an English poet, now living in Swansea. His first book. ‘Ergasy’, is published by The Lonely Crowd. Twitter: https://twitter.com/ergasist

Entrance £4

Everyone welcome/Croeso Cynnes i Bawb

The drama of the ‘Porthcawl hurricane’ to be relived at the ‘Green Room’. 

‘Josephine’s Rain’ is a thirty minute evocation of a storm that damaged Porthcawl in 1995.

Tropical storm ‘Josephine’ was close to hurricane status, sinking boats and destroying part of the seafront.

The video performance promise a musical and poetic dramatisation of an incident in recent history.

The original ‘Josephine’s Rain’ featured Robert Minhinnick, Peter Morgan and Richard Thomas. This new version is remixed by Peter Morgan, whose images will be shown during the performance.

There will also be an Open Mic for readings and short films.

Images (David McCormack) from a previous live performance of Josephine's Rain in 2013

An evening in English and Welsh to celebrate the publication of ‘Bondo’ by Menna Elfyn, from Bloodaxe. The title means ‘eaves’ in Welsh, referring to poetry and language as a ‘sanctuary’. Readers are Robert Minhinnick in English and Carys Evans in Welsh. Plus Open Mic.   

Entrance: £4. 

Everyone welcome. Croeso cynnes i bawb.

Above SUSSED James St., Porthcawl CF36 3BG

A welcome return for Rhian Edwards to the Green Room. 

Brood is the new pamphlet from poet Rhian Edwards. Winner of all three categories of Wales Book of the Year in 2013 for her debut poetry collection, Clueless Dogs, Bridgend-born and based Edwards is known for her dazzling performance style and her vivid, often acutely personal poems.

The new pamphlet opens with ‘Birds of Rhiannon’ introducing us (via a nod to the famous medieval Mabinogion story where magic birds, said to bring people back from the dead, console the heartbroken Celtic princess Rhiannon) to a darkly resonant tone that echoes from the myth:

Before I was mortal, I was haloed

in feathers, my trinity of familiars;

whose birdsong was legend, serenading

the dead from their dreams,

lullabying the living to torpor…

The centre of this new pamphlet is a ten-part poem, ‘Pied Margot’ based on the mnemonic rhyme for groups of magpies ‘One for Sorrow, Two for Joy…’. This long poem charts the progression of a troubling relationship from infatuation to disillusionment, alongside the birth of a much-loved daughter.

There are unflinching descriptions of arduous pregnancy, as well as miscarriage, that remind us that this stage of a woman’s life can be as risky as a battlefield. Also, any parent will recognise the irritated joy of ‘Kiss’ where a child becomes an expert at ‘delaying the damnation of bedtime.’

Meanwhile, birds are at all times present: hovering, chattering, casting their shadows, they are both tricksters and familiars in these hypnotic, spell-like poems. Welsh artist Paul Edwards has provided some beautiful charcoal drawings of magpies inspired by this atmospheric sequence, which feature throughout the pamphlet.

Other poems feature Gulls, Red Kites and ‘The Universal Doodle’ of a murmuration cloud of starlings. This pamphlet Broodis an apt follow-up to Clueless Dogs and leaves us eager for the poet’s next full collection.

GREEN ROOM WELCOMES RADICAL POET

8pm. Friday, February 24 sees the return of the charity, Sustainable Wales’s Green Room after a winter break.

First performance will be poet, MIKE JENKINS, a widely published writer who has won Wales ‘Book of the Year’ and edited the international quarterly, ‘Poetry Wales’.

Mike is celebrated for his radical political views, but his poetry is wide ranging and original. Often it reflects his life spent as a teacher in comprehensive schools in south Wales.

Well known also as an opponent of opencast mining, which he sees as a blight on his local landscape in Merthyr Tydfil, Mike Jenkins has also recently began to write in Welsh.

Joining Mike will be fellow poet MIKE CHURCH, and there will be opportunities for local writers to join in the Open Mic, always a popular Green Room feature.

The Green Room will diversify in 2017, with a series of music events and discussions.

Entrance £4. Everyone welcome. The charity does not have an alcohol license, thus the public are urged to bring their own.

More information: 01656 773627

The latest books by Mike Jenkins and Mike Church will be on sale on the night.

GREEN ROOM RETURNS WITH LOCAL WRITING

Charity, Sustainable Wales welcomes all local writers to its GREEN ROOM, 5, JAMES ST. PORTHCAWL CF36 3BG on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, at 8pm for a celebration of ‘new writing’.

Entirely devoted to the ‘open mic’, the event will feature Robert Minhinnick, Gerald Webber and a variety of other prose and poetry writers.

Entrance £4.

More information: Sustainable Wales 01656 773627

Film screenings: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 8pm. GREEN ROOM above SUSSED, 5, James St. PORTHCAWL CF36 3BG

Sustainable Wales’s ‘Green Room’ returns from its summer break with showings of ‘Late Love Poems’, a series of films by Eamon Bourke of Park6 Productions based round poems by Steve Griffiths. These will be followed by an Open Mic for local writers to perform their work, maybe with a ‘love poem’ theme. £4 entry.  Bring your own drinks. Everyone welcome. Further details – Sustainable Wales 01656 773627. 

About the Late Love Poems films.

More information to follow...

The Green Room returns with poet David Foster Morgan followed by an open mic the day after the EU referendum...

David Foster-Morgan was born in Tenby.  He lives and works in Cardiff.  His poetry has appeared extensively in journals most notably Poetry Wales. His first collection Masculine Happiness was published in October 2015 by Seren Books.

Buy Masculine Happiness at Seren Books

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 2016 at 8pm sees an appearance by successful poet SAMANTHA WYNNE RHYDDERCH at the intimate Green Room, home of charity Sustainable Wales.

