meet poet rhian edwards
Rhian Edwards is a multi award winning poet. Her first collection Clueless Dogs (Seren 2012) won Wales Book of the Year 2013, as well as The Roland Mathias Prize 2013 and the People's Choice. It was also shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2012.
Rhian's second full collection The Estate Agent's Daughter (Seren) was published in June 2020, as a follow-up to her illustrated pamphlet Brood (Seren 2017).
Rhian lives in South Wales with her daughter.
Rhian Edward's second full collection The Estate Agent’s Daughter ( Seren) just came out June 2020.
Www.rhianedwards.co.uk
https://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/estate-agent’s-daughter
Was your creativity affected in anyway during the lockdown? Did being lockdown make you feel inspired or deflated?
The initial phase of lockdown inspired me, just the sheer joy of hearing the birds again, the church bells and not hearing the constancy of traffic behind my back fence. I enjoyed the emptiness of the streets, the emptiness of the roads and of course the unprecedented sunshine that has characterised this lockdown period, as well as my back garden turning into a second home. I’m already mourning the loss of this period. There was a welcome post apocalyptic nature to the world’s sudden emptiness and radio silence.
I haven’t had as much time to write as I would have hoped because I’m a single mum of a 6 year old and I have religiously adhered to the home schooling every day. It always felt by the time that was over, I had to make a start on the evening meal and then we would go on our evening cycle in the field and then the day is over.
Was it therapeutic doing creative work during lockdown?
Creative work is always therapeutic, though I struggle to do it in the company of my daughter’s constant demands.
How did you occupy your time?
Home schooling, yoga, cycling, cleaning, reorganising the book shelves and the shed.
What was the main thinking behind your poem submitted to Together Behind Four Walls ?
I was embracing the slowdown, the quietness, not having to rush for work or the school run or the gymnastics, piano or swimming lessons or rushing to pick my daughter up from after school club, not rushing to organise fun play dates. Strangely enough I didn’t miss friends, I wasn’t constantly zooming people. I felt more present, in the moment.
What inspires most of your poems,
Love gone wrong, disappointment, sadness.
Do you have any favourite poems, from all the poems you have written?
They’re all my favourite until I write and finish the next one. It’s like fostering children. You can’t get too attached and have to constantly prepare yourself for the next one that’s abi it to cross your threshold.
Do you remember the first poem you ever wrote or one of the first?
Yes. The Definitive Zoo. It was the first poem I ever wrote and was ever going to write. I performed it at the Poetry Cafe at my first ever open mic and someone came up to me and invited me to do a feature slot.
Do you ever think of poems before going to sleep or just after waking up?
Nope.
Do you hand write poems or go directly on to your computer?
Straight to iPad now. I used to write them in pencil so I could rub them out and edit them and then they just turned into a fog on the page. You can always see the poem with a certain clarity in type, even if it’s just it’s shape on the page.
Do you ever give up on poems you have started?
I write so infrequently now, I have to commit to them. I’m a serial monogamist to my poems now I’ve hit middle age. I was a bit more promiscuous with my poems when I didn’t know know what I was doing. I could afford to abandon them in the old days when I was prolific.
Do you do any other creative activities?
I write and sing songs and play the ukulele and guitar.
Do you only focus on poetry or do you also write prose?
I only write prose when commissioned to do so now. I tried making my way as a journalist 10 years ago, writing music reviews and features etc.
Do you poems ever have strong messages?
It’s always about the moment or the person, never about the message. I think if you’re conscious about the message, it may beleaguer the poem and you may be heavy handed with what you are wanting to convey. You just have to let the poem be whatever it wants to be and the sub conscious messsage will come through with a subtlety and nuance, which will make the poem all the more powerful.
How would you describe the tone of your poems?
Depends. The character portraits are always laden with love and warmth, even if they are revealing the warts and all. That’s only be to be true and authentic about the person I’m describing.
I try to be humorous too. Often I have the humorous and tragic leaning against one another.
If you had to write a poem about yourself, how would it start?
