The Welsh Books Council is delighted to confirm that a special book to celebrate World Book Day is to be published for the first time ever in Welsh.

Na, Nel! Un Tro by Meleri Wyn James, illustrated by John Lund, will be published by Y Lolfa in time for World Book Day celebrations on 1 March 2018. The book will be part of the official World Book Day activities in Wales, which is supported by the Welsh Government and Waterstones. This will be the first time that a Welsh-language book has been included in the range of special £1 books that are published annually as part of the UK-wide campaign.

Angharad Sinclair, Reading Promotions Project Manager for the Welsh Books Council, said, 'It’s such a pleasure to include a Welsh-language book for the first time for World Book Day. I’m sure children across Wales will enjoy reading about Nel’s next adventure! The Na Nel! series is extremely popular and proves that original series can hold their own and sell really well.'

Garmon Gruffudd, Managing Director of Y Lolfa, said, 'We’re delighted to be part of this pioneering scheme. Nel is well established as one of Wales’s most popular characters and we hope that this will be a further boost to the series.'

The book will follow the adventures of Nel, the mischievous girl who appears in the popular Na, Nel! series. It will capture the fun and playfulness of the stories and encourage children to go on to read the other books in the series. In the new book, Nel will cast herself in the middle of the story once again and show how mischief follows her, wherever she goes

'I’ve loved reading and writing since I was a child, and now I love reading with my own children and sharing the Na, Nel! stories with young readers all over Wales. It’s an honour that Nel’s original adventures have been chosen as the first Welsh-language book to be part of World Book Day this year' said author Meleri Wyn James, 'I hope that children will seize the opportunity to buy Nel’s latest adventure for a £1, and that it will encourage them to read more of Nel’s stories and to dip into the wealth of Welsh books which are available to children today.'

Meleri Wyn James is an experienced author and editor and has published over 25 books for children, young people and adults. Since 2014 she has been responsible for creating a number of adventures for Nel, the mischievous little girl.

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. World Book Day is a partnership of publishers, booksellers and interested parties who work together to promote books and reading for the personal enrichment and enjoyment of all. A main aim of World Book Day in the UK and Ireland is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.

In Wales, the campaign is coordinated by the Welsh Books Council and supported by the Welsh Government and Waterstones.

Additionally, a brand new production by Theatr Arad Goch, which is a stage adaptation of the popular books by Meleri Wyn James, will visit theatres around Wales during the summer of 2018. Na, Nel! Wwww! travels to 17 theatres across Wales between May and July with a new, original story by the author, bringing the popular characters alive on stage for the first time.

A new colourful activity book will be published to coincide with the show, Na Nel!: Waw!, which will encourage children to use their imagination and is full of Nel’s usual fun and laughter.

Na, Nel! Un tro... by Meleri Wyn James (£1, Y Lolfa) is available now.

Friday 9th February 2018

The day celebrates all forms of Welsh Language music and it’s easy to tune in and discover something you’ll love. Music comes to life when it’s experienced live and free events aimed at gig goers, parents and children, young people, students and businesses are happening all across the country organised by promoters including Sŵn, BBC Horizons, Forté Project and Clwb Ifor Bach.

Will you be organising an event?

• Get in touch on cymraeg@gov.wales to let us know!
• Change your hold music to your favourite Welsh songs
• Play Dydd Miwsig Cymru’s 2018 playlists in your workplace
• J oin in on social media by tweeting or sharing the music you and your coworkers like using #DyddMiwsigCymru #WelshLanguageMusicDay
  
• Display the Dydd Miwsig Cymru sticker in your window
• Put on a gig or event for your staff

AmeriCymru will be celebrating Dydd Miwsig Cymru (Welsh Language Music Day) this Friday 9 th ofFebruary by playing playlists, sharing their favourite songs, playing Welsh music in the office all day!.

Whether you’re into indie, rock, punk, funk, folk, electronica, hip hop or anything else, there’s incredible music being made in the Welsh language for you to discover- that’s the message from Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens as he urges people and places across Wales to get involved and find their favourite new sound on the third Welsh Language Music Day (Friday 9th February 2018).

The day celebrates all forms of Welsh Language music and it’s easy to tune in and discover something you’ll love. Music comes to life when it’s experienced live and free events aimed at gig goers, parents and children, young people, students and businesses are happening all across the country organised by promoters including Sŵn, BBC Horizons, Forté Project and Clwb Ifor Bach.

BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens, ambassador for the day, said: “Whatever you're into, Dydd Miwsig Cymru is a day to help you discover music you'll love. You may already be listening to Welsh language music, or maybe you haven’t listened to it for years. There's incredible music of almost every genre, all being made in the Welsh language - there’s even some great playlists to share with your friends and family who may not be listening to Welsh language music. Try something and you might just find your favourite new sound.”

The day is a part of the long-term vision to see a million people speaking and using Welsh by 2050.

Spread the love and the music by using the hashtag

#DyddMiwsigCymru    #WelshLanguageMusicDay .

Free digital packs with information on how to be part of the day are available at

http://cymraeg.gov.wales/DyddMiwsigCymru/Cynnwys/0.0CefnogiDyddMiwsigCymru/?lang=en

and further information is available by emailing Cymraeg@gov.wales.

Playlists can be found at http://cymraeg.gov.wales/DyddMiwsigCymru/Cynnwys/Playlists/?lang=en .

Follow @cymraeg on Twitter, Facebook and Instagr am for the latest details on plans for the day.

An original Welsh language children’s book has been selected for an exciting Welsh Government initiative to promote literacy in the most deprived areas of Wales.

