The Cardigan Cellar Bards are set to host award-winning poets Rae Howells and Kittie Belltree on Friday, September 13.
Doors to the Cellar Bar will open at 7:30 p.m., with entry priced at £3. Open mic spots will be available, with sign-ups taking place at the door by 8 p.m.
Rae Howells, a poet, journalist, and lavender farmer from Swansea, will be one of the featured guests. Her debut poetry collection, The Language of Bees, was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year 2023. Howells has also won the Rialto Nature & Place and Welsh poetry competitions. Her work has been widely published in journals like Magma, The Rialto, Poetry Wales, New Welsh Review, Acumen, and Poetry Ireland. She serves as the poet in residence at Llanelli Wetland Centre and is an advocate for environmental conservation and the healing power of nature. Her latest collection, This Common Uncommon, marks her second poetry book.
Kittie Belltree, another distinguished guest, is a poet and prose writer based in St Dogmaels. Her debut collection, Slice Tongue and Pearl Cufflinks, was published in 2019. Belltree’s poems and short stories have been featured in numerous journals and anthologies. She was the winner of the Disability Arts Cymru Creative Word Award in 2020 and was recognized by Literature Wales in 2022 for her efforts to reflect Wales’ diverse communities in literature. Belltree also facilitates creative well-being workshops in schools and community settings and is a Specialist Tutor for neurodivergent students at Aberystwyth University, where she recently completed her PhD on trauma representation in poetry.
The Cellar Bards meet on the second Friday of each month. Plans for the remainder of the year include guest readings and performances by Chrys Salt, Tony Curtis, and Des Mannay, offering a diverse lineup of writers.
Writers of all genres, including poetry, short stories, micro-fiction, and novels, are invited to participate in the open mic sessions. Participants can read their own work or share pieces by others, with each slot limited to four minutes. For more details, visit The Cellar Bards Facebook page.