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Tag Archives: Carmarthenshire

Welsh Wednesdays: News on the Second Llandeilo Lit Fest April 27 – 29th 2018

10 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Book Fair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Well, for a start we’ll actually kick off on the Thursday (details to be announced).

We’ll hold many sessions in Welsh – some of them with simultaneous translation facilities for non-Welsh speakers or learners.
We’ll have writing -, illustrations – and poetry workshops, a huge poetry afternoon, sessions for children of all ages, guided walks through Llandeilo, a book fair and a book hunt.

Confirmed sessions include:

  • Poet Laureat: Ifor ap Glyn 
  • Peter Lord talks about “The Tradition – A New History of the Welsh Art 1400 – 1990” 
    Winner of Wales Book of the Year Creative Non-Fiction category –Literature Wales

 

  • Fflur Dafydd and Sion Tomos Owen on scriptwriting and writers working for TV
  • Gary Raymond will launch his latest book with Parthian, a thriller set in Cyprus, and and talk about the novelists who inspired it – Graham Greene, Patricia Highsmith, Raymond Chandler and others 
  • Wales as location in Fiction: with local authors Cheryl Reese-Price, Nigel Williams and Colin R Parsons 

 

  • Pembrokeshire author Judith Barrow talks about Suffragettes in her new and critically acclaimed novel “A Thousand Tiny Threads” 

 

  • Simon Brooks and Adam Price discussing:
    “Why Wales Never Was”
  • Tim Hartley on “Kicking off in North Korea”
    This is a book for anyone who has an interest not just in football and travel, but in people. In it we find contemporary history and reportage. Football fans will recognise the wider context of the beautiful game and seasoned travellers will smirk as they recognise themselves in awkward, alien situations.

  • Terry Breverton with a session on Welsh Pirates and Privateers:

    After writing no less than eight books upon pirates, Breverton has returned to the subject with three new books devoted to the Welsh. Black Bart Roberts from Pembrokeshire was by far the most successful pirate in the Caribbean and Atlantic waters, and Admiral Henry Morgan was the greatest privateer of all time, leading six successful expeditions against the most powerful country in the world.
    He also launches: The Journal of Llewelyn Penrose. In 1770 Williams wrote the first American novel and taught Benjamin West, later President of the Royal Academy, to paint
    and CONFESSIONS OF THE SMUGGLER WILLIAM OWEN

  • Jon Gower will be talking about his latest book about artist Jon Selway
    A former BBC Wales’ Arts and Media correspondent, Jon has been making documentary programmes for television and radio for over 30 years. He has several books to his name, in both Welsh and English.

  • Luke Waterson and Jean Gill on Welsh and French medieval musicians and troubadours in their historical fiction

  • Nicholas McGaughey: “The Boy From Elsewhere” an afternoon of poetry and reminiscence by Nicholas McGaughey. 

    In the reading Nicholas will read his poetry about his life growing up in Cwm-rhyd-ceirw, Swansea and living in the Valleys and some of the extraordinary people that he knows there. There are also tales to be told about his life on the road as an actor with the RSC and The Royal National Theatre, where he played 1st Voice in an all singing,all flying production of Under Milk Wood…where he fell down a trap door mid performance..Then hear about “Gladiator” and how he killed Ollie Reed…..Who was already dead…..” His ten years as a soap star playing the dim but likeable Brandon Monk in Pobol y Cwm….

    Most of Nick’s poems are little stories that he has picked up along the way, little bits of jfluff that he weaves into a slightly holey pullover…always humorous…not always intentionally so.

    Nick’s poems have appeared in many magazines and anthologies including Poetry Salzburg Review/Popshot Magazine/A New Ulster/Envoi/Poetry News/Dream Catcher/“Dusk” Anthology/The Welsh Poetry Competition Anthology and The Poetry Shed.
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Winners of the Llandeilo X-mas Book Fair 2016 Short Story Competition: Lorna Wright

02 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, short story, Short Story Competition, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Ahead of the #LlandeiloLitFest 2017 Short Story Competition (find details at the end of this post)  I’m delighted to publish some of the winning entries of the 2016 competitions here.

