Devolved Voices

Welcome to the website for Devolved Voices, an exciting three-year research project based at Aberystwyth University. The project is led by Professor Peter Barry, with researchers Dr Matthew Jarvis (critic and scholar of contemporary English-language poetry in Wales) and Kathryn Gray (editor and poet), as well as PhD student Bronwen Williams. The project will investigate the state of Welsh poetry in English since Wales’s devolution ‘yes’ vote of 1997. The project has been generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust, receiving a major award of £232,042. The project commenced in September 2012.

Devolved Voices will consider the development of English-language poetry from Wales since the vote for devolution, with a particular focus on those poets who have emerged since 1997 and a consideration of the rise in poetry from women. The project outcomes will include four books (one full-length scholarly volume which will place contemporary Welsh poetry in English in its British poetic context, another which will provide detailed studies of major figures within the field, a book of extended interviews with key poets, and a final book of essays which will consider the specific question of poetic production within the context of devolution) as well as a PhD thesis. Vital components of the project will be this open-to-all video-rich website (which will, in due course, include interviews with poets and notable commentators on the poetry scene), articles, and a lively blog which will provide a living narrative of the project as it develops.  You can find further details about the project team here and the Advisory Panel here.

We hope that this website will become a rich resource for scholars and engaged readers of poetry alike – and outreach is a key element of our work. As well as following our progress on our main website, you can also follow our blog, find us on Twitter, and join our Facebook Group, Devolved Voices. We warmly welcome comments, questions and suggestions through these platforms.