Senedd bars National Poet of Wales from reading commissioned piece

I thought I’d hibernated and slept through to April Fool’s Day this week when I heard the Senedd had barred the National Poet of Wales from reading a piece they commissioned her to write because it was...checks notes...too political…

Yes, that’s right, Hanan Issa was told thanks, but no thanks when she, as instructed, wrote a piece to (again checks notes) “celebrate Members and their achievements in being elected, while serving as a reminder of their commitment to the people of Wales”.

The poem was to have been read by Ms Issa at the opening of the Senedd on 15 October, but the sensitive souls in Cardiff put a stop to that, hoping they could silence her.

What an own goal!

If they had allowed Mr Issa to read her work (she also submitted a second draft to see if that could get past the censors) I’m guessing it would have passed by without much comment during a day in which King Charles was heckled by anti-Royalists for daring to enter the Welsh capital.

But banning her from reading this poem has brought Ms Issa and her hurty to the Senedd’s words to forefront of so many people now. The story has been told by journalists working for a number of organisations including the BBC. It has garnered the attention of a Middle Eastern outlet, and Ms Issa’s own rather polite social media post about this sorry state of affairs is being shared and commented on by more and more people as the days go by.

The post, which shares instructions received from the Senedd regarding the writing of said poem, reads: “As you may have heard, I was commissioned to write a piece and perform it at the opening of the Senedd.

“The brief (on slide 4) asks for a poem that serves as a ‘reminder (to MS’s) of their commitment to the people of Wales’.

“With so many pressing issues affecting the lives of people in Wales today, it felt like a disservice to write something about rivers or sparrows overhead…

“Inspired by the Saunders Lewis quote [describing Wales as a vineyard] I wrote about Wales as a garden and its lawmakers the gardeners.

“The poem was rejected on the grounds that the opening of our country’s lawmaking legislature was an ‘apolitical event’.

“I tried again, reshaping my references into more abstract language but again this was rejected by the Senedd.

“Since both versions are considered too much for the delicate ears of Welsh politicians I thought I would share with you all.”

The original poem and Ms Issa’s post about it mention droughts, floods, endometriosis care, a park and ride threatened by the creation of a data centre, children in Gaza, racism, anti-imperialism and trans support.

The second toned down version is indeed abstract enough for these references to be missed, so what was the problem with that? Did the Senedd fear the first would be read out instead? Who knows?!

Ms Issa has been the National Poet of Wales since 2022 and the Senedd initially seemed content to let her CV speak for itself and allow her to do her thing when they approached her with the commission.

“We are happy for Hanan to execute the poem as they wish,” the brief explained, but when it came down to it, they absolutely were not, and they did a u-turn, silencing her and the people she spoke to in order to construct the poem.

The brief went on: “It can be a solo piece or it could have a community focus, potentially gathering and crafting views from across 16 constituencies on people’s hopes for Wales’ future and turn this into a poem to be read in the Siambr.”

The poem, called ‘To Grow’, was written with the people of Wales in mind after Ms Issa spoke to a number of residents about the issues that matter to them most.

But those voices were stifled like ours when we plead with the Senedd to help reopen the ‘temporarily closed’ Tywyn Hospital ward, safeguard stroke services at Bronglais and bring back bypass plans for Llanbedr.

The Senedd Commission said they were “mindful of respecting the poet’s artistic independence and freedom of expression” but felt “some aspects of the poem may still not align with the brief”.

Ms Issa said: “If the ears of politicians are too delicate to hear issues affecting the lives of Welsh people in a poem, what hope have we got for them to listen in real life?”

Indeed!

Space does not permit us to publish Ms Issa’s poems here but do seek them out online and see if you agree with the Senedd Commission’s decision to ban the poet. Or perhaps, like some people commenting online, you fear this is a dangerous action that threatens our freedom of speech...