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Capital Poet launches Euro-dialogue through literature
30 September 05
Cardiff Fitzalan School students this week take up a challenge by Wales' Capital City Poet Gillian Clarke to write creatively about the new Europe.
As Wales prepares for a visit by European Commissioner for structural funds Danuta Hübner on Thursday‚ students from Fitzalan School are amongst the first to participate in a national literature competition to give young people in Wales an understanding of the new Europe.
Organised by Academi - Wales' Literature Promotion Agency as part of the Creu Cyfle- the Cultural Explosion project, the competition aims to raise awareness amongst young people in Wales of the ten new EU member states. They are Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Cyprus, Malta, Latvia and Lithuania.
The compeition runs at a time when the UK is in charge of running the EU. Next month, young Europeans will gather in Cardiff for the European Youth Summit to discuss their vision of Europe for their generation. This competition offers young peopole in Wales a chance to be part of the process too.
English language judges, Gillian Clarke and Malachy Doyle, think it is important for young people in Wales to understand how they fit into the larger Europe in a way which will be relevant to them. Gilian Clarke said:
“We who live in very small nations often see the view more clearly than
the big countries do. It's never been more important for the people, the nations, the cultures, the religions to talk to each other. That's the road to
peace. Wales is small enough, old enough, friendly enough, curious
enough, certain enough of its culture to make it happen.”
Gillian Clarke marked the accession of the ten new countries to the EU in a poem (see over) she wrote for her son's Polish girlfriend.
The competition is open to all young people in Wales to submit work in any creative format (short story, poetry or a script maximum 700 words). Students can learn more about the countries by visiting the Cultural Explosion website.
There is also a Welsh language competition under the guidance of Iwan Llwyd and Mererid Hopwood, the Welsh-language Children's Laureate, who will adjudicate their work. Iwan Llwyd said:
"The best way for young people from Wales to develop their skill as writers is to read the work of and meet other young writers from other countries. Then they will gain new experiences and learn to express themselves in light of the new accents. The Welsh language will also benefit and grow."
The closing date for the competition is the 1st of December and the award ceremony will be part of the Cultural Explosion celebrations in Galeri Caernarfon on the 19th of February 2006. The winner of the competition will receive £250, second prize will receive £100 and third prize will be £50.
Europa -May Day 2004
by Gillian Clarke
for Paulina Tomasik & her parents
Paulina, this is the day we walk on water,
the day they take the old walls down, and lay
a road from the island to the continent.
We'll step ashore, and take the road to Poland
crossing four countries on the long way east,
to join you and your history, retrace
the wild swans' way over the seas,
over steppe and tundra on their long migration
to winter on a western lake in Wales.
And the dream is, as we travel over land,
crossing borders, time zones, languages,
our poets will speak in tongues. Being human
is our lingua franca. Two mothers,
gazing out to sea, translating the words
for sea, seagull, daughter, son.
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