Heledd’s Song

Seren is 14 years old and lives with her nain having lost her single-parent mother to cancer. An only child, scarred by this early bereavement, she struggles at school. Heledd, a girl who exists in the 7th century AD, whom Seren meets in her dreams, has her own struggles in the aftermath of the Mercian war which left almost everyone dead. Together, they help one another survive.

A magic realist story with creative engagement with the Early Welsh poem, Canu Heledd drawing on the rich mythology and literary heritage of Wales. Set in contemporary North-East Wales, near the border with England, and, in the dream world of Seren, in the 7th century kingdom of Pengwern, in the borderlands close to Mercia. A sensitive exploration of themes of grief and bullying in young adulthood.