"In a culture like that of Wales in the Middle Ages, which regarded poets as socially important, a would-be poet was systematically trained and admitted to the rank of poet only after meeting high professional standards." (W.H. Auden)

In the first of two programmes Joseph P. Clancy, Professor of English at Marymount College, New York, discusses the complex techniques of the medieval poets with Professor Geraint Gruffydd and John Ormond, with examples in Welsh and English from his collection of more than 100 translations.

(1 March: Modern Welsh Poetry)

followed by an interlude