Here is a picture of three winners from the Christmas Book Fair Story competition December 2016: – Lorna Wright, Theo Dunham and Daisy Ayscough

“A Christmas Tale” by Lorna Wright  was voted first in the Youth Category.

Further winners were:
“A Christmas to Remember” by Theo Duncan
from Bro Dinefwr School won best Short story, with an Award Certificate and a Kindle Fire as prize.

Further winners were:
“Sheep for Reindeer” by Daisy Ayscough (Second in the Youth Category)
“War and Toys” by David Beach (First in the Senior Category)

For details of the 2017 competitions scroll down. Here is the winning story by Lorna:

IMG_0002.jpg

Winners of the X-mas Book Fair 2016: Theo Dunham

22 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, short story, Short Story Competition, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Ahead of the #LlandeiloLitFest 2017 Short Story Competition (find details at the end of this post)  I’m delighted to publish some of the winning entries of the 2016 competitions here.

Here is a picture of three winners from the Christmas Book Fair Story competition December 2016: – Lorna Wright, Theo Dunham and Daisy Ayscough

“A Christmas to Remember” by Theo Duncan from Bro Dinefwr School won best Short story, with an Award Certificate and a Kindle Fire as prize.

Further winners were:
“Sheep for Reindeer” by Daisy Ayscough (Second in the Youth Category)
“A Christmas Tale” by Lorna Wright (First in the Youth Category)
“War and Toys” by David Beach (First in the Senior Category)

For details of the 2017 competitions scroll down. Here is the winning story by Theo:

img010.jpg

Mystery Monday / #LlandeiloLitFest Interview with Thorne Moore

20 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, short story, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Interview with Thorne Moore, who you can meet at the Llandeilo Book Fair on Sunday, April 30th. thorne
Thorne will also be part of a panel discussion on 

Saturday April 29th at 12 noon at the Angel Inn

Saturday April 29th at 12 noon at the Angel Inn
Panel discussion with local crime fiction writers Sally Spedding, Thorne Moore and Cheryl Rees-Price about Welsh Thrillers

Eventbrite - Panel discussion with local crime fiction writers Sally Spedding, Thorne Moore and Cheryl Rees-Price  £5,90 Welsh Thrillers with Thorne Moore, Sally Spedding and Cheryl Rees-Price

Welcome Thorne. Please tell us about the books you’ll be bringing to the Book Fair.

A Time For Silence, Motherlove, The Unravelling and Moments of Consequence.

Which genres do they belong to? moc

Moments of Consequence is a collection of short stories, some of them with a supernatural twist. The others are all psychological crime mysteries – domestic noir.

What are the characters and plots like?

The books mostly concentrate on women characters and their complicated relationships. The plots are usually centred on a need to get to the bottom of some hidden truth. There is also often a time shift element, since I am fascinated by the  long-term consequences of events.

Tell us about your newest book.

Moments of Consequence is a mixture of comedies, tragedies and histories, although the precise boundaries of the three isn’t quite clear. It also contains three stories that are linked to my three novels, by focussing on minor characters, who might barely get a mention in the books, but who are significant to the novels’ protagonists.
unravcover

Which of your books are you’re most proud of, and why? 

I think The Unravelling, because its arrival was such a miracle. I was on the point of writing it for about thirty years, but kept stopping at chapter three. Then, suddenly, I had to do it. I took a run at it, and it all fell into place. But ‘favourite book’ is a bit like ‘favourite child.’ Impossible, really, to choose.

What is the best thing that has been said about your books?

That they leave people thinking.

timeforsilence

Why did you decide to come to the Llandeilo Book Fair?

I came to the book fair, last year, and enjoyed it hugely. It’s great to have a chance to meet readers face to face.

 

Do you have a special connection to Wales?

I live in Wales (Pembrokeshire), some of my books are set her, my mother is Welsh and I spent many holidays visiting relatives here. I went to university here (Aberystwyth). I started learning Welsh while I still lived in Luton (lots of Welsh in Luton). So quite a bit. But I have never been to Patagonia.

What is your personal background?

I grew up in Luton, where I worked for a while as a library assistant, but I moved to Pembrokeshire in 1983, to run a restaurant. I’ve made miniature furniture for a living for over 30 years. I have a law degree, but have resolutely resisted the urge to become a lawyer and make lots of money.

