New Quay poet Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch will share family recollections of Dylan Thomas - including the night he was shot at - when she headlines the monthly spoken word night at Cardigan’s Cellar Bards this month.

The event will take place at the Cellar, Quay Street on Friday, 12 June. Doors open at 7.30pm.

Reading from her fourth poetry collection, Milk Wood Memoir, Samantha will show us the joys, sadnesses, excitements and fears behind the doors of the town she believes is key to Thomas’s masterpiece Under Milk Wood, including her grandfather’s presence in the poet’s house on the night he was shot at in March 1945.

Published by Picador, Milk Wood Memoir draws on local lore and history to give voice to a lively tribe of characters that capture the living memory of Samantha’s beloved hometown. A community, a forest, houses, pubs and paths on the edge of sliding into the sea.

Awarded a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Wales in 2022, Samantha has published three previous poetry collections and three pamphlets, twice been shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year as well as for the Michael Marks Award, has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and taught on the Masters in Creative Writing at Oxford University and at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

The Cellar Bards’ MC, Aberaeron poet and performer Karen Gemma Brewer, will also introduce readings from group members with open mic slots available for anyone who wants to share words with the audience. The Literature Wales supported group welcomes both new and experienced performers of poetry, rap, flash fiction, storytelling, episodes of longer fiction and non-fiction, just sign up at the door.

Cellar Bards is held on the second Friday of the month, entry £5, including a free raffle.