Weaving Words
with Elinor
Gwynn
Sownd: Manon Awst + Dylan Huw
Wales in Venice / Cymru yn Fenis
Free - booking essential
Enjoy a morning in the company of writer and environmentalist Elinor Gwynn, where we'll explore the landscape of south-west Wales through words and images, and learn more about the ancient poetic craft of 'cynghanedd'. With guest contribution from the renowned poet and geographer Hywel Griffiths.
Cynghanedd is a traditional Welsh poetic technique in which the sounds within a line of poetry follow a strict pattern of harmony, repetition, and balance. For example, poets carefully repeat and match sounds to make the line pleasing to the ear, almost like a form of verbal music. Cynghanedd is a way of arranging words so that consonants (and sometimes vowels) create a musical pattern within a line of Welsh poetry.
Hywel’s poem for this workshop was inspired by Gors Goch, a low-lying marsh near the village of Llanllwch on the western outskirts of Carmarthen. The poem reflects on the contrast between the hustle and bustle of the dual carriageway next to the marsh and the railway laid through its centre and the slow formation of the peat over thousands of years.
This workshop is part of a public programme exploring the themes and ideas presented in Manon Awst and Dylan Huw's Wales in Venice Exhibition.
Please note this workshop is suitable for Welsh speakers and learners.
Free - Limited Places Available
About Elinor Gwynn:
Places, language and the natural world have been Elinor Gwynn’s passions since childhood. Having grown up in Cardiff and Carmarthen she chose to pursue a career in environmental conservation and landscape management, but has always relished opportunities to bring creativity into her work through writing and other forms of artistic expression. Elinor won the National Eisteddfod crown in 2016. In recent years she has enjoyed researching the connections between language and landscapes at Aberystwyth University, and is currently investigating the history of herbal medicine in Wales during the 19th and early 20th century.
About Hywel Griffiths:
Hywel Griffiths is a geographer in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University and a poet. He has published four volumes of poetry and won the National Eisteddfod crown in 2008 and the Chair in 2015. Hywel grew up in the parish of Llangynog, just west of Carmarthen before moving to Aberystwyth to study geography and mathematics a quarter of a century ago. His academic work on geomorphology - the science that studies landforms and the processes that create them - and his creative work often inspire each other. His poetry discusses the relationship between people and their landscape and its history, and his academic work increasingly focuses on poetry as a tool to discuss and communicate science and environmental issues. Hywel is Aberystwyth's Town Poet at the moment.
To let us know about any access needs please get in touch at engagement@orielmyrddin.com
If you have booked, and can no longer attend please contact us to cancel your place: info@orielmyrddin.com or 01267 222775
More Information:
Cymru yn Fenis / Wales in Venice is commissioned by the Arts Council of Wales with support and collaboration from the Welsh Government, Wales Arts International and the British Council. Sownd [ar safle] / Sownd [on site] is further supported by the Colwinston Charitable Trust, Art Fund and Natural Resources Wales.
Sownd is curated by Steffan Jones-Hughes and the project is supported by Oriel Davies and Oriel Myrddin.
