Ceredigion Secondary Schools have fun in the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc
The fourth Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc between Ceredigion secondary schools was held in Cardigan over the weekend.
This contest has been held annually since 2022, when the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc Ceredigion was established for the National Eisteddfod held in the county.
During June, resident poets visited seven secondary schools in the county to encourage and inspire a group of pupils to compete in the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc.
The poets in residence visited the following schools:
- Aneirin Karadog – Ysgol Bro Pedr;
- Anwen Pierce – Ysgol Bro Teifi;
- Eurig Salisbury – Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron;
- Endaf Griffiths – Ysgol Henry Richard;
- Hywel Griffiths – Ysgol Penglais;
- Arwel Rocet Jones – Ysgol Penweddig;
- Gwenallt Llwyd Ifan – Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi.
The culmination of that was the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc competition held at Cardigan Castle on Friday 04 July 2025 ahead of Gŵyl Fawr Aberteifi and led by the poet Ceri Wyn Jones.
The event was organised by Anwen Eleri Bowen, Ceredigion County Council's Welsh in Education Support Officer, who said: "We are proud that our seven secondary schools are so keen to be part of Y Talwrn and a big thank you to the poets for their willingness to mentor and collaborate with the crew. The Talwrn offers valuable and rich experiences for our pupils. It's a golden opportunity for a small group of pupils to have a poet's company for a day to work and create creative work for a competition. It's an opportunity to write creatively individually and collaboratively, to discuss and share opinions about each other's work, to refine the collaborative work, and the culmination was to see the work developed into finished works that we heard on Friday night."
"Such an experience develops the pupils' confidence to share their work publicly and to be ready for criticism and hopefully encourages them to submit their work to literary competitions in our local eisteddfodau. A big thank you to the schools and poets for their co-operation and also to Cardigan Castle and Gŵyl Fawr Aberteifi for giving the event a home and a place in the calendr."
Councillor Wyn Thomas, Ceredigion's Cabinet Member for Schools, Lifelong Learning and Skills, added: "Congratulations to all the pupils who took part in the Talwrn y Beirdd Ifanc. This is a great opportunity for them to showcase their talents and sharpen their creative skills. It's great to see this competition continue, offering invaluable opportunities for very talented prospective poets."
Congratulations to the group from Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron for winning the competition.