Fe lansiodd Menna Elfyn, Athro Emerita Ysgrifennu Creadigol ym Mhrrifysgol Cymru Y Drindod Dewi Sant ei chyfrol newydd 'Tosturi’ [Compassion] ar yr 8fed o Ebrill 2022.
During the launch held at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin, there were readings from the volume, as well as a conversation between Menna and her friend, Elinor Wyn Reynolds, and a few songs by Menna's daughter, Fflur Dafydd.
This is the first volume of poetry published solely through the medium of Welsh by Menna for ten years. 'Tosturi' yn gasgliad o gerddi sy’n marwnadu ac yn moli, yn cofio ac yn pryfocio, yn herio ac yn tosturio wrth i’r bardd ymateb i’r camweddau a wnaed yn erbyn menywod dros y canrifoedd.
Mae’r gyfrol yn cynnwys amrywiaeth o gerddi sy’n cynnwys rhai hunangofiannol, cerddi gwleidyddol, rhai sydd wedi’u hysbrydoli gan y cyfnod clo, ac ambell un am fyd natur.
Dywedodd Menna,
“Bûm yn myfyrio yn hir uwchben y gair 'Tosturi’ [Compassion], and I suppose this is one of the great emotions in my poetry when responding to life's intense, exuberant and exciting turns. What I then try to do is calm the feelings as I note them as words on paper in the hope that others, readers or listeners, will be able to identify with feeling, over again, the kind of pain or thrill I had in expressing them. There are a number of poems about women, both serious and humorous, many poems about nature and lockdown, and the struggle with the spiritual world with poems such as 'Iachawdwriaeth’, [Salvation] and 'Amen’.
"I also like to discern the irony of life and although poetry cannot change the world, a poet often wants to change a few of our approaches to living and being in the present-day world.”
“Hon yw’r bymthegfed gyfrol o farddoniaeth imi ei chyhoeddi a’r gyntaf yn Gymraeg am gryn dipyn, felly rwy’n falch iawn ohoni am y rheswm hynny, ac i Barddas am anwesu’r gyfrol o’r cychwyn cyntaf wrth ddymuno ei chyhoeddi.”
I gyd-fynd â’r cerddi, mae’r arlunydd Meinir Mathias wedi creu darluniau trawiadol drwy’r llyfr gan gynnwys llun arbennig o Catrin Glyndŵr, un o’r merched sydd â cherdd iddi yn y gyfrol, ar y clawr. Meddai Meinir,
“Roeddwn mor falch o dderbyn y comisiwn hwn gan Menna Elfyn ar gyfer y llyfr anhygoel yma a'r cyfle i ymateb i’w cherddi. Mae gen i lawer o barch at Menna a phopeth mae hi wedi ei gyflawni ac mae hi'n Gymraes Gyfoes ysbrydoledig ac yn 'role-model' creadigol i ferched.
"The challenge of working on a drawing of Catrin Glyndŵr was very appealing to me. Historical characters from Welsh history are not very well represented in Art and female figures such as Catrin Glyndŵr are rarely seen in works of Art. Researching the clothes and styles worn by figures during this period was part of the research for this commission and it was very interesting to reimagine Glyndŵr's coat of arms on her cloak. While working on the commission, some decisions about her appearance were discussed with Menna."
“We made the decision to portray her on her wedding day. The flowers are a bouquet of wildflowers to represent the beauty and frailty of the Welsh landscape with which she is interconnected. Her hair is down, loose and wild in contrast to what was expected of women of stature at that time, which refers to her strength of character and rebellious nature. The bright colours of her clothes suggest the importance and status of her lineage. Compared to the bright cover, the black and white drawing of her in the tower has a very different tone with harsh contrasts, empty of colour, reflecting the situation and the feeling of being captured like a bird in a cage."
The volume 'Tosturi' gan Menna Elfyn bellach ar werth mewn siopau llyfrau lleol.
Lluniau: Tudur Dylan Jones
