Gillian Clarke
Born in Cardiff of Welsh-speaking parents, Gillian Clarke (b.1937) is active as a poet, playwright, editor, translator and President of Ty Newydd, the writers’ centre which she co-founded in 1990.
Ms Clarke has become one of the best loved and most widely read writers of Wales well known for her readings, for her radio work and her workshops.
Her poems are notable for their treatment of rural and Welsh themes and legends, including the unwritten histories of Welsh women.
Her books include Snow on the Mountain (1971), The Sundial (1978), Letter from a Far Country (1982), Selected Poems (1985), The King of Britain's Daughter (1993), Collected Poems (1997), Five Fields (1998) and Owain Glyn Dwr (2000).
Her most recent volume, Making the Beds for the Dead (2004), contains a sequence of poems for Aberglasney Garden and the seven rock poems written for the National Botanic Garden of Wales.
Gillian Clarke now farms an organic small holding in Talgarreg, Ceredigion.