Writing and Well-being Weekend

clare e. potter is a Welsh-speaking writer and performer. Her awards include two Literature Wales Writers’ Bursaries, the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry and the Jim Criddle prize for celebrating the Welsh language. She has translated the work of the National Poet of Wales, was a Hay Festival Writer at Work and performed at the Smithsonian Folk-Life Festival, USA. She also studied and taught in New Orleans for a decade. Her current focus is on well-being and learning through nature and she has had several residencies and commissions to create work around these themes. Thanks to Arts Council funding, clare is learning poetry therapy practice. Early in 2023 she will be presenting two BBC radio programmes about poetry. Her second collection was written with thanks to a Literature Wales Writers’ Bursary and a grant from the Society of Authors and will be published in 2024.

Iola Ynyr is a writer, playwright, director and facilitator of participatory workshops. She is passionate about promoting the well-being of individuals and communities through creativity by connecting with the natural world. Her participatory projects include Ar y dibyn, a project by Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru for individuals living with addiction, Gwledda for Llenndiathie Cymru promoting well-being in the face of climate change along with MWY, a creative project for women and those who identify is feminine. She founded Ynys Blastig with a group of artists who operate through artistic nudges and Cylchdro with Sioned Medi, to voice female experiences of the world. Ffenast Siop was staged by Theatr Bara Caws recently, a play Iola co-wrote with Carys Gwilym.