Who are your favourite authors?

Jane Austen, John le Carré, Kate Atkinson, Ursula le Guin

Please share your social media links and buy links to your books.

email: thornemoore@btinternet.com

Blog: http://thornemoore.blogspot.co.uk

website: www.thornemoore.co.uk

FB Author page: https://www.facebook.com/thornemoorenovelist

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThorneMoore

Amazon author page http://amzn.to/1Ruu9m1

Winners of the Llandeilo X-mas Book Fair 2016 Short Story Competition: Daisy Ayscough

16 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, short story, Short Story Competition, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Ahead of the #LlandeiloLitFest 2017 Short Story Competition (find details at the end of this post)  I’m delighted to publish some of the winning entries of the 2016 competitions here.

Here is a picture of three winners from the Christmas Book Fair Story competition December 2016: – Lorna Wright, Theo Dunham and Daisy Ayscough

“Sheep for Reindeer” by Daisy Ayscough came second in the Youth Category

Further winners were:

“A Christmas to Remember” by Theo Duncan from Bro Dinefwr School won best Short story, with an Award Certificate and a Kindle Fire as prize.
“A Christmas Tale” by Lorna Wright (First in the Youth Category)
“War and Toys” by David Beach (First in the Senior Category)

For details of the 2017 competitions scroll down. Here is Daisy’s story:

Sheep for Reindeer.jpg

 

#MysteryMondays #LlandeiloLitFest review: “Significance” by Jo Mazelis

13 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Reviews

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, poetry, South Wales, verse, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Jo Mazelis will be at the Llandeilo LitFest with a moonlight reading of her work.

shadow-cover-significanceOne of the perks of working for a Literature festival is the amount of reading you ‘have’ to do. I chose ‘Significance’ by Jo Mazelis when I scouted her for the event – I’m more comfortable with novels than short stories. Significance is Jo’s debut novel and won The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize in 2015. There is a bit of a mystery about it, so it fits well on a Monday.

What I found was very atmospheric and most intriguing writing, prose that easily reels you into the story.
My addiction to the book was immediate despite a rather long lasting confusion as to where the story was actually heading.
Lucy starts a new life in France, a new identity to cover an awkward past. The beginning is particularly well done  with a chance encounter and see how it has meaning for Lucy and for the other party. As the strands split and new perspectives come in, these alternating strands tell the pieces of Lucy’s significance – to herself and to others, alive and dead. From people who just about take a glance at her to people more intimate connected, they all see something else.
While other novels would lose me to my impatience with such pigmentary storytelling and tempt me to skim read, this held my interest effortlessly.
I could identify with so much that was said, having moved around a fair but and being familiar with settling into new locations and even somewhat assumed new identities. I rooted for Lucy.
As far as the writing goes, I immensely enjoyed the variations in style, from staccato to eloquent sentences. I knew from some sound recordings that this would be good and the praise for Jo Mazelis is more than justified.

Here is a link to a recording of one of her stories, so you can see for yourself.

https://thelonelycrowd.org/2015/12/12/winter-readings-jo-mazelis-reads-the-twice-pricked-heart/

Winter Readings: Jo Mazelis reads ‘The Twice Pricked Heart’
thelonelycrowd.org
Jo Mazelis is a novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Her collection of stories Diving Girls (Parthian, 2002) was short-listed for The Commonwealth Best First Book and Welsh Book …

Saturday 30th Apriljo-mazelis-2015
at 8pm
at the Horeb Chapel, Cawdor Hotel

Eventbrite - Moonlight reading with Jo Mazelis

The atmospheric Horeb Chapel is the perfect
location for a moonlight reading of Jo Mazelis’s award winning poetry. Jo is a novelist, short story writer, poet, photographer and essayist who was born and educated in Swansea, where she currently lives with her husband, the historian, Mark Matthews.

Her debut novel Significance (Seren, 2014) won The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize in 2015. Her latest book, Ritual, 1969 (Seren, 2016) was recently voted one of the ten best Welsh books of 2016 by Wales Arts Review.