Geiriau Cyntaf Cyw by Helen Davies (Y Lolfa) was chosen as the successful book after the Welsh Books Council was asked to be part of the tendering process to supply 10,000 copies of a Welsh title as part of the Flying Start programme.

Flying Start is part of the Welsh Government’s early years programme for families with children under four years of age living in disadvantaged areas of Wales. As well as providing childcare, an enhanced health visiting service and access to parenting programmes, it also provides parents with support in regards to speech, language and communication.

Evidence shows that speech, language and communication ability is an important predictor of later progress in literacy and has an impact on social skills as well as behaviour of children.

The successful title had to be a Welsh language picture book for pre-school children - preferably with a Welsh theme.

Geiriau Cyntaf Cyw (Cyw’s First Words) is a colourful picture-word book presenting a simple vocabulary in various locations such as the garden, farm and seaside. It was originall published in cooperation with S4C and Boom Pictures Cymru. It is suitable for children who are attending nursery or for young children aged between 3 and 5 years old.

‘The Lolfa is very proud that Flying Start has chosen one of the Cyw books for the scheme,’ said Garmon Gruffudd, managing director of Y Lolfa, ‘I hope, as a result, that parents will find more of the great original books that are available to children in Welsh.’

I am delighted that this book, which has received Welsh Government support via the Welsh Books Council's grant scheme, was chosen for Flying Start’ added Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Welsh Books Council, ‘It will give children and parents living in Wales access to an authentic Welsh book originated entirely in Wales and hopefully contribute to lifelong enjoyment of reading.’

Copies will be distributed around Wales as part of the scheme by the beginning of February.

AmeriCymru:  Hi and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. How did the band come by its name?

Shaun:   Within our group of friends we’ve got some unique slang words. For instance, when others would say “fancy a cigarette?” we would say “wanna Keith?”. Tate is another one of these words, but we can’t tell you what it means. Liam got dangerously close to spilling the beans on national radio once though.

AmeriCymru:  When was the band formed?

Shaun:   Officially, The Tates got together, as you know us, sometime in 2015, but the bands formation was inevitable since sometime between the late 70’s and mid 80’s when mine and Liam’s dads were in bands such as the ‘Dogs of War’ together. Liam’s dad, the legendary guitar guru, Vince, is in fact my godfather. Jac grew up with us too, which is lucky as his keyboard skills are unbelievable! Tom and Matt befriended Liam in school. They were renowned for their song writing skills quite early on, and spent most of their academic effort loitering in the music department. Liam saw their talents and started jamming with them, playing around with the idea of being a band before Liam told myself and Jac that the time had come, we were fulfilling our destiny and forming The Tates.

AmeriCymru:  What can you tell us about your single 'Water'. The lyrics are intriguing and I'm sure many of our readers would love to know more.

Tom: Water is ultimately a track that plays with the question whether we are the subjects of our environment, our upbringing, of the people and things around us, or are we born the way we are, subject to our innate responses and our genetics given to us by two people in a shared instance, our mother and father. Are the flaws that we share with our parents who we are, or have we learned them. Are we free to be the people we want to be or are we trapped by our genetic make up and our immediate environment and society. Water asks these questions in the form of a brief description of two people's circumstance from their own perspective. of a woman, timid and in a relationship where she fears her partner. And of another, a man, afraid to be open, to feel and to commit. Where do these anxieties and fears derive from, water asks us to contemplate this and to understand the complexities of a person's decisions.

AmeriCymru:  You have been compared to, amongst others, MGMT and early New Order. How do you feel about these comparisons and who would you say are your major influences?

Shaun: It’s always great to be compared to big artists, even if they’re not our cup of tea! Makes us feel we’re doing something right if our music reminds people of artists who have made it. Of course we love the comparisons to MGMT and New Order, both bands we love. We used to do a mean live cover of Blue Monday !

I think each of us in the band would list different artists as major influences. I myself love a mixture of 80s and contemporary pop stuff which influences my drumming. Stuff like Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Foals, The 1975. I love anything synth too, The Human League, Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Chvrches, Kavinski. A few of the guys love the 90’s too. Stuff like Libertines, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Oasis. I think having such a wide variety of influences is really advantageous as we can draw from all of them and create something new and unique.

AmeriCymru:  What can you tell us about the music scene in Carmarthen? Do you think that the Welsh music scene generally is thriving at the moment?

Shaun: The music scene in Carmarthen is buzzing. Gruff has really created something special with Libertino Records and put the town on the map. It’s really given bands and artists the opportunity to be heard and taken seriously. Awesome bands like Los Blancos, Argraph, Adwaith and Hotel Del Salto. We have to give a shout out to another of Carmarthen's successes, our friends, Dream State. They’re absolutely smashing it at the moment, having just signed with Australian label UNFD, played Reading and Leeds this year, getting full page spreads in Kerrang magazine and playing next year’s Download. Everyone in Wales should be really proud of them.

It was looking pretty bleak for the Welsh music scene earlier this year with the threat of closures for venues in the heart of the capital, but the successful “Save Womanly Street” campaign has turned that around completely. The music scene in Wales is now more vibrant than ever, which was made evident at this year’s Swn fest Discovery Day, which we opened. It really was a showcase of all of the outstanding music we have in Wales. If we had to name a few of our favourite Welsh artists right now, outside of Libertino, it’d have to be Boy Azooga, Chroma, Estrons, Monico Blonde and Rainbow Maniac.

AmeriCymru:  Where can people go to hear/buy your music online?

Shaun:   Anywhere, everywhere! Here’s a handy little link that’ll show you all the places you can find it. https://song.link/TheTates Water

AmeriCymru:  What's next for the Tates? Any gigs/new recordings in the pipeline?

Shaun:   