Glasfryn Project

The Hay Poetry Jamboree was conceived as a modest attempt to redress an imbalance. Although there are a number of established poetry festivals in Britain, few provide more than a bare modicum of space for those poetries which operate outside the margins of the mainstream. The Jamboree set out to provide another platform for writers working within a more exploratory ethos. The Jamboree is partisan, but not doctrinaire - it's chief criteria are “Is it good?” and “Is it interesting?” Our...

In November Glasfryn Seminars played host to Border/Lines, a group of poets and academics who come together to discuss literature, critical practice and theory and to explore links, differences and new approaches to an understanding of their relationship. The ethos of the Borderlines meetings is one of openness and spontaneity, the structure of the gatherings is partly improvised on the day, although on each of the two first meetings a theme or a text was mooted as a point of attack, and people were asked to prepare and share material in advance. At Glasfryn the chosen text was Maurice Blanchot's essay The Gaze of Orpheus, and people were asked to respond to this and to the general theme of the Orphic myths. The day commenced with a paper around these topics, by Lyndon Davies, and the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon was given over to discussion. During the morning, artist Penny Hallas had created two drawings for the Border/Lines event in her studio upstairs, and people were taken one by one to the studio to record their pre-prepared responses to the Blanchot essay to camera. After each reading the guest was invited to sign both drawings, one with a rubber and one with...

The Glasfryn Seminars were initiated as a response to what the organisers perceive as a paucity of opportunities in Wales for writers (as well as interested readers) to come together to exchange ideas on the nature of poetry, literature and the arts in general. Whilst readings and workshops continue to flourish, discussion seems largely sequestered in the universities or drip-fed through the pages of the periodicals. What was needed, we felt, were more venues and occasions at which practitioners...

October 5th, The Old Library, Cardiff, 6.30pm (with John Goodby and exhibition by Penny Hallas) October 6th, St John's Church, Abbey Road, Llangollen, 6.30 pm (with John Goodby and Childe Rolande) October 19th, Hen and Chickens Pub, Abergavenny, 7.30 pm (with Samantha Wynne Rhydderch) October 27th, Bangor, Palas Print (with John Goodby) October 28th, University Bookshop, Arts Centre, Aberystwyth, 6.30 pm (with John Goodby)

The second Hay Poetry Jamboree lopes onto the scene with a series of substantial readings by some of the most exciting poets in Wales and elsewhere; among them, Childe Roland, Robert Minhinnick, Alan Halsey, Geraldine Monk, Elisabeth Bletsoe and Caroline Bergvall. The event takes place at the Oriel Gallery of Contemporary Art in Hay on Wye, from 3rd to 5th June 2010, and this year extends its link with the visual arts, by hosting the Elysium Gallery Film Festival, and by showcasing the work...

Parthian Books invites you to the launch of SHIELD a new collection of poetry by Lyndon Davies with illustrations by Penny Hallas Saturday May 29th at 5.30 pm at Oriel Gallery of Contemporary Art, Salem Chapel, Bell Bank, Hay on Wye www.parthianbooks.co.uk

REPORT ON HAY POETRY JAMBOREE 28 MAY – 30 MAY 2009 Supported by Academi, Library of Wales, Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea University School of Arts/CREW The first Hay Poetry Jamboree, organised by John Goodby and Lyndon Davies, and supported by Swansea University School of Art /CREW, the Dylan Thomas Centre, Library of Wales and Academi, took place at the Oriel Gallery in Hay-on-Wye on 28th—30th May. It was made possible by the generosity of Geoff Evans, Oriel’s owner, who allowed free...