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Her 100 Cerdd 2017

Published Mon 25 Sep 2017 - By Literature Wales
Her 100 Cerdd 2017
Picture: Emyr Young

Literature Wales challenge four poets to write 100 poems in 24 hours

#Her100Cerdd
To celebrate National Poetry Day, Literature Wales has once again challenged four poets to compose 100 Welsh-language poems in 24 hours.

The four brave (and soon-to-be tired) poets who have accepted the challenge this year are Karen Owen, Rhys Iorwerth, Iestyn Tyne and Gwynfor Dafydd.

Each poet will need to write at least one poem every hour to complete the challenge within the timeframe. This is the fifth edition of Her 100 Cerdd, with the four previous teams reaching the target with just seconds to spare.

The public are invited to send subject suggestions and messages of encouragement via social media during the 24 hours. Since its inception in 2012, this innovative digital project has provided a unique snapshot of Wales on that specific day – its politics, interests, news and culture. Amongst the 400 poems published are love-songs, poems welcoming new babies, verses of praise and satire, a poem about selfies and two about bananas.

The challenge will kick off at noon on Wednesday 27 September, and end at noon on Thursday 28 September, National Poetry Day – the annual celebration of poetry and all things poetic. Every poem will be published on www.literaturewales.org.

Are the poets slightly apprehensive in the face of this challenge? Karen Owen said: “My biggest worry is the blank, white page. Also, having to acknowledge that my efforts – as good as they may seem at the time – will barely scratch the surface of our rich literary tradition.”

Iestyn Tyne is concerned that he’ll struggle to stay awake for 24 hours, “and being forced to create under pressure, working on completely unexpected poems as we respond to the public’s random requests!”

To send a random request of your own, use the hashtag #Her100Cerdd on Twitter, and follow @LlenCymru and @LitWales to follow the poets on their creative journey.

National Poetry Day