This Selected Poems by Ruth Bidgood includes generous selections from her previous five volumes as well as a large section of new poems.
'Valley-before-Night', a long poem about the history, inhabitants and landscape of Cwm-cyn-Nos - a 'dark valley' in mid Wales - sets the tone for the new work. Her classic themes are all here: a deep concern for the environment and the way the turbulent history of a place influences present and future generations.
"Since Ruth Bidgood published her first book of poetry… she has become one of the most respected figures on the Anglo-Welsh literary scene… This is an important book which will bear constant re-readings; though intensely conscious of history, it does not date"
Merryn Williams
Ruth Bidgood was born in Blaendulais, near Neath, educated at Oxford, and worked as a coder in Alexandria, Egypt in World War Two. She has lived in mid-Wales since the mid-sixties. The author of several prize-winning volumes of poetry, she also writes local history.
'Valley-before-Night', a long poem about the history, inhabitants and landscape of Cwm-cyn-Nos - a 'dark valley' in mid Wales - sets the tone for the new work. Her classic themes are all here: a deep concern for the environment and the way the turbulent history of a place influences present and future generations.
"Since Ruth Bidgood published her first book of poetry… she has become one of the most respected figures on the Anglo-Welsh literary scene… This is an important book which will bear constant re-readings; though intensely conscious of history, it does not date"
Merryn Williams
Ruth Bidgood was born in Blaendulais, near Neath, educated at Oxford, and worked as a coder in Alexandria, Egypt in World War Two. She has lived in mid-Wales since the mid-sixties. The author of several prize-winning volumes of poetry, she also writes local history.