Thursday 15 June

Friday 16 June

Starting at St Hywyn’s Church, this 3-mile walk, over uneven paths alongside the Daron river, leads to the old vicarage through the hidden valley that RS would have walked, stopping along the way for the reading of his poems.

11:00-13:00 Sarn Plas Cottage, Y Rhiw LL53 8AA
13:00-14:00 Lunch: bring your own or buy locally
14:00-16:00 Felin Uchaf, Rhoshirwaun LL53 8HS
19:30-21:00 Celtic Roundhouse, Felin Uchaf

Malcolm Guite: “I take great comfort from the fact that all the words I use are older and wiser than I am, and I sometimes think it’s my task not so much to impose myself on the words that come to me as I start writing, as to welcome them, make them comfortable, listen to what they have to say, and ask them if there are other words, friends of theirs, who might like to join the party. My task as a poet, thinking of form and arranging lines and rhymes is that of a genial host, arranging the places at a dinner party with a view to eliciting the best conversation from his guests”

“Bards Around the Fire” in the Celtic Roundhouse, Felin Uchaf, is included in the price and participation optional. It’s an opportunity for the writers, and two workshop leaders to share some of their inspired words with a wider audience.

11:00-13:00 Felin Uchaf, Rhoshirwaun LL53 8HS
13:00-14:00 Lunch: bring own or buy locally
14:00-16:00 Sarn Plas Cottage, Y Rhiw LL53 8AA
19:30-21:00 Celtic Roundhouse, Felin Uchaf

The starting point will be ‘On the Farm’ by R.S. Thomas – then focusing on certain details from the participant’s own conscious mind – using memories, associations, emblems, and imagery – personal feelings, that can then be released into a poem that shows rather than simply tells.  On the Festival’s theme of Childhood: poems to consider are: Fern Hill – Dylan Thomas, I Remember, I Remember – Philip Larkin, In Mrs Tilscher’s Class – Carol Ann Duffy.

“Bards Around the Fire” in the Celtic Roundhouse, Felin Uchaf, is included in the price and participation optional. It’s an opportunity for the writers, and two workshop leaders to share some of their inspired words with a wider audience.

John Greening, who edited the work of Iain Crichton Smith for Carcanet, will introduce some of Smith’s poems and consider the writer’s upbringing as a Gaelic speaker on the Isle of Lewis, drawing fascinating parallels with RS Thomas.
N.B. Venue: upstairs in Sailing Club is not wheelchair accessible.

This is a talk about ferocious goats and overturned boats, free verse and escaped pigs, waves and words. Having grown up between a town in Southern England and a small farm near Aberdaron, Joanne Rush will be reading from her first poetry pamphlet, Windblown, which explores the joy of small things, and the meaning of home.N.B. Venue: upstairs in Sailing Club is not wheelchair accessible.

John Greening will be reading from his selected poems published this year by Baylor University Press. The Interpretation of Owls edited by Kevin Gardner, draws on work from over twenty collections, spanning forty-five years, including his recent two from Carcanet, and previously unpublished material. 
Copies of his book will be on sale in St Hywyn’s Church Bookshop

Malcolm & Phil with the writers from their creative writing workshops will share their poetry and words, accompanied by Dafydd on harp in the unique setting of the Celtic Roundhouse, evocative of the Bardic tradition of Wales. www.felinwales.org

Saturday 17 June

£25 All-Day Ticket 10:30 – 16:15
Crud y Werin School Hall LL53 8BP

We are delighted to welcome back Sam Perry, the author of Chamaeleon Poet: RS Thomas and the Literary Tradition, a speaker in the 2018 Festival. This year’s theme Childhood comes directly from Sam’s five years of research into the representation of childhood in 20th century poetry. A chapter in his soon to be published book focuses on RS Thomas.

Elsie Thomas, aka M.E. Eldridge, created 369 illustrations in 13 children’s books, published in four years, at a time when she was a new mother, part-time art teacher, and vicar’s wife of Rev. R. S. Thomas. This illustrated talk illuminates her artistic range from Beatrix Potteresque watercolours of Sylvanian families to Quentin Blake style cartoons, breaking down the barriers between illustration and fine art.

The title is taken from an ode by Wordsworth. Both he and Coleridge had some substantial things to say on the vision and wisdom of children.

Second-hand Book Sale:

Collections of Thomas’ poetry, writers on Thomas, and edited collections that include works by Thomas.

An opportunity to look around Sarn Plas cottage and garden, the holiday home and place of retirement for RS Thomas and ME Eldridge. In 1964 the Keating sisters gifted a lease to the Thomas’s ending with the death of their son Gwydion. The cottage has now returned to the stewardship of the National Trust who are working on future plans.

Sunday 18 June

Exclusive to the Festival A convivial cooked lunch with the Festival Presenters and Advisory Board members. Choice of Seasoned Chicken or Nut Roast with roast potatoes and vegetables.Membership of the RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society is a pre-requisite.

An opportunity to look around Sarn Plas cottage and garden, the holiday home and place of retirement for RS Thomas and ME Eldridge. In 1964 the Keating sisters gifted a lease to the Thomas’s ending with the death of their son Gwydion. The cottage has now returned to the stewardship of the National Trust who are working on future plans.

In the first of the lectures, sponsored by the Jim Cotter Trust, Susan Fogarty will share her personal insights into the final years of Rev Jim Cotter’s life. Like RS Thomas, Aberdaron was his last parish at the end of his ministry, Jim too was a great wordsmith, whose legacy are his publications. When Jim was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011, it was life-changing for him and Susan. Jim’s body was laid to rest in St Maelrhys graveyard in 2014.