FOLLOWING on from the inaugural – and highly successful – Cambrian Mountains Poetry Competition in 2023, which received nearly 130 entries from all over the world, a new competition is being held in 2025. The Cambrian uplands are uniquely important for mid-Wales and England, holding the sources of 6 major rivers – the Wye/Gwy, Severn/Hafren, Towy, Teifi, Ystwyth and Rheidol – as well as innumerable smaller streams, not to mention the many natural lakes and reservoirs.
They are also a vital resource for all those, local and visitors, who value the space and peace to reflect for themselves away from the unrelenting torrent of noise and information. Acknowledging both of these very special qualities of the area, the theme for this year’s competition is ‘Springs and Sources’.
Yet a third association for competitors may be the area’s connection with Wales’ greatest medieval poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym, reputed to be buried in the churchyard at Strata Florida Abbey. Ap Gwilym, who travelled extensively throughout Britain from his home in Ceredigion, frequently invokes Wales’ landscapes with their trees and birds in his poems. He must have been very familiar with these hills, and sourced his own inspiration there. How much more essential they are to modern nature lovers, as the landscapes around the rest of Britain become ever more industrial!
The competition, which is open to all, offers prizes of £150 each for the best poem in English and the best poem in Welsh (to be judged by National Eisteddfod-winning local poet Cyril Jones), and there’s a separate prize of £100 for the best poem by an author living in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion or Powys. The closing date is November 30, 2025. Full details can be found on the Cambrian Mountains Society’s website.
