Si Griffiths is a poet, writer and community organiser living in Machynlleth. Raised in Walsall, and from a working-class background, his poems, essays and short stories have appeared in Spelt, Lumpen, Sarai Reader, Unthology, Permaculture Magazine, Flesh: Bodies and Technology, Clean Slate and Sparks. His poem ‘Sycamore Lungs’ came third in Wildfire Words, 2022 Every Breath competition, judged by Ben Ray. His pamphlet, Debone and Fold, forthcoming with Broken Spine Press, draws on his years working as a chef to focus upon the catering industry and explore our complex relationships with what we eat and those who produce and serve it. With an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa, he’s worked in a variety of editorial collectives and publishing projects. Recently, he’s begun to perform as a Storyteller and Educator, delivering a range of workshops that blend storytelling, nature connection and creative writing. He’s a co-founder and director of Eginiad Cymru, a community organisation based in the Dyfi Valley, who aim to make health and wellbeing support accessible to all. He helps organise and deliver several of their projects and events. He is also a Qigong tutor and has experience facilitating and holding sacred space. Currently he’s working on a creative-non-fiction/poetry book, The Deeper World Our Hearts Know to be True, which uses Welsh myth to explore the legacies of colonialism and industrialisation in relation to native woodlands and contemporary Welsh identity.
How do you envisage this programme will help you in terms of your development as a writer?
"I’m hoping this programme will help me find the best way to work with and weave together the subjects I’m most passionate about, in a style that is captivating, exciting and inspiring for the reader. I want to develop a distinctive voice that uses and explores my healing journeys from personal and inter-generational trauma, and in so doing enables myself and others to create more intimate and deeper connections with both ourselves and the Earth. I’d also like to develop diverse and inclusive, community-based workshops, using poetry to explore wellbeing, healing and the sacred."
What are you most looking forward to as part of this programme?
"I’m most looking forward to the impetus this programme gives to my writing. Both in terms of the time to focus on writing, and regarding the networks and connections it makes possible. I can’t wait to work with and benefit from the concentrated advice and experience of my mentor and the cohort. To receive this support and recognition from Literature Wales will have an enormous impact on my work and career, the kind that would otherwise be impossible to match. My vision is to be a poet and author rooted in my own truth, weaving this with my craft, and having the power to reach and effect an international audience. Ultimately, I want to help bring a sense of the sacred back to poetry and writing, in particular with respect to Welsh bardic traditions. In so doing, I intend this to be a contribution to both Welsh literary culture and the important, groundbreaking work of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act. While acknowledging that this is a lot to achieve in a year, I’m certain that the support of Representing Wales will be a crucial and unforgettable element in this journey."
