Presented here are translations of the works of six of the most able contemporary Welsh-language poets, writing in styles varying from vers libre to the ancient strict metres. These poets include Bobi Jones, Menna Elfyn, Emyr Lewis, Iwan Llwyd, Gwyneth Lewis, and Elin ap Hywel. In an introductory essay, Minhinnick questions whether modern writers working in an imperiled language might consider English translation of their poems as a form of adultery.

This text draws on six previous collections published between 1978 and 1994. The earlier poems are diverse, ranging from descriptions of work in heavy industry to observations of wildlife around the writer's childhood home in Wales. Later poems deal with travel in Brazil and the United States, and also deal with schizophrenia. The book celebrates the life and characters of a close-knit community. It then breaks away from the peopled landscape to consider history and culture from wider persepectives.

Written with current events in mind, the latest poems from Welsh poet Robert Minhinnick display his keen awareness of both climate change and the current situation in the Middle East. Drawing upon the poet's firsthand travels in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Argentina, and his 25 years in the environmental movement, these volatile poems address the political and environmental destruction wrought by the ongoing war in Iraq. Full of vigorous musicality and rhythmic energy, these poems introducea cast of memorable charactersfrom treasure-huntersand drug dealersto ancient Celtic...