Literature Wales was thrilled to sponsor Disability Arts Cymru’s creative writing competition this year, offering a £200 voucher to spend on any residential course at Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre as the main prize.

The competition offers a platform for arts and literature created by individuals with disabilities in Wales. The task this year was to write a creative writing piece, whether poetry, prose, song lyrics, or any other literary form on the theme Inside / Outside.

In a digital ceremony on Friday 3 July, Kittie Belltree was announced the winner. Kittie Belltree’s debut poetry collection, Sliced Tongue and Pearl Cufflinks (2019), is published by Parthian.  Her poems and  reviews have been widely published and her short fiction has been anthologised by Honno in Cut on the Bias (2010). She works as a Specialist Tutor for neurodiverse students at Aberystwyth University, where she is completing a PhD on poetry and trauma.

Kittie wrote Coup-19 in response to the statement that forms the epigraph of the poem, indicating that levels of fear need to be increased, alongside social disapproval measures, in order to achieve compliance with guidelines.  Kittie said, “It is difficult to see how this can be viewed as anything other than a direct psychological attack on individuals and communities.  One only has to look at the increases in mental illness to see the results in action.”

You can read Kittie’s poem along with other poems submitted for this prize here: https://www.flipsnack.com/dacartprize/outdoors-indoors-creative-word-award.html

We look forward to welcoming Kittie to Tŷ Newydd soon, many congratulations to her and all the poets.