TWO internationally renowned poets have performed at a Flintshire library.
UK Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa delivered an hour-long reading at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden on Thursday.
They read a selection of poems touching on themes of home and place before Simon travelled on to Ellesmere Port Library for another performance.
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More than 70 people attended the packed event in the Gladstone's Library Reading Rooms.
Simon has published more than 30 books of poetry, novels, non-fiction works and drama over a career that has so far spanned four decades.
His visit was part of an ongoing UK library tour.
The audience at Gladstone's Library. Photo: Jace Barry
He said: "It has been amazing and just a privilege to go into these places where there's a lot of expectation and lot of preparation.
"It's also a privilege to think that my chosen art form can bring a lot of joy to people."
Simon added he felt very much welcome in North Wales, and he was proud to play a role in celebrating libraries as places open to people from all walks of life.
National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa. Photo: Jace Barry
Hanan is an award-winning Welsh-Iraqi poet and writer based in Cardiff.
Her publications include her poetry collection My Body Can House Two Hearts and Welsh Plural: Essays on the Future of Wales.
She stayed at Gladstone's Library, which is a residential library, before the event, in which she performed poetry mingling English, Welsh and Arabic.
Hanan said: "I managed to do about an evening's work in two hours in the Reading Rooms.
"It's a place where there's a room for everyone, not just a room of one's own."
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Andrea Russell, Warden of Gladstone's Library, said she was delighted with the reception the poets received.
She said: "It was wonderful to be part of the Laureate's Library Tour and to welcome Hanan and Simon to Gladstone's Library for the first time - and we hope it's not their last.
"Our audience was enthralled by the poems which were a mixture of heartfelt, challenging and amusing."
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