Samantha, from Ceredigion, is the author of four collections of poetry, the most recent published by Picador.

Both these volumes, Not in These Shoes and Banjo went on to be shortlisted for the Wales ‘book of the year’.

Samantha Wynne Rhydderch’s reading will be followed by an Open Mic, in which local writers are invited to perform.

For the charity, Robert Minhinnick said:

“I remember when Samantha was a young and promising writer. With her recent publications she has proved herself one of the leading Welsh poets. Today her new work is always eagerly anticipated.”

Samantha Wynne Rhydderch’s books will be on sale on the night, and there will be time to question her about her writing career.

Everyone welcome. Entrance £3.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27. 8pm

HappenStance Press Comes to Porthcawl

Poet and editor of HappenStance press Nell Nelson travels from Fife to Porthcawl to launch two new books by Welsh poets.

'Unleaving' is the first collection of poems by Kristian Evans, a writer and artist, originally from Bridgend, who currently lives among the dunes at Kenfig on the south Wales coast with his wife, two sons and a border collie. A close observer of the expressions of the natural world, and its dialogue with poetic tradition, his work is nonetheless willing to take risks and test our conventions. Even in his prose, there’s poetry, the borderlines blurred and burnished. He is the author of the popular Kenfig Journal.

Stephen Payne’s day job is in academic cognitive science. He is currently Professor of Human-Centric Systems at the University of Bath. He’s always been fascinated by language and lyric, and here, in his first full length collection, 'Pattern Beyond Chance', scientist and poet meet and strike sparks. It’s no surprise to encounter poems that think, and think about thinking. They’re playful, provocative and lyrical, and the poet’s continuous pleasure in sound and pattern is curiously infectious.

Nell said, ""How lucky and lovely it is to have debut publications from two excellent Welsh poets at the same time! It's a delight to be launching HappenStance books in Wales -- for the first time, but definitely not the last."

Kristian will also be reading at Ty Carnegie, Bridgend's new art centre, with Clare Potter on the 15th of October and Stephen will be reading in Bath on the 30th of November.

HappenStance on twitter

The Old House', a Llynfi Valley pub since 1147, is more than the oldest in Wales. It was the centre of the triban-writing tradition of Glamorgan, a unique and distinctive verse form. Here Twm Morys, musician and poet, who won the National Eisteddfod chair in 2003, shares his discoveries of this marvellous poetry and reminds us of our rich heritage. A delightful evening in both of Wales’s languages.

Mae’r ‘Hen Dŷ’, tafarn yn Nyffryn Llynfi ers 1147 yn fwy na’r dafarn hynaf yng Nghymru. Dyma ganolfan traddodiad creu tribannau Morgannwg, math unigryw a nodweddiadol o farddoniaeth. Mae Twm Morys, Bardd Cadeiriol yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn 2003, yn rhannu ei brofiad o ddarganfod y farddoniaeth arbennig hon ac yn ein hatgoffa o gyfoeth ein treftadaeth. Noson ddifyr ddwyieithog.

Carnegie House, Bridgend on Friday 13 November 2015

Venue:  Carnegie House - Wyndham St., Bridgend, CF31 1EF

(The Old Library on Wyndham Street)
Doors Open at 7:00PM
Starts at 7:30PM

Tickets £4 on the door or via (+ booking fee): https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/ELJMJF

Our popular Green Room poetry event returns:

8pm, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, sees a discussion of the life of ALUN LEWIS, the World War Two writer, who died in Burma in 1944.

Led by Cary Archard, founder of Seren Books, and editor of Lewis’s ‘Collected Poems’ and ‘Collected Stories’, this event considers a writer who died too soon.

Indeed, Cary Archard might touch on the cause of Lewis’s death, either accident or suicide.

There will also be readings of Lewis’s work, including ‘Raiders’ Dawn’, one of the most poignant poems of World War Two.

Socially aware, Alun Lewis wrote that “The industrialization of Wales has ruled the Welsh people as tyrannically as Hitler is ruling the continent today”.

Alun Lewis was a schoolteacher at Lewis‘s Boys School, Pengam, and this year is his centenary. Educated at Cowbridge Grammar School, he fought in Burma with the South Wales Borderers.

His experiences of India and Burma had a momentous effect on his life and writing.

Entrance £3. To be followed by an Open Mic.

GREEN ROOM, Sustainable Wales, 5, James St., PORTHCAWL CF36 3BG. Tel: 01656 783962 Contact

http://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/alun-lewis-collected-stories

8pm, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 sees a special evening of harp playing and Welsh language recitation taking place in SUSTAINABLE WALES’S GREEN ROOM, 5, JAMES ST., PORTHCAWL CF36 3BG

Led by CARYS EVANS, who administers the ‘Porthcawl Cerdd Dant’ (string music) group, the evening promises to be an outstanding musical and literary occasion.

Entrance on the door is £3 and everyone is welcome, whether Welsh speaking or not.

For Sustainable Wales, Robert Minhinnick said today: “ This is the first event in our new Green Room series, which will include book launches and celebrations.

“Carys Evans is a great admirer of harpist and writer Twm Morys, and Twm himself will be appearing at events in Ty Carnegie, Bridgend, on November 13, and in Llangynwyd on November 14, in events organized by Sustainable Wales.

Twm will playing his adaptions of ‘tribannau’ – Welsh language poems traditionally associated with Glamorgan. September 18 at the Green Room is the start of an exciting series that will last into 2016.”

For further details of all events, contact Robert Minhinnick on 01656 773627 or Kris Evans at Sustainable Wales 01656 783962.

Entry £3