Zoë Brigley is a Welsh-American writer who works as Assistant Lecturer at the Ohio State University. She is an award-winning writer, receiving an Eric Gregory Award for the best British poets under 30, and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Zoë is the editor of Poetry Wales and Poetry Editor for Seren Books, together with Rhian Edwards. She has three Poetry Book Society recommended collections: The Secret (2007), Conquest (2012), and Hand & Skull (2019) all published by Bloodaxe. Her poetry chapbooks include Aubade After a French Movie (Broken Sleep, 2020) and Into Eros (Verve Publishing, 2021), and her non-fiction work include Notes from a Swing State (Parthian Books, 2020) and Otherworlds: Writing on Nature and Magic (Broken Sleep, 2021). In 2021, Zoë co-edited 100 Poems to Save the Earth (Seren) together with Kristian Evans, and she is also an editor for Modron magazine, writing on the ecological crisis.
Retreat: Editing and Submitting Poems
Do you have a writing deadline, or perhaps a collection of draft poems and no idea what to do with them next, or are you simply looking to escape from a busy life for a short while? Our fully catered retreats will provide you with the time and space to write, read and relax. Set in a peaceful location in the stunning surroundings of rural north-west Wales, you can take inspiration from the spectacular sea views over Cardigan Bay, share ideas over dinner or simply sit back and relax in Tŷ Newydd’s cosy library.
The centre is set in its own beautiful grounds and within walking distance of the beach and a riverbank path in the woods – you’ll find yourself surrounded by nature and wildlife. You can also walk down to the village inn to experience a warm welcome. Everyone will have a room of their own during the retreat, and your home-cooked meals will be prepared for you by our experienced resident chef. Literature Wales staff members will also be on hand throughout your stay to offer advice on our opportunities for writers.
On our retreats, you can choose your room. We offer a range of rooms at a variety of prices. Accessibility varies due to the nature of the listed building. Please enquire for further information about individual rooms before booking. Guests will be invited to arrive after lunch on the Monday and depart soon after breakfast on the Friday.
During this retreat, the editor of Poetry Wales and poetry editor for the publisher Seren, Zoë Brigley, will be present as a writer and editor-in-residence. Zoë will run group workshops on editing your poems, collating your poetry into collections and pamphlets, and offer tips and tricks on how to best pitch your work to magazines and publishers for consideration. A one-to-one tutorial with Zoë will be offered to each participant and you will be invited to send a couple of poems before the course begins for comments and editorial advice. Poet Taz Rahman will also join us as a guest, to discuss his journey to publish his debut poetry collection and his poetic practice.
Tutor
Zoë Brigley
Guest Reader
Taz Rahman
Cardiff based Taz Rahman's first poetry collection is forthcoming in April 2024 from Seren Books. He was shortlisted for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Prize 2022. His poems have been published in Poetry Wales, Bad Lilies, Anthropocene, Propel, Honest Ulsterman and South Bank Poetry, and he is on the editorial team for the climate change-focused literary magazine, Modron. He is the founder of the Wales-based YouTube poetry channel Just Another Poet. He was awarded a place on Literature Wales' writer development programme, Representing Wales in 2021 and mentored by Zoë Brigley.