Chosen Poems: Ruth Bidgood

We need Ruth Bidgood’s poetry in times like these to sustain us – she writes with such ease, they almost feel like psalms, prayers or blessings to a world on the border of humanity. – Menna Elfyn

Ruth Bidgood was able to combine high learning with an unsurpassable oneness with nature. Her poetic musings were unforced though always pertinent, and her steadfast characteristics combined a lack of ego with a gentle yet penetrating sense of immediacy. – Paul Groves

A wonderful book on a fine poet … an excellent selection of her work. This book must be published. – Jeremy Hooker

A fine, carefully organised selection which comprehends the quiet intensity, intelligence and emotional complexity that often lives in the plain words of Bidgood’s poetry. Merryn Williams’ readable and wise memoir combines the biographical and historical context with some close reading following the chronology of the poems and the life so as to deepen our understanding of a significant poet who resisted labels and fashions. A superb introduction for those who don’t know Ruth Bidgood and a must-read for those who thought they did. – Christopher Meredith