Bardd Plant Cymru’s 20th Anniversary

Published Wed 30 Sep 2020 - By Literature Wales

This year, Literature Wales and its partners are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Bardd Plant Cymru project. A week of activities will take place between the 12-16 October 2020 to celebrate the birthday.

Bardd Plant Cymru (Welsh-language Children’s Laureate) is a national ambassadorial role that is awarded every two years to a Welsh-language poet with the aim of introducing Welsh-language poetry to children in an energetic, dynamic and fun way- through workshops, performances and various activities. The current Bardd Plant Cymru is Gruffudd Owen; the sixteenth poet to undertake the role since the scheme was launched in the year 2000.

The week of celebrations will include free digital poetry workshops suitable for various ages (including Welsh learners), a competition for schools to win a visit from Bardd Plant Cymru, a book bundle, and a special print signed by all 16 former Bardd Plant Cymru poets.

One of the week’s highlights will be the release of the video poem ‘Bardd Plant Cymru yn 20 oed’, which will be premiered on Heno, S4C on Monday 12 October 2020. Gruffudd Owen composed the poem to mark the occasion and to capture the excitement and the importance of the role. The video, which describes the role as a ‘poetic Doctor Who’, also includes appearances from all past Bardd Plant Cymru poets – from Myddin ap Dafydd to Casia Wiliam. Posters of the poem are available for free at local bookshops across Wales.

The week’s main activities are listed below:

Monday 12 October: ‘Bardd Plant Cymru yn 20 oed’ video poem released

Tuesday 13 October: Digital Workshop 1 – Foundation Phase and Welsh Learners

Wednesday 14 October: Digital Workshop 2 – Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6)

Thursday 15 October: Digital Workshop 3 – Secondary (Years 7+)

Friday 16 October: Bardd Plant Cymru 20 Birthday Party

The digital workshops will be released at 9am on the days noted above on the www.barddplant.cymru website. The workshops are each a series of short videos for teachers to play to their class, with various tasks for the children to complete between videos. Accompanying resources for teachers are also available to download from the website in advance.

You can follow all the celebrations on our social media channels. On Friday 16 October 2020, we encourage all – schools, libraries, families – to join in the birthday celebrations by hosting a tea party, sharing photos and videos with us on:

Twitter: @BarddPlant / #BarddPlantCymru20

Facebook: Bardd Plant Cymru

E-mail: barddplant@literaturewales.org

The best photo by a school will be awarded with a free visit from Bardd Plant Cymru, a book bundle, and a special signed print.

The Bardd Plant Cymru scheme is run by Literature Wales with the support of Welsh Government, S4C, Books Council of Wales and Urdd Gobaith Cymru.