Performance of Rona Campbell’s 'David of the Mines' in Ystrad Mynach

Performing 'David of the Mines ' is the prize-winning, narrative poem by Rona Campbell that won the Sotheby's International Poetry Competition in 1982.

SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION 1982

THE PRIZE-GIVING CEREMONY WAS HELD IN THE AEOLIAN HALL IN 1982, the judges including, Basil Bunting Stephen Spender, Gwendolyn Brooks, George Barker, Michael Baldwin, also with John Heath-Stubbs, Roy Davids, Felix Pryor and others.

The competition was one of the first major international poetry competitions with substantial prizes. The first five prizes were funded by Sotheby's and ranged from £ 1,000 to £ 5,000. The prizes were awarded at a ceremony held at the Aeolian Hall. Roy Davids organised the competition on behalf of Sotheby's. 

The poem tells the story of a six-year-old child coal miner in Ebbw Vale during the Victorian Era.  In this extraordinary performance, it came home to its roots because it was performed on a slag heap in Parc Penallta.  The actors were: Rona Campbell, the author; Peter Read, a famous Welsh actor; and West End actor Chris Bawden. The performance was sponsored by Caerphilly Council and Wales' Night Out Scheme.'  It was a 'Grown in Wales Production.'

A collection of the winning poems from the competition was published in an anthology by the Arvon Foundation in 1984. The anthology is titled "Sotheby's International Poetry Competition: 1982 anthology". It is available for free download, borrowing, and streaming on the Internet Archive.