Her first collection of stories Diving Girls was short-listed for The Commonwealth Best First Book and Welsh Book of the Year. Her second book, Circle Games was long-listed for Welsh Book of the Year.
She has won prizes in The Rhys Davies, Allen Raine and PenFro competitions. Her stories have appeared in countless publications and several have been broadcast on Radio Four.

Jo has given readings at Hay Festival, Ottawa Writeritual-coverrs’ Festival, at New York, Cologne, Cork and London as well as at a multitude of places in Wales.

#LlandeiloLitFest Book Review: “Just One Damned Thing After Another” by Jodi Taylor – reblogged from “The Bookasaurus”

10 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

I am delighted to have found this review of “The Chronicles of St Mary Book 1” Source: Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor – The Bookasaurus – Jodi Taylor will be at the Llandeilo Lit Fest in one of our key events:

Time travelling in literature and history – Jasper Fforde and Jodi Taylor with moderator Hazel Cushion (Accent Press)

Over to Bookasaurus:

Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor

jodi-taylor-1
Date: February 4, 2017Author: Bookasaurus Blog1 Comment

The Chronicles of St Mary Book 1 of 7

Publisher: Accent Press

Publication date: 21 November 2013

Page Count: 334 pages

Publisher’s synopsis:

Time travel meets history in this explosive, bestselling adventure series.

At St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, the historians don’t just study the past, they revisit it.

Behind the strait-laced façade of a conventional academic institution, the secret of time travel is being used for ground-breaking and daring historical research taking the historians on a rollercoaster ride through history: from the destruction of Pompeii to the Normandy trenches; from the Great Fire of London to Bronze Age Troy and even to the time of the dinosaurs…

Meanwhile, within at St Mary’s itself, there are power struggles and intrigues worthy of a book in themselves.

In Book One, we follow new recruit Max as she rides the catastrophe curve from eleventh-century London to the First World War, and from the Cretaceous Period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. For wherever Historians go, chaos is sure to follow in their wake …

This book was recommended to me by a fellow bibliophile and when he said it contained time travelling historians visiting dinosaurs I knew I had to read it and of course review it for the Bookasaurus Blog. It is the first in a series of which there are seven novels to date and also several short stories.

Wow, just wow! This is a rollercoaster of a book with exhilarating highs and soul crushing lows complemented by humour and romance. The book follows the fortunes of the intrepid Dr Maxwell and her crazy colleagues at St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research. This is a top secret research facility where a small group of historians travel back in time in pairs to observe and record past events. We see Maxwell and a group of new recruits go through the extensive training needed before becoming field historians which is when the trouble and danger really starts.

Once they have gained some experience Max and her partner Sussman are given the opportunity to travel further back in time than has ever been attempted before. They travel to the Cretaceous period, 67 million years ago, and the time of the dinosaurs. Things do not go entirely to plan however and the dangers are not limited to the dinosaur predators.

Time travel has always been perilous and Max’s is not the only present from which people time travel resulting in dangers in both the past and from the future where it appears that time travel is not so closely controlled. Or perhaps it is just that those in control do not have the same moral compass as those at St Mary’s. This results in secrets being revealed and the remit of St Mary’s having to adapt to the threats facing it and history itself.

This is an adrenaline filled adventure novel full of chaos and catastrophe which kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I was completely unprepared for a book about historians to be so electrifying and I was quickly enthralled and swept along. The title really does suit the book very well and while I breathed a sigh of relief at the end that the disasters were over, at least until the next book, I really enjoyed it. I go back to my analogy that this book is like a rollercoaster, so if you like that kind of ride and time travel then I highly recommend this to you.

Jodi Taylor’s first novel Just One Damned Thing After Another was originally self-published and downloaded by more than 60,000 readers on Amazon. It now has over 900 five stars. There are seven books in The Chronicles of St Mary time travel series so far, with the eight novel out in April 2017.  Jodi is an Amazon and Audible number 1 bestselling author who also writes as Isabella Barclay. For up to date information, check out her Facebook page:www.facebook.com/AuthorJodiTaylor or her website: www.jodi-taylor.com

jodi-taylor-cropped-headshot

Jasper Fforde‘s first novel, The Eyre Affair, was published in 2001. Fforde is mainly known for his Thursday Next novels, although he has written two books in the loosely connected Nursery Crime series and has begun two more independent series, The Last Dragonslayer and Shades of Grey.

jasper-fforde-22-feb-2011-003Fforde’s books are noted for their profusion of literary allusions and wordplay, tightly scripted plots, and playfulness with the conventions of traditional genres. His works usually contain elements of metafiction, parody, and fantasy.

