There’s a buzz in the air this winter and it’s all to do with some home grown Cardiff talent, Rhys Milsom.
It’s hard to think that he can find time to write between his day job and looking after his daughter, but Rhys has managed to do just that (again) with his second anthology.
In just under two weeks’ time, his new collection of poems, Transition, will hit Waterstones and indie shelves alike.
Rhys’ creative process is an individualistic one. In its rawest form his poetry is written as prose; Rhys then dissects this to form his free verse.
This technique flourished during his masters where he met fellow poet and lecturer, Menna Elfyn, who encouraged Rhys to take up poetry. Mena was Rhys’ mentor and helped transform his 70,000-word novel into the poetic language it has now become.
While on paper Rhys’ journey may seem like plain sailing, it wasn’t always all launch parties and publication dates. Shortly after graduating, Rhys sent poems out to magazines, newspapers and anthologies for consideration. Some were successful, others were not.
This launch is made more poignant than most as Accent Press are not only publishing this new collection but also re-publishing his first collection, Amnesia, which went back into print yesterday.
Rhys is Accent’s bridge back into poetry, as they haven’t published any poetical works in seven years. Anne Porter, Rhys’ editor, is enthusiastic about the upcoming launch: “we’re very proud to be publishing a local author and bringing his work to a wider audience.”
A number of different venues are hosting Rhys across this festive period. On 1 December, Rhys will be reading from his first collection at The Little man coffee shop. Transition will then launch on the 10 December at Octavo. Rhys’ will then see in the new year with a second launch party in January.