Babble: a poetry collection exploring the cultural identity of modern Wales

Babble is a poetry collection that adapts the Welsh metrical tradition in English. The poetry exhibits characteristics of cynghanedd to explore varying perspectives on a modern Welsh cultural identity. Its main aim is to show how a hyphenated identity might be reconsidered to engage with ‒ and represent ‒ individuals struggling to establish a strong Welsh identification. The poetry collection has been influenced by Welsh history, its landscape and literature. It recreates a learning process that took me on a journey through Wales which strengthened my Welsh identity. The collection explores cultural identity through underrepresented female narratives from Welsh history, literature and mythology. My critical essay analyses why poets believed the craft of cynghanedd to be important to their identity and how they applied its techniques in their poetry. A creative methodology has been implemented in a poetry collection that imitates and responds to literature from the twelfth to the twenty-first century. It was critical to have a flexible creative process when writing cynghanedd in English. My poetry looks at modernist poetry and the craft of cynghanedd to develop a new style of poetry that could engage with a diversity of voices in modern Wales. The main aim of the collection was to engage readers with the craft of cynghanedd. This would prompt them to explore its connection to Wales. The collection considered ways that would provoke readers to question their ideas on identity in modern Wales.