New Welsh Review 140 (Summer 2026)

Imogen Davies is a Welsh writer and academic from Aberystwyth. Her debut poetry collection, Distances, was inspired by her travels across Europe during her year abroad. Her poems explore human connection in the modern age, the natural world, and Welsh identity. Her poetry has appeared both online and in print in various literary magazines. She worked with Wales Arts International during the Women's EUROs 2025, travelling to Switzerland to support the Welsh team; her poem was given to the Welsh women's team to wish them good luck, in partnership with the Arts Council of Wales. She recently delivered a TEDx Talk in Aberystwyth on Love in Minority Languages, exploring her own relationship with the Welsh language.

• Editorial: Imogen DaviesReviews: Hannah Dafforn’s fiction review essay, ‘Sex and the Silo: National trauma, rural violence and the “end of love” in deep Spain’ explores the interconnection between Un Amor by Sara Mesa, Disgrace by J.M Coetzee and Mammoth by Eva Baltasar; Hanan Issa reviews Muslim Wales: A History in Nine Places by Abdul-Azim Ahmed; and Daryl Leeworthy reviews Will Hayward’s recent political book, Who Cares about Wales?Fiction: short stories by Brennig Davies, Esyllt Lewis, and Kate Roberts, the latter translated from Cymraeg by Katie Gramich.Poetry: Three poems taken from Hilary Watson’s upcoming poetry collection, Menagerie Street.Interviews: ‘A life is no small matter’: Eluned Gramich interviews Brennig Davies on his short story, ‘A/B’, his upcoming collection, Dogs in a Storm, and his experience of writing in Welsh andEnglish. Plus, Rhian Elizabeth introduces herself to readers by listing her A to Z.Photo Essay: ‘Postcard from Japan’ by Catrin Menai who reflects on her time in Japan as part of the Wales and Japan 2025 Cultural Programme.Archival Essay: ‘The Making of the Anglo-Welsh Tradition’ by Peter Macdonald Smith, taken from the first issue of New Welsh Review, Summer 1988.Cartoon: A thought-provoking cartoon by Corb Davies, taking the temperature of the political climate in Wales following the recent election.