Welsh Wednesdays Review: “Cawl” by Siôn Tomos Owen

08 Wednesday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

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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

I 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.

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

Review: “Inshallah” by Alys Einion #LlandeiloLitFest

07 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

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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

Alys at the Llandeilo Book Fair 2016

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.

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.

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.

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

My excursion to the Welsh Quilt Center and the lovely team running it

05 Sunday Feb 2017

Posted by Christoph Fischer in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Art, books, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Carmarthenshire Event, Cawdor Hotel, craft, discussion, exhibition, hwyl, Lit Fest Star, literature, literature festival, Literature set in Wales, litfest, llandeilo, Llandeilo Book Fair, Llandeilo Event, Quilts, Saturday, South Wales, talk, Wales, Welsh Books, Welsh cultural history, Welsh Fiction, Welsh Interest and tagged bookfair, Welsh language, Welsh literature, Welsh Quilts, Welsh social history, Welsh writers

Amongst the perks of organising a Literature Festival are the people you meet and the subjects you get to learn about. Alerted to the huge popularity of Jen Jones and her Welsh Quilt Centre I contacted her publisher Seren and arranged a meeting with Jen at her home.

While speaking about the practicalities of displaying quilts in the Horeb Chapel we soon drifted off topic and spoke about how she got involved in the quilt ‘industry’ and how she went about collecting and promoting them, to make them more than a ‘poor cousin’ of other quilt families.

Jen Jones is a woman with a great story and many equally great minor stories to tell. I could have spent a day in her company and I begin to worry that the slot won’t be enough.

I was amazed at the enthusiasm and knowledge Jen and her assistant demonstrated and time just flew by.

We then went on to see the production of their upcoming exhibition in Lampeter. I had to remind myself that I was here to look at the hanging requirements for the quilts and not the quilts themselves.

I left Lampeter reassured that the event with Jen at the Llandeilo LitFest will be hugely entertaining and informative.

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Jen Jones: Talk about her book “Welsh Quilts” with an exhibition of some of her fine quilt collection

Saturday April 29th
at 11am
in the Horeb Chapel, Cawdor Hotel.

Jen is a leading expert on Welsh quilts and blankets and travels the world giving talks on the subject.

Basing her collection in Llandybydder, Ceredigion, Jen has written a definitive book on the subject, Welsh Quilts, and will discuss both quilts and her book at Llandeilo Lit Fest. This will be fine opportunity to hear about this most fascinating aspect of Welsh social and cultural history.

Jen Jones

Jen Jones yn son am ei llyfr, Welsh Quilts I gydfynd â’r arddangosfa gwiltiau

Dydd Sadwrn, Ebrill 29ain am 11 yng nghapel Horeb, y Cawdor

Jen yw arbenigwraig mwyaf Cymru ar y traddodiad cwiltio ac mae’n teithio y byd yn darlitho ar y pwnc, tra bod pobl o bob cwr o’r byd yn dod I Lanbed I ymweld â’r Oriel Gwiltiau sefydlodd gyda’i diweddar gŵr, Roger.