The writer who has brought literature in Welsh to the attention of the world was yesterday chosen as Children's Laureate.
For the coming year, Menna Elfyn, a columnist with the Western Mail, will cut down on her travels to teach her craft to the young, encouraging them to write and enjoy poetry.
Ms Elfyn, 51, a mother of two, is currently holding a week-long writers' workshop at the Ty Newydd centre in Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth.
She succeeds Myrddin ap Dafydd and Meirion McIntyre Huws in a project run by the Urdd, S4C and the Welsh Books Council in a scheme that has flourished since 1999.
Ms Elfyn's work will soon be seen by children in every school in Wales. "I have been commissioned to write some work to go on posters which will be distributed to every school," she said.
Ms Elfyn will also prepare a half-hour television programme in which she hopes she will be able to incorporate work from some of the children she will work with.
For the Urdd, Ms Elfyn will write work for their magazine Cip and book club Sbondonics. And she will also help with a touring programme prepared by the books council.
In the past, the Laureate has held workshops in unusual locations. "There have been visits to the Millenium Stadium, the National Botanic Garden and King Arthur's Labyrinth in Corris," said an Urdd official.
Ms Elfyn, who has toured schools holding workshops for some years, and has written several novels for teenagers, said, "It is such a delight to be chosen."
She is the poet in Welsh best known outside Wales. She has always been keen to publish bilingual editions of her poems, with translations into English by leading bilingual poets, and enthusiastic about addressing English audiences, recently returning from Ohio University.
| Western Mail - June 2002 |