Welsh poets may still sense a bardic responsibility to speak for their communities. The relatively new post of national poet, currently held by Gillian Clarke, arises naturally from that tradition. Happily for the incumbent, it brings none of the royalist freight attached to the English “laureate” brand, but there are other pressing expectations. Academi, which sponsors the post, lists on its website the required skills, including “an ability to communicate, to write well and often, and to have a regular route into the magic that makes verse work”. This is an un-nerving job description – not least, that surely mischievous oxymoron, “regular route into the magic … “
Clarke’s new collection, A Recipe for Water, is surprisingly upbeat and relaxed in tone. An array of sequences testifies to her creative energy, and, notwithstanding concerns over climate change, there is plenty of celebration.