Siân Melangell Dafydd is a multidisciplinary artist, author, poet, translator, storyteller, yoga teacher and naturalist, working in Cymraeg and English. She believes collaboration is a vital art form and is a field writer at heart, drawn to landscape, movement and the living world. She has taught creative writing at universities in the UK and Paris and is co-editor of Modron, an ecological online review. Her first novel, Y Trydydd Peth (Gomer Press, 2009), won the National Eisteddfod Literature Medal. Her fiction and poetry have since been widely translated, and her play Gwen y Witch, about the first women hanged for witchcraft in Wales, toured in 2025. Her collaborative poetry collection with Anitha Thampi of Kerala, Dŵr Arall / A Different Water, was published in 2018 by Poetrywala. Her practice is driven by play, curiosity and the body in gesture and movement, exploring how language can be shaped through collaboration, myth-making, translation and connection with the more-than-human world.
Digital Detox Retreat: Reconnect with yourself and your writing
Join us for a week-long Digital Detox during which you’ll be encouraged to unplug as you leave screens, WiFi and endless scrolling behind. This fully catered retreat led by award-winning writer and certified yoga practitioner Siân Melangell Dafydd, will offer you timeout from your fast-paced lifestyle and a space to disconnect from the online and reconnect with your writing. Within a tranquil, supportive, and safe environment you’ll discover a fresh perspective on your creative work and a renewed intention for your projects. Set in a peaceful location in the stunning surroundings of northwest Wales, you’ll also be able to take inspiration from the spectacular sea views over Cardigan Bay, the lively waters of the Dwyfor river and the varied wildlife found all around the centre.
You will be invited to attend two creative writing workshops with your tutor which will help nurture your creativity in new ways alongside optional restorative yoga sessions and bespoke one-to-one tutorials tailored to your needs.
We look forward to welcoming you to Tŷ Newydd for a week of switching off, finding peace and rediscovering yourself and your writing.
Bursaries
One £250 bursary space is available for this course. To apply, please complete this application form Deadline for applications: Friday 17 January 2025
For further information about the support available, please visit our Financial Assistance page: https://tynewydd.wales/courses-retreats/financial-support/
Tutor
Siân Melangell Dafydd
Guest Reader
Manon Awst
Manon Awst is an artist and poet. As an artist, Manon creates sculptures and site-specific artwork woven with ecological narratives. Manon’s work has been exhibited all over Wales, England, and Germany. As a poet, Manon was an integral part of Cywion Cranogwen, and more recently she set up the collective, TAIR, with Beth Celyn and Judith Musker Turner. Between these two collectives, the Talwrn and Ymryson y Beirdd, she has performed her poetry in festivals, theatres and pubs across Wales. Manon started her journey in learning the cynghanedd on a residential course similar to this one at Tŷ Newydd.