HIRAETH

Writing a PhD is a challenge for anyone. A PhD is a marathon of writing thinking getting it wrong making breakthroughs but with the ultimate aim to reach the crowning glory of being called a 'doctor' with the hope that it will bring the start or the enhancement of a career usually in academia. Writing a PhD however does not just come with the challenges of writing but it is accompanied with life's challenges therefore writing a PhD inevitably ensures that you reflect on life in what you have gained and in what you have lost or not had. This book is a collection of villanelles that reflect on a 'lost childhood' of not being in Wales a hiraeth a yearning and a nostalgic feel for the 'land of my fathers'.