Recently Rated:
Stats
Category: News
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda from all at the Welsh Government's North American team!
By AmeriCymru, 2016-01-05
A Message From Catrin Brace
Here are some excerpts from the New Year message of the First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones:
“Looking back, 2015 has been another great year for Wales. For a country of just over three million people, we continue year on year to do outstanding things that draw the attention of the world.
“For me, one of our greatest achievements of the year was Wales becoming the first country in the UK to introduce a new system for organ donation.
“Our revolutionary, soft opt out system will save lives; it’s really as simple as that. I’m proud that after so much hard work and effort we’ve been able to achieve this in 2015.
“Growth in our economy continues to outperform the UK as a whole, while increases in employment and decreases in unemployment rates in Wales are among the fastest in the UK. Inward investment is the highest it’s been for 30 years and we have seen major successes in our financial and creative industries sectors this year. Despite this growth, we’re acutely aware of ongoing severe pressures our energy intensive industries are facing and we continue to use all the levers at our disposal to support these important industries.
“Of course you can’t look back at 2015 without mentioning Wales’ sporting achievements. We’ve hosted another Ashes Test, a Rugby World Cup and our national stadium has been announced as the host of the Champions League final in 2017.
“The biggest sporting achievement of the year was the Wales football team reaching their first major finals since 1958.
“So looking forward to 2016, the Welsh Government will continue to work tirelessly for Wales. We’ll support our valuable public services, continue to build a health system; education system and economy the people of Wales can be proud of.
“We’ll never take out foot off the pedal, we’ll always fight Wales’ corner, striving for the best. The people of Wales deserve nothing less.”
Happy New Year from all at the Welsh Government’s North American team
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Catrin Brace
AmeriCymru spoke to New Welsh Review/Reader editor, Gwen Davies about the re branding and the magazines future direction.
Gwen: New Welsh Review , is a literary and cultural magazine working across Wales with eleven publication dates in different formats including print, app, epub and online, through the media of text, photography, video, audio, graphic poetry and animation. This national magazine with international readership and horizons has contributors including Terry Eagleton, Michael Longley, Patricia Duncker, Stevie Smith, Jem Poster, Richard Gwyn, Rory MacLean and Tessa Hadley. Our USPs are that we publish newcomers alongside established writers, are highly professional, develop the work of students and emerging writers, and that we pay contributors. We rebranded in May 2015 to publish creative work and literary essays in the New Welsh Reader (print, app and epub formats), and to publish reviews and comment in the New Welsh Review (online only).
AmeriCymru: Where can American readers go to read more or subscribe?
https://www.newwelshreview.com/
https://www.newwelshreview.com/newsub.php
AmeriCymru: With regard to the recent name change / re branding...what is new in Welsh Reader? Has there been a change of focus?
Gwen: The emphasis, noted above, of creative work in New Welsh Reader, has been appreciated by readers who perhaps aren't so interested in reviews or like to get their reviews more quickly online. Our readers tell us that highlighting our creative work – poetry, creative nonfiction, short stories, novel previews, illustration, photography, graphic books and longer literary essays – in this way gives this type of work more status and room for contemplation, which print, in particular, favours. Publishing eight online supplements of reviews and comment allows us to respond more quickly to new books and topical issues without worrying about the production process. These supplements are published under the old umbrella, New Welsh Review. This move, of course, also saves money in a climate of public funding cuts.
AmeriCymru: What, for you are the highlights of the latest edition of New Welsh Reader?
Gwen: As it happens, am American contributor, Peter E Murphy www.murphywriting.com , whose essay is a fictionalised family memoir about his family's connections to Wales. His father and grandfather, longshoremen Eddie and Teddy Murphy, were billeted together in Newport and Belgium during the Normandy landings. Teddy was a nasty piece of work and Eddie was a tall-tale-teller of the first order. Other highlights in our autumn edition are former British serving officer Daniel Jones' story about an Afghanistan posting, and newcomer Crystal Jeans' dirty urban story about how a mother's sexual fantasy of Bukowski propels her to seduce the local alcoholic tramp: 'I lean over to my knicker drawer and pull out a condom. Bukowski wouldn't use a condom. Or he would, but right at the end he'd yank it off, sink his d*** back in and say, "You can have my seed and like it, you w****.' But you can take something too far.'
AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about the New Welsh Writing Awards program. Are there any upcoming publication plans? What will be the theme for next year?
Gwen: To elaborate on the rebranding you mentioned above. We rebranded around the term 'New Welsh' since that encapsulates all our work, and we have further sub-brands of the New Welsh Writing Awards which this year ran under the banner of writing for nature and the environment and was sponsored by WWF Cymru with further support from CADCentre (a software company working with early school leavers) and writing centres Ty Newydd and Gladstone's Library in north Wales.
The Awards' USP is that it celebrates essays or books of at least 10,000 words and part of the prize is publication in Kindle ebook form. Our fourth brand is New Welsh Rarebyte which is our new ebook imprint and publishes the winner of our writing award, this year (publishing on 15 October) 26-year old Eluned Gramich's Woman Who Brings the Rain , A Memoir of Hokkaido, Japan. It's available for pre-order internationally here as a Kindle ebook via Amazon. We are currently seeking sponsors to run next year's Awards, either from commerce or from education as we are looking into the possibility of combining work on the Awards with a university placement programme that would give experience to students, either with a literature background or in business or marketing, to work on a large event such as running a prize and ceremony. We hope that we will get enough funding next year to run an extra category, so that would be nature and the environment as before plus memoir. The prize should interest expats with a Welsh connection as our Terms & Conditions welcome international entries by people who were born in Wales or educated here.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Gwen: The publishing climate for journalism is very hard as we are hit five times over by the change in reading patterns caused by the internet, ie people accessing free stuff; writers having become willing to publish their work for free, thus undermining their own value and that of curated publications who see payment as part of the professional service they offer; the democratisation of the internet which, despite its many positive points does undermine the old hierarchy of choice and curation which publishers offer; the feedback and sense of community offered to writers by social media which used to be provided by magazines and authors' societies, and, finally, the current British austerity climate which has led to public funding cuts in the arts as elsewhere. We really do feel, in respect of our current mix of subscriber-exclusive and free-to-view content, that we are sucking it and seeing. We don't know how things will develop, how much will people pay to read in future in a world in which originally only very few of the big newspapers opted for the paywall model.
At New Welsh Review, however, we have been working creatively to track down alternative funding sources. Mainly this has been with the institution in which we are physically housed, our host and sponsor Aberystwyth University, to create a student work placement scheme producing a multimedia programme that provides us with audio and visual features, clips, reviews, interviews and creative showcases that exercise the students' skills in research, presentation, camerawork, editing, performed reading, animation, graphics, getting on with authors and working as a team as well as being responsive to an editor's demands and real-time deadlines. This relationship gives us a home and allows us to pay and develop the skills of a greater range of contributor. For the university, it ticks their employability boxes. To AmeriCymru I would humbly ask: does anyone want to sponsor an exciting Awards scheme and/or work with us to replicate our student placement model over the pond? Last year, during the Dylan Thomas centenary, many Americans learned of or visited the many beautiful west Wales locations associated with the poet. In Aberystwyth we are just down the coast from Laugharne and New Quay. If you would like to sponsor or develop any of the ideas outlined above to further strengthen the links of Wales and the US, and to put our mutual traditions of great writing on both our maps, contact me at editor[at]newwelshreview.com.
Best selling travel writer Rory MacLean to judge New Welsh Writing Awards 2016: University of South Wales Prize for Travel Writing
By AmeriCymru, 2015-12-20
In Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, The Life and Death of a Warrior Prince , Llywelyn narrates his own life story and the attempt to free Wales from English hegemony.
