Talks and walks

What skill and insight it takes to make a work of art out of a national tragedy, to retain the horror and sadness but also to uplift and inspire. Yesterday evening I went to hear the poet Owen Sheers talk about writing the script for the film commissioned by the BBC two years ago to mark the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster - something that will forever be in the memories of those of us of a certain age. Watching the film was not an easy experience, nor was listening to Owen talk about his interviews with survivors, rescuers and the families of those who died. But should you ever get the chance to watch "The Green Hollow", don't miss it. The hardback of the film poem, by the same name, was published earlier this month; it is well worth getting hold of.

The evening was part of the Abergavenny Festival of Writing and I much enjoyed the other events I went to over the three days. A highlight (as I'd anticipated) was the riverside poetry walk, led by clare e. potter (and yes, that's the correct rendition of her name!). We walked by the Usk in warm sunshine and listened to Clare reading poems both familiar and new to us, from a childhood favourite of mine - "What is this life" by W. H. Davies - through R. S. Thomas and Fleur Adcock to Rumi. We skimmed pebbles across the clear water towards islands of silt and fern, watched children and dogs paddling in the shallows and pondered other's responses to rivers before writing of our own - "Something is going on with the river, more vital than death" (Ted Hughes), "When you place your finger in a river, you are the end of what has been and the start of what is to come" (Leonardo da Vinci). So many possibilities in the topic - no wonder rivers have featured so large in prose and poetry from time immemorial!

Clare reads our last poem
beneath the castle walls