They’re all about myself. Even the ones that don’t seem to be about me. It’s the only subject I know with any authority.
Rhian's second full collection The Estate Agent's Daughter (Seren) was published in June 2020, as a follow-up to her illustrated pamphlet Brood (Seren 2017).
Rhian lives in South Wales with her daughter.
Rhian Edward's second full collection The Estate Agent’s Daughter ( Seren) just came out June 2020.
Www.rhianedwards.co.uk
https://www.serenbooks.com/productdisplay/estate-agent’s-daughter
Was your creativity affected in anyway during the lockdown? Did being lockdown make you feel inspired or deflated?
The initial phase of lockdown inspired me, just the sheer joy of hearing the birds again, the church bells and not hearing the constancy of traffic behind my back fence. I enjoyed the emptiness of the streets, the emptiness of the roads and of course the unprecedented sunshine that has characterised this lockdown period, as well as my back garden turning into a second home. I’m already mourning the loss of this period. There was a welcome post apocalyptic nature to the world’s sudden emptiness and radio silence.
I haven’t had as much time to write as I would have hoped because I’m a single mum of a 6 year old and I have religiously adhered to the home schooling every day. It always felt by the time that was over, I had to make a start on the evening meal and then we would go on our evening cycle in the field and then the day is over.
Was it therapeutic doing creative work during lockdown?
Creative work is always therapeutic, though I struggle to do it in the company of my daughter’s constant demands.
How did you occupy your time?
Home schooling, yoga, cycling, cleaning, reorganising the book shelves and the shed.
What was the main thinking behind your poem submitted to Together Behind Four Walls ?
I was embracing the slowdown, the quietness, not having to rush for work or the school run or the gymnastics, piano or swimming lessons or rushing to pick my daughter up from after school club, not rushing to organise fun play dates. Strangely enough I didn’t miss friends, I wasn’t constantly zooming people. I felt more present, in the moment.
What inspires most of your poems,
Love gone wrong, disappointment, sadness.
Do you have any favourite poems, from all the poems you have written?
They’re all my favourite until I write and finish the next one. It’s like fostering children. You can’t get too attached and have to constantly prepare yourself for the next one that’s abi it to cross your threshold.
Do you remember the first poem you ever wrote or one of the first?
Yes. The Definitive Zoo. It was the first poem I ever wrote and was ever going to write. I performed it at the Poetry Cafe at my first ever open mic and someone came up to me and invited me to do a feature slot.
Do you ever think of poems before going to sleep or just after waking up?
Nope.
Do you hand write poems or go directly on to your computer?
Straight to iPad now. I used to write them in pencil so I could rub them out and edit them and then they just turned into a fog on the page. You can always see the poem with a certain clarity in type, even if it’s just it’s shape on the page.
Do you ever give up on poems you have started?
I write so infrequently now, I have to commit to them. I’m a serial monogamist to my poems now I’ve hit middle age. I was a bit more promiscuous with my poems when I didn’t know know what I was doing. I could afford to abandon them in the old days when I was prolific.
Do you do any other creative activities?
I write and sing songs and play the ukulele and guitar.
Do you only focus on poetry or do you also write prose?
I only write prose when commissioned to do so now. I tried making my way as a journalist 10 years ago, writing music reviews and features etc.
Do you poems ever have strong messages?
It’s always about the moment or the person, never about the message. I think if you’re conscious about the message, it may beleaguer the poem and you may be heavy handed with what you are wanting to convey. You just have to let the poem be whatever it wants to be and the sub conscious messsage will come through with a subtlety and nuance, which will make the poem all the more powerful.
How would you describe the tone of your poems?
Depends. The character portraits are always laden with love and warmth, even if they are revealing the warts and all. That’s only be to be true and authentic about the person I’m describing.
I try to be humorous too. Often I have the humorous and tragic leaning against one another.
If you had to write a poem about yourself, how would it start?
They’re all about myself. Even the ones that don’t seem to be about me. It’s the only subject I know with any authority.
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