As I grow older, I wonder what legacy I will leave. What have I done, or could I still do, to make things better for those who come after me? When I’m seeking inspiration, all I need to do is think of my friend Esyllt Harker.
Esyllt was a beautiful and respected voice in traditional Welsh song and story, or chwedleua. She passed away 10 years ago, on 31 May 2014, but remains a strong presence in the world of storytelling in Wales.
The life of Esyllt Harker
Esyllt Harker was born in Birkenhead in 1947, and grew up speaking Welsh outside Wales, which perhaps accounted for her passion for her mother tongue. After university and a brief marriage, she lived in Greece for several years with her young daughter Anna, before becoming an actor.
In 1981 she moved to her beloved Wales, and was cast as Branwen in a magnificent performance of Y Mabinogi at Cardiff Castle. Many roles for S4C followed, though singing was her first love. She trained in voicework and taught voicework, singing, and Welsh song for Welsh learners.
After moving to North Wales in 1990, Esyllt moved from acting into storytelling. Being both a fine performer and bilingual she was in great demand and produced acclaimed pieces, both alone and in exciting collaborations, including with musician Cass Meurig and performance artist Christine Watkins. As well as appearing several times at Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival and the National Eisteddfod, Esyllt represented Wales at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC.
Despite her talents, Esyllt was humble, often doubting her work. She was a generous friend and devoted grandmother, who loved spending time with her grandchildren. She was always a seeker, making every walk a pilgrimage. And she made the actual pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
A passion for Welsh myth
Esyllt was passionate about Welsh myth and legend and the importance of caring for the Earth as a living being. Her final piece, Tair: Daughters of Earth and Time, commissioned by Beyond the Border in 2012, wove a sense of healing and the emerging power of the feminine in the landscape into the stories of three Welsh women – one from poetry, one from history, and one from story. Her preparation included mindful walking in the landscape, reading poetry in her mother tongues, consulting academics, and living long and deeply with the stories.
She was already ill while working on Tair, and soon became unable to continue performing. Her aim then became to live and die as mindfully as possible.
She left all her research notes for Tair to me, in the hope that her work could go on. Her last two years were a powerful journey through illness, which she faced with courage, strength, and wisdom. She was a remarkable woman.
The Chwedl network and Gwobr Esyllt Prize
When Esyllt became too ill to work, Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival programmed a fundraising benefit for her at the 2014 festival. But she died at the end of that May, so the benefit evening became a sad, yet joyful, memorial event. A collection was made, which became a bursary in her name, to enable an emerging storyteller to develop her work and create a new piece for the next festival.
Wanting to continue this work in her name, a group of her friends decided to work together to fundraise for further bursaries. This was how the Chwedl network of Welsh women storytellers began.
Chwedl is an egalitarian and non-hierarchical group. Membership is open to all women, and those who identify as women, who work as storytellers or love stories. Members live in, or have a connection with, Wales. Chwedl works in and welcomes both languages of Wales.
Gwobr Esyllt has been awarded three times by Chwedl, offering financial and mentoring support to the holder, enabling her to create and perform new work. Beyond the Border has provided a platform for each new piece. Chwedl is proud of the Gwobr Esyllt winners: Tamar Eluned Williams, 2016; Siân Miriam, 2018; Deb Winter and Ailsa Mair Fox, joint award, 2021; and the present holder, Claire Mace, 2023.
Now, on the 10th anniversary of Esyllt’s death, Chwedl is embarking on an exciting project to revisit and reimagine her final piece of work, Tair: Women of Earth and Time. Over the next 12 months, we’ll be holding three special workshops to explore the Tair stories, each led by women who knew Esyllt and know the landscape in which each story is set.
A year and a day steeped in story
Tair: A Year and A Day of Women’s Storytelling starts on the anniversary of Esyllt Harker’s death on Friday 31 May 2024, with Dreaming the Other World/ Breuddwydio’r Byd Arall, a storytelling show open to all, in Galeri, Caernarfon. This will be followed by a workshop exploring the figure of Elen from The Dream of Macsen Wledig. Elen’s home in the story was where Caernarfon now stands, and Sarn Elen (Elen’s Path), a Roman road, can still be walked. There’ll be an opportunity to walk on Sarn Elen together and share in telling Elen’s story. Cath Little, Claire Mace, and Angharad Owen will lead the weekend.
The second Tair Weekend will take place in September 2024 in Carmarthenshire. Its focus is a woman from history: Gwenllian, the warrior princess. She ruled from Dinefwr, and died on the battlefield defending her people. The weekend will be led by Angharad Wynne.
The final weekend will be led by Christine Watkins and Fiona Collins in Spring 2025 in the Welsh Marches of mid-Wales, on both sides of the border. We’ll explore the late medieval poem Canu Heledd (Heledd’s Song), the first Welsh poetry known to have been written in the voice of a woman.
An enduring pilgrimage
After A Year and A Day, the journey concludes on Sunday 1 June 2025 in Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda. Those who took part over the year will meet there to share the work they’ve been inspired to create. Local community members will also be invited for many will remember Esyllt, who lived in Bethesda for some years, until she left on pilgrimage to walk the Camino.
We hope that Tair: A Year and A Day of Women’s Storytelling will be a pilgrimage of story to honour Esyllt Harker, and enable her legacy of story, history, poetry, and song to live on in the hearts and voices of many women.
It is quite a legacy.