His life and death has always confronted us with a puzzling contradiction - he was the only Welsh leader to be officially recognised by the English as Prince of Wales, yet, within a year of his death, Wales lay crushed beneath the iron heel of the rapacious English.
The author Peter Gordon Williams was born in Merthyr Tydfil. A mathmatics graduate, he served for two years in the RAF before pursuing a career as a teacher in further and higher education. The author has already published four novels, including very well-received novel on the life of Owain Glyndŵr in 2011.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, The Life and Death of a Warrior Prince by Peter Gordon Williams (£6.95, Y Lolfa) is available now.
December 11-27, 2015 – 17 Performances more details here
Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Now in its 45 th year, The Christmas Revels is an annual theatrical celebration of the Winter Solstice that features traditional music, dance, rituals and folk plays. Each year a new culture is explored. This year we’re traveling to Wales!
Set in a village not too different than the one described in Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales this year's Christmas Revels takes a leap into the past to access the world of Celtic legend and song. We'll spin tales of shape-changers and dragons, of ghostly white horses and of the little wren — king of the birds, enjoy rich Welsh anthems, wild border Morris, a traditional mummers play, and lots of audience participation — a Revels hallmark.
Please join us at one of our 17 family performances as we celebrate a Revels Christmas in Wales!
Christmas Revels on WCVB:- Sounds And Sights Of The Season
Wales Lacrosse Denver, Colorado 2014 - An Interview With Coach Dan Funnell
By AmeriCymru, 2015-12-02
OK... so the US is out of the World Cup and Wales didn't make it this time around BUT there is another international sporting event coming up soon in which Wales will most definitely be represented. The Welsh Lacrosse team landed in the USA on Wednesday for the 2014 World Lacrosse Championships in Denver Colorado. We sincerely hope that AmeriCymru members in or near Denver will turn out to support the team details here . If you dont live in Colorado you can watch Wales play live on ESPN. Their first televised match is against New Zealand on July 13th schedule here AmeriCymru spoke to team coach, Dan Funnell about this years competition and the squad which will fly the flag for Wales. AmeriCymru: Can you tell us something about the history of the team? How did there come to be a Welsh lacrosse team and how did you become involved with it? Dan: Lacrosse has been played in Wales since the early 1900s and has grown steadily until the last decade when development has accelerated. The first national side was selected in 1992 and our first full international was a defeat to Scotland – but the game has been played in Wales since the early 1900s.
Dan: We have picked a 23-man squad who age from 18 to 36-years-old and they are all either employed or students. Each one has had to train in their spare time and fund their own travel and accommodation in Denver while taking holiday from their jobs. The sport is totally amateur in Wales and the UK. Some of our players have played at other World and European Championships but for several this will be a totally new experience. Our co-captains are attacker Paul Simpson, Steve McDermott, a midfielder, and Jason Jones, a defender, who have all played in previous World Championships. But watch out for midfielders Rhodri Stanford, whose younger sister Non is World Triathlon Champion, and Dave Howie.
AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about the other teams in the Plum Division? Has Wales played any of them before?
AmeriCymru: What date(s) will Wales play and which team will be their first opponent?
Dan: Our first game will be against Russia at Field 3 at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Park at 9.30 a.m. on Friday, July 11 . We then play Argentina on Field 8 at 11.30 on Saturday 12 and finish the Group games on Sunday, July 13, against New Zealand on Field 10 at 8 am .
Logic Puzzle: You are on your way across the Rhinogs to Maentwrog. You come to a crossroads in the mist. You must turn left or right.
Two members of the infamous local Davies family ( Dai & Idris ) are standing at the T junction. There are 2 brothers. One of them always tell the truth and the other always lies. You ask, "Which way is Maentwrog?"
Dai Davies spits his chawin baccy into the dirt and says "Left"
Idris, draining his can of Wrexham Lager, says "No it's not"
After a pause Idris adds "At least one of us is telling the truth"
Which way do you go and why?
