It was a pleasure (if bittersweet because of the ongoing war) to deliver the annual Waldo Williams lecture at Aberystwyth University last Friday. 120 years has passed since the birth of Waldo Williams, magnificent poet and pacifist. His work is as precious and...

This autumn, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru will present a package of work to raise awareness of the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to forge new creative connections between young people in Wales and Palestine – with a new Welsh-language translation of the play My...

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 12 September 2024. ‘Ti’n gwybod lot o eiriau a ti’n eu cofio nhw i gyd’ medd fy wyres un noson ar ôl gorfod dod i wrando arnaf yn darllen barddoniaeth yn rhywle. Wrth gwrs cofio geiriau yw rhagamod a hanfod...

‘The Rowan’ a poem for Ilhan Sami Comak, the Kurdish award winning poet who has been in prison in Turkey for 30 years.   https://youtu.be/Rxnt-c1Rjw8?si=O-GE_uugux2tSw8E

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 29 Awst 2024. Mae’n ddiwedd haf. Ac yn dechrau teimlo’n hydrefol eto. Ond i un cyfaill i mi, bardd o’r enw Ilhan Sami Comak, mae pob tymor yr un fath – achos bu yn y carchar yn Nhwrci am 30 mlynedd. Yn...

Full recorded lecture can be viewed here: Darlith Waldo  

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 6 June 2024. Mae’n anodd meddwl am fis Mai bellach heb feddwl am daith i ŵyl y Gelli. Fel un a wahoddwyd i ddallen yno, yn yr ail flwyddyn o’i chread gan Peter Florence ac i griw bychan bryd hynny mae’r...

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 23 May 2024. Un o’r meddylwyr mawr yr ydw i’n hoff o wrando arno yw Yuval Noah Harari. Iddew yw a brodor o Israel a rhai o’i lyfrau mwyaf llwyddiannus yw Sapiens, hanes y ddynoliaeth neu 21 gwers yn yr unfed...

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 9 May 2024. Er teithio i fannau pell yn ystod y blynyddoedd a fu, does unlle yn rhoi mwy o bleser i mi na theithio i fan ym mae Ceredigion. I fod yn fwy penodol i Langrannog. Rwy wedi colli cownt o’r gwyliau...

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 25 April 2024. Rwy wastad wedi teimlo balchder o gael Senedd yng Nghaerdydd hyd yn oed os yw’r hyn a ddigwydd yno weithiau yn gwneud i rywun godi’n don o siomedigaeth. Ond mae’n dlawd o fyd pan yw yr...

First published in a fortnightly column in the Western Mail, 12 April 2024.  Mae rhywun yn teimlo’n euog weithiau o fod wedi ymweld  â  rhannau o’r byd ac eto heb wneud yn fawr o’r mannau sydd  o fewn ein  milltir sgwâr.  Fel D.J. Williams a alwodd ei hun yn Shirgarwr...

To mark the 70th anniversary of the first radio broadcast of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, and to take up Dylan Thomas’s idea of getting writers to write about their particular locality, Menna Elfyn was commissioned along with four other writers to create a short...

  Menna Elfyn speaking at a demonstration at Aberystwyth (25 January 2024) calling on Aberystwyth University to divest from supporting companies involved in the arms trade, supplying weapons and drones to Israel. (Picture by Marian Delyth)  ...

Menna Elfyn’s latest volume of poetry in Swedish translation is Cellängel translated by the distinguished poet Marie Tonkin. This is the first full length book to appear in Swedish and she will be launching the book in Sweden in July. In October 2022, a Spanish...