Poet Owen Sheers reads at annual St David’s Day Dinner

New College’s annual St David’s Day Dinner was enriched this year by acclaimed poet and Honorary Fellow Owen Sheers. 

The evening began with a poetry reading for Welsh students in the Warden's lodgings where Sheers shared a few unpublished poems. He was also keen to bring other voices into the room, following with two speeches from his ‘film-poem’ The Green Hollow. 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster so the speeches of Dai and Anne allowed a moment to focus on renewal, healing and community. 

Georgia, a Welsh student studying English Language and Literature, concluded the reception with a poem from Sheers’s second collection, Skirrid Hill. 

After the event, Georgia reflected on the importance of New College’s Welsh Outreach in influencing her journey to Oxford: 

Without New College’s Welsh outreach programme, I wouldn’t be in Oxford today. I spent most of high school afraid that even if I did get the grades, I wouldn’t suit Oxford anyway, but when I went on the Seren Summer School at New College my mind changed completely. Suddenly Oxford was in sight. People like me were there and suited the college perfectly. The Welsh student ambassadors and Outreach staff were so encouraging in every step of my journey to Oxford. Whether from the summer school, the cross-curricular study day or having lunch with the academic registrar after winning an essay competition, the Welsh outreach helped me gain the confidence to apply to Oxford.

The formal dinner that followed was a roaring success, with many New College’s students and staff enjoying Welsh culinary classics like Cawl.