Thursday Next is a detective who works for Jurisfiction, the policing agency that works inside fiction. The books are set in an odd alternative world, and blends SF, Fantasy, Literature, Horror, and a bit of romance. They are a series of books based upon the notion that what we read in books is just a small part of a larger BookWorld that exists behind the page.

Both books are exceptionally funny and intelligent, quirky and hugely entertaining.

Winners of the Short Story Competition of the X-mas #LlandeiloBookFair 2016 #LlandeiloLitFest

09 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

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Book Fair, bookfair, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, hwyl, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, short story, Short Story Competition, South Wales, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

Ahead of the #LlandeiloLitFest 2017 Short Story Competition (find details at the end of this post)  I’m delighted to publish some of the winning entries of the 2016 competitions here.

First prize in the senior group has been won by

War and Toys written by David Beach from Nantgaredig, Carmarthenshire. Here is his amazing story:11159986_887972984558060_7879834653252858585_n

War and toys

Adnan was staring blankly down at two objects in a toyshop. One was a small, poorly constructed cowboy, and the other was a miniature digger, made of plastic. Maya was forever building wonderful things; the digger would do. An automated store announcement cheerfully directed customers to the new range of dart pistols,

‘Blastastic fun! For indoors, for outdoors…’ it droned on. What if your indoors were your outdoors also? He thought dryly.

 

Already snow was falling as he left the shop, passing by the billboards baying their garish advertisements at the oncoming traffic. It was well into winter and the thick, tarred snow lay in great slugs along the road; a far cry from the Yuletide splendour that Finland promised to the tourists. They came in their droves with fanatic children all raring to see Santa slaving away to sell joy to the millions of people safely sleeping on Christmas eve.

 

It was a solemn and anxious evening as he said his farewells. Maria, his Finnish six year-old daughter, was always sad to see her father leave; her mother would now have to scare away the monster in her wardrobe. His wife, Amena, had a different sort of concern.

‘Be safe,’ she whispered on the threshold with such determination that a lump formed in his throat. He gathered his bags and took a taxi headed for the airport.

 

 

Two weeks later

Dust. Lots and lots of dust. If you put a little water or spit onto it, you can use your hands to make castles. Her father used to tell her off for wasting water but she liked playing in the dust, making castles where fair and just people lived. Her father called it an utopia. They stayed up even when the ground rumbled.

 

She had just built a castle when the ground started rumbling and the sky started thundering. Her brother came running, trampling her castle. She looked back in horror, the tears already welling in her eyes as he dragged her down the street. They dived into their neighbours’ cellar.

‘Your mother is safe, don’t cry. There’s no need to cry over bombs, you’re safe now,’ an elderly neighbour crooned, noticing the tears. But she wasn’t crying about the bombs, or the planes or the men who dropped them over Aleppo. She was crying about her castle. The castle that lay ruined, made by her hands and ruined.

 

Her castle had well and truly vanished, as had most of the street, when they appeared the next morning. A woman was wailing besides a body with a head squeezed like a tomato. Injured people walked, lay and died all about. Nowhere could a castle stand. And through the dust and dirt and danger appeared a figure hauling a large sack. A smile glowed on her face as she joined the other children running towards him.

‘Maya,’ Adnan beamed as she approached, ‘I have just the present for you.’

 

Dedicated to the ‘Syrian Santa’, risking his life to bring toys and hope of a better world to hundreds of Syrian children who, one day, will rebuild their Syria.

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The April Book Fair will again be holding a short story competition and a drawing competition. Details can be found below.

The Award Ceremony will be held on Saturday April 29th at 3pm at the Civic Hall.litfestschoolflier

Here is a picture of the winners from the Christmas Book Fair Story competition December 2016: – Lorna Wright, Theo Dunham and Daisy Ayscough

 

 

Welsh Wednesdays Review: “Cawl” by Siôn Tomos Owen

08 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Art, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, Cawdor Hotel, cawl, craft, discussion, exhibition, Humour, hwyl, Lit Fest Star, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, poetry, Quilts, Rhondda, Saturday, short stories, South Wales, talk, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh writers

cawlI won’t lie to you. When I was summoned for a field trip to search for poets for the Llandeilo Lit Fest, I wasn’t too keen to visit an open mic night in Carmarthen. I’m not great with poetry and I was tired and not in the mood.

