Yesterday we drove from Ceredigion to Hay under cloudless skies. The Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons never looked more beautiful, the Saddle, the Fan and Hay Bluff gold, the valleys ink-blue with shadow. Now we drive west between snowy peaks, and my iPad weather-forecast promises snow at home. The very thought makes me feel eight-years old, not eighty. Eighty! I don’t believe it! Still, making hay in winter, and feeling the love of so many poetry friends, has been gratifying. May the company of words build a bridge, not a wall, between us and the world.
Gillian Clarke appeared at Hay Festival Winter Weekend on Friday 24 November to talk about her new collection 'Zoology' and in an event to mark her 80th birthday, featuring readings and tributes from friends, admirers and fellow poets Zillah Bowes, Rosey Brown, Imtiaz Dharker, Menna Elfyn, Pascale Petit, and Clare Potter.