An Aberystwyth town poet or ‘bard’ has been appointed for the first time at a National Library ceremony last Friday.  

During the proceedings, the new mayor and town councillor Kerry Ferguson presented the bardic staff and certificate to Eurig Salisbury, a Ceredigion poet who is well known in the area and in Wales. 

Eurig greeted the retiring mayor Cllr Talat Chaudhri and the new mayor with a poem.  

“I feel honoured to have been appointed Aberystwyth’s first ever Town Bard, and am looking forward to a year of poetry ahead,” he said.  

“This new initiative is a wonderful demonstration of the continuing importance of poetry of a strong public, community-based nature here in Wales.  

“Whilst the traditional image of Welsh-language poetry locates it mainly in rural areas, we also in fact have a long, albeit less well-known, history of urban poetry.  

“While completing my MPhil at Aberystwyth University I studied the work of fifteenth-century poet Guto'r Glyn, whose celebrated poem of praise to the town of Oswestry heralded the beginning of a centuries-long tradition of composing poetry for and in the town of Oswestry; and Welsh poetry was present in other towns in Wales and the Marches too.  

“So, the idea of having a Town Bard has its precedents.”   

The idea of appointing a Town Bard in Aberystwyth was the idea of Councillor Emlyn Jones, the new Mayor's consort, and he said: “Aberystwyth is a very literary and artistic town, and I am very proud that we have agreed to establish a Town Bard.  

“This reflects the area's poetic wealth, with a look back to the Welsh poetic tradition of having a 'court' poet, but mainly looking forward to celebrating modern Welsh poets and poems that flourish here in Aberystwyth. I can think of no one better than Eurig to be the first bard in this new tradition!”