White Walls by Herbert Williams

“Herbert Williams deals with uncomfortable topics such as cancer, death and war, yet never in a dark, brooding manner. His approach is almost invariably one with an edge of wit and an ability to view the wider picture. He’s able to be both simple and profound at the same time. It is his long experience of writing (he began publishing in the 1960s) which means that he is assured, yet never sure of himself. Full of candour and dark humour, Williams sees death in many different situations: meeting his father’s ghost where, in a twist, his future self seems more like a phantom ; on the other side of a bridge where a dead friend beckons ; especially, in the superb poem ‘being dead’ which gradually unfolds until the final haunting paradox – ‘having no voice/ yet still I can hear you’. A remarkable poet.”

Mike Jenkins

Herbert Williams is a highly respected poet, novelist, short story writer and dramatist. His first collection of poetry was published 1965. He worked as a journalist, then a BBC producer before becoming a full-time writer in 1979. Herbert’s poems, short stories and plays have been broadcast by BBC, HTV and Thames Television. He has contributed to New Welsh Review, Planet, Cambrensis, Western Mail, The Transatlantic Review, Aquarius, Decal, Iota and other journals. Herbert is co-founder of Roundyhouse Poetry Magazine. His awards include the Hawthornden Poetry Fellowship 1992. He adjudicated the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 1998. A book on his work, written by Phil Carradice, appeared in the University of Wales Press’ Writers of Wales Series in 2010.