Capital Poet

Gillian Clarke

 

Born in Cardiff 1937, Gillian is a poet, writer, playwright, editor, and translator. She read English at Cardiff University, and returned to Cardiff to marry, bring up children and become a self–employed writer. With over 50 publications, 4 honorary fellowships, a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Literature and a Presidency of the Ty Newydd Writers’ Centre, Gillian is a highly acclaimed and well-represented poet and writer. She regularly takes on residences in primary and secondary schools in England and Wales, and accepts invitations to festivals, universities and other poetry events in Crete, Cyprus, the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Canada and the USA.

Publications

Poetry

Making the Beds for the Dead, Carcanet Press, 2004.
Owain Glyn Dŵr, poems commissioned by National Library of Wales, 2000.
Nine Green Gardens, Gomer Press, 2000, poems commissioned for Aberglasne.
Bioverse, Harper Collins, 2000. Commissioned for inclusion in The National Botanic Garden of Wales.
The Animal Wall, poems for children, Gomer Press, 1999.
Five Fields, Carcanet Press, 1998. PBS recommendation, Book of the Year Shortlist.
Collected Poems, Carcanet Press, 1997.
The King of Britain’s Daughter, Carcanet Press, 1993. Poetry Book Society recommendation. Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year Shortlist.
Letter in the Rumour, Carcanet Press, 1989. Poetry Book Society recommendation
Selected Poems, Carcanet Press, 1985
Letter From a Far Country, Carcanet Press, 1982
The Sundial, Gomer Press, 1978
Snow on the Mountain, Christopher Davies, 1971.

Anthologies

Poetry

Anthologised widely. One of the Six Women Poets, Oxford University Press, selected as A Level exam text in Wales and England. Collected Poems a set text for Edexel A Level exam. Studied for GCSE by several exam boards in Wales and England, especially AQA. Included in AQA GCSE anthology since 1996. Main choice, paired with Seamus Heaney, in the current AQA exam anthology.

Prose

’In the Beginning’, a short story in Dragon Days, Gomer Press, 2004.
A Local Habit and a Name, Gregynog Press, 1998.
Essay in Cardiff Central, Gomer Press, 2003.
Stories: ’The Blue Man’, ’Field of Hay’ and ’Honey’ all in Magpies, Gomer Press, 2000¸ an anthology of short stories edited by Robert Nisbet.
Essays, articles, short stories, editorials and reviews in numerous publications.

Translations

Poems for the Bloodaxe Book of the 20th Century Welsh Poetry in Translation, Bloodaxe 2003. Tegwch y Bore, a novel by Kate Roberts. To be published. Commendation from the translation society.
Poems by Menna Elfyn in her collections Cell Angel, Bloodaxe 1996, and Cusan Dyn Dall, Bloodaxe 2000.
One Moonlit Night, traditional stories from the Welsh of T. Llew Jones. Gomer Press 1991.

Television / Radio / Libretti

Shopping for Happiness, broadcast Radio 4, 2004.
Letter From a Far Country, adapted from long poem of same title. Broadcast Radio 4, 2004.
Honey, play for radio adapted from her short story. Broadcast Radio 4 2001.
The Blue Man, a play for radio adapted from her short story. Broadcast Radio 4, 1999.
The City and Concerto, two 20 minutes radio poems commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. Broadcast, read by GC, May 1997.
Talking to Wordsworth, BBC Radio play, March 1997.
The King of Britain’s Daughter. Adaptation of poem sequence originally commissioned by Hay-on-Wye Literature Festival, for setting as cantata by Adrian Williams. Performed Hay 1996.
Imagine This, 1993, 45 minute BBC TV film, written & presented by GC.
Letter from a Far Country, 1979, half hour radio poem for BBC Wales. Read by GC.
Talking in the Dark, 1975, half hour BBC Radio poem, BBC Wales

Commissions / Collaborations with visual artists

Poem to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Royal Society of Architects in Wales, commissioned by the RSAW, read at its conference in Cardiff in 2004, published in the Architects Journal.
Essay and poem sequence on the legend of Llyn y Fan Fach in response to paintings by Mary Lloyd Jones. See The Colour of Saying: the paintings of Mary Lloyd Jones, Gomer Press, 2000.
Poems carved on slate sculptures by Howard Bowcott.
Poems carved on slate sculptures by Meic Watts.
Alchemica, poems for sculpture exhibition commissioned and published by Oriel Mostyn, 1993.