( There is a correct answer and there is no trick....it is pure logic )
Puzzle adapted from King Arthur In Search of His Dog by Raymond M. Smullyan
The Welsh poetry competition organisers have announced the winners of their international competition. The overall winner was Kathy Miles for her poem"
‘There was a very high standard this year so it was a challenge to select the winning entries. The styles were varied but whether they were rhyming, non-rhyming, short, or long, what matters most is that these poems were written by people with heartfelt thoughts and feelings about the world around them. ‘Whether they were big names in the literary world, or new and unpublished writers, each entry was judged anonymously and the winners chosen purely on merit. This has to be the most fair and genuinely open competition in the UK. It's little wonder that its popularity is spreading and so many people from right around the world had decided to enter this year.’ said John Evans, competition judge.
The winners were as follows:
1st Prize – The Pain Game by Kathy Miles
2nd Prize – Albatross by Robert Marsland
3rd Prize – Remembrance: All Hallows by Eluned Rees
John also choose another seventeen poems for the ‘specially commended’ section with winners from all over Wales and the UK, as well as from USA and Australia, which once again highlights the fact that the Welsh Poetry Competition is a truly international event. All winning poems and judges’ comments can be viewed on the competition web site – www.welshpoetry.co.uk
‘The overall standard was once again excellent and this year more than any other we've seen a very high quality batch of entrants. We’ve also had poets enter from every corner of the globe.
To get involved with next years’ competition, buy the anthology or just keep up to date with what we are doing you just need to visit The Welsh Poetry Competition web site, join our mailing list, Facebook group or follow us on Twitter.
Competition Web site - www.welshpoetry.co.uk
Competition Judge – www.johnevans.org.uk
Organiser Web site – www.david-lewis.co.uk
AmeriCymru has more than 3800 site members and many thousands of additional followers on Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms. There are more than 4000 blog posts on AmeriCymru. Every site member has their own blog accessible from their home page.
What are the advantages of blogging on AmeriCymru?
- Access to our membership. If we like your post we may feature it and or send it to all our members in a broadcast email.
- Access to our followers on other social networks. Good quality posts will be shared on major social platforms.
- Help with layout and formatting. We are always willing to help make your post look better. Simply ask and we will assist.
What type of content are you looking for?
- You may post anything with some Welsh or Welsh American relevance or anything that will help to promote Wales or Welsh culture.
- If you are seeking to promote an event, book, cd or other product please feel free to include links or banner ads.
- If you blog on Welsh topics elsewhere and would like us to help promote your blog please feel free to "snippet" your posts on AC with a link back to your full post.
How do I contact you?
- Join the site (see panel below) and leave a message on your new profile page.
- Email us with any questions at americymru@gmail.com.
- If you are on Facebook 'like' our page at AmeriCymru-West Coast Eisteddfod and message us there.
There had been no sound whatsoever ever since a solitary crow had given up its unashamed, tuneless mockery; his final thoughts on the day fade-echoing into evening. There had been no movement to mention either, save the almost swirl of mist and the occasional bovine coming briefly into sleepy focus before browsing back into the ambient haze. With the final glimmerings of day, you wouldn’t have been sure, and the eventide might have been playing tricks on your senses–the locals would have said it was the Tylwth Teg , the Welsh elves again–but the hint of a frail, grey, hooded figure seemed to flow as lightly as a light, late, evening breeze, ghosting in, out and under the canopy of leaves and encroaching undergrowth along the forest edge. Then the wraith would dissolve into nothingness, only to reassemble, all the while sidling obliquely for the manner. But … maybe not, the whole vision–trees, mist, house et al–quickly and silently faded to moonless indigo then black; only a halo of pale lantern light next to the ivy-shadowed door suggested any kind of responsive life at all.
John and Alys were sitting near a cheerful, reassuring fire that scattered red, yellow and gold fingers of light onto their concerned faces; the lively, crackling wood and flickering flame in deep contrast to their studied silence ...
.......to be continued. Check back on Glyndwr Day (September 16th) for the full story.