To my surprise, this evening turned into one of the best nights out I’ve had in a long time, thanks to organiser Dominic Williams and poet Siôn Tomos Owen.

How better to describe Siôn’s collecion CAWL than this:
‘Good, honest, mean-minded, violent, foul-mouthed stuff’
(Martin Rowson).

Well, maybe not so mean-minded, just a very apt reflection on life in Rhondda, a county that has suffered from the end of coal mining and often feels like a forgotten piece of the country. Siôn Tomos Owen bemoans the harsh living coniditions, the political situation, ignorance of people about Wales, the depressive economic situation and many other things. He does so, however, with a lot of good humour and in shape of satire, comics and appealing poetry, in both Welsh and English.

While there is anger, there is also love and warmth as well as personal sharing of his perspective on life as a father. It is much more rounded than taglines about the collection may suggest. It is also very entertaining.sion

Poignant, witty and reflective, this truly is a Cawl, a mixture of a lot of things that come together nicely and portray Rhondda with honesty, love and realism.

Meet charismatic Siôn and enjoy a reading from his work at the Llandeilo Lit Fest on April 29th
at 4pm at the Horeb Chapel, Cawdor Inn. 

Cawl is Siôn Tomos Owen’s debut full-length collection. Consisting of short stories, poems, essays and cartoons and comics, Cawl is an anthology of one multi-prize winning, funny, angry young man’s creative endeavours and social and political frustrations, by the presenter and cartoonist of S4C’s documentary series Pobl Y Rhondda.

Multi talented Siôn has appeared at the Hay and Laugharne Festivals, BBC Radio 5 Live Poetry Slam and his work been published in several magazines. The publication of Cawl was successfully crowdfunded by publishers Parthian Books with Sion.

‘Siôn Tomos Owen is a down ‘n’ dirty Welsh Robert Crumb, as exhilarating and slightly terrifying as a Saturday night in the rougher parts of Swansea’ ( Martin Rowson, Guardian cartoonist)

Digwyddiad Dwyieithog

Sion Tomos Owen yn darllen ei waith difyr am gymeriadau Cwm Rhondda, Cawl

Dydd Sadwrn 29 Ebrill am 4 o’r gloch yng nghapel Horeb,  y Cawdor

Dewch i gwrdd â Siôn y cartwnydd a’r cyflwynydd carismataidd sydd wedi ein cyflwyno i gymeriadau y Rhondda yn ei gyfres gwych am y cwm ar S4C. Bydd yn darllen  ei gasgliad cyntaf o straeon byrion, cerddi, traethodau a chartwnau.

Mae yr aml-dalentog Siôn wedi ymddangos ynn Ngŵyl y Gelli, Gŵyl Talacharn  ac ar Slam Barddoniaeth Byw BBC Radio 5  ac wedi cyhoeddi mewn nifer o gylchgronau. Llwyddodd I gyhoeddi y gyfrol drwy gymorth crowdfunding a  Parthian Books.

https://twitter.com/sionmun?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Hwyl Llandeilo Lit Fest
April 27 – 30 2017
https://www.gofundme.com/hwyl-llandeilo-litfest
Website: https://llandeilolitfest.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloLitFest/
E-mail:    LlandeiloLitfest@mail.com
Twitter:   @LlandeiloLitfest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llandeilolitfest/

Tocynnau ar gael o ganol Chwefror.
Tudalen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloLitFest/

Gwefan: https://llandeilolitfest.org/

Twitter: @LlandeiloLitFest

 variation1-med

Review: “Inshallah” by Alys Einion #LlandeiloLitFest

07 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, Cawdor Hotel, creative writing, hwyl, Lit Fest Star, literature, literature festival, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, Saturday, short stories, South Wales, talk, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh Fiction, Welsh literature, Welsh writers, workshop, writing tips

One of the perks of organising a literature festival is to read books by potential participants. One of those books was “Inshallah” by Alys Einion, who will be running a workshop at the Llandeilo Lit Fest, Sunday April 30th at 4pm, entitled:

“Improving your writing skills” with Alys Einion

 

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Alys at the Llandeilo Book Fair 2016

Eventbrite - Improving Your Writing Skills with Alys Einion

I was hesitant about the book because of the wide-spread islamophobia in recent times, and only by getting to know Alys closer did I feel re-assured enough that this would not be offensive. And indeed it was far from it.

The story is told by a Welsh woman from the valleys who marries a man from Saudi Arabia and moves there with him. Her naivity about what to expect is soon replaced by the slow realisation that this is going to take some acclimatisation. The differences in culture and gender roles are overwhelming. In her case the husband also turns violent and her only friends are other women, who lead a variety of different lives. Einion brings in enough decent characters to ensure that we see the wife-beater for what he is and religious and gender oppression as not the only thing worth mentioning about life in Saudi Arabia.
There is a huge amount of details about local customs that made this novel interesting on many levels. All fears about the use of negative stereotypes proved unnecessary. Some uncomfortable truths about the experience of Saudi Arabia from a Western perspective cannot be helped, but at its heart the book is really also the coming of age of a woman who develops coping mechanisms and a will to survive. Warmth, friendship and personal reflection distinguish the book from more exploitative adventure novels of similar premises and lift it into the heartland of character development and literary fiction.
Despite some tough going and uncomfortable parts there is much to enjoy.

Alys Einion is an Associate Professor in Midwifery with a PGCE, two Masters degrees, and a PhD in Creative Writing focusing on women’s life writing and the intersection between fact and fiction.

At the Llandeilo Lit Fest Alys will offer tips on how to improve your writing skills, and how to take an idea from initial draft to final manuscript. She will also talk about her experience with creative writing courses and give advice on researching and choosing the right writing course for you.book-cover

The PhD in creative writing is her crowning achievement, as it led to the publication of her first novel, the Kindle bestseller Inshallah published by Honno Press (www.honno.co.uk). The book takes an intimate and uncompromising stance on women and domestic violence, exploring one woman’s experience of family life in a Muslim culture, where her faith, and the women around her, are her saving graces.

She currently teaches on the Bachelor of Midwifery programme, contributes to the Nursing programmes, and contributes to postgraduate programmes in Health and Education. She is the programme leader for the HE Certificate in Maternity Care, and she is an active blogger and writer.  She is proud to be the co-author of a midwifery textbook, and a chapter contributor to other books (including four new books due out in the next year).
She supports colleagues and friends in developing their writing skills and also acts as a Mentor for the Women in Universities Mentoring Scheme. She is co-Chair of the staff LGBT+ network at Swansea University.

In the past she has been a Creative Writing Tutor and also worked for Velvet magazine for five years as marketing officer (unpaid). She worked for 10 years as a freelance copy writer, editor and transcriptionist and is now a member of the Editorial Board of the Practising Midwife Journal and regularly contributes to the journal.15493599_1705935383068582_3746471141021332417_o

 

Gwella eich sigliau ‘sgwennu gyda Alys Einion

Dydd Sul, Ebrill 30 am 4 o’r gloch yn yr Angel

Mae Alys Einion yn fydwraig gyda doethuriaeth mewn ysgrifennu Creadigol.

Bydd Alys yn cynnig canllawiau defnyddiol ar sut i wella eich ysgrifennu creadigol  o’r drafft cyntaf i’r profeln terfynol. Mae ei nofel gyntaf, Inshalla (Gwasg Honno) am fenywod, trais yn y cartref a’r diwylliant Mwslemaidd.

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Hwyl Llandeilo Lit Fest
April 27 – 30 2017
https://www.gofundme.com/hwyl-llandeilo-litfest
Website: https://llandeilolitfest.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloLitFest/
E-mail:    LlandeiloLitfest@mail.com
Twitter:   @LlandeiloLitfest
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/llandeilolitfest/

Tocynnau ar gael o ganol Chwefror.
Tudalen Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LlandeiloLitFest/

Gwefan: https://llandeilolitfest.org/

Twitter: @LlandeiloLitFest

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