19th August, 2022

Friday Poem – ‘Case History’ by Christine Evans

This week’s Friday Poem is ‘Case History’ by Christine Evans, also from A Last Respect: The Roland Mathias Prize Anthology for Contemporary Welsh Poetry.

A Last Respect celebrates the Roland Mathias Prize, awarded to outstanding poetry books by authors from Wales. It presents a selection of work from all eleven prize-winning books, by Dannie Abse, Tiffany Atkinson, Ruth Bidgood, Ailbhe Darcy, Rhian Edwards, Christine Evans, John Freeman, Philip Gross, Gwyneth Lewis, Robert Minhinnick, and Owen Sheers. It is a who’s who of contemporary poetry which shows the form in good health in Wales.

The fifty-four poems included are wide-ranging in style and subject – relationships, nature, environmental issues, mortality, time, war, Wales, poetry itself, even the minefield of parents’ evenings. They are inventive, experimental, formal, original and, as prize-winners, of the highest quality.

Two accompanying essays provide the context in which the poets work. In her Introduction, Jane Aaron writes about Roland Mathias: a poet himself, but also an influential editor and cultural commentator who did much to foster and develop poetry in Wales. A Last Respect is a continuation of his legacy. Daniel G. Williams’ Afterword is an incisive discussion about poetry in Wales over the past sixty years: where it started from and how it changed. 

This combination of prizewinning poems and informative commentary makes A Last Respect a must-have book of writing from Wales.

The Last Respect: The Roland Mathias Prize Anthology of Contemporary Welsh Poetry is available on the Seren website: £9.99

Christine Evans has also published Selected Poems which features this poem. Available now for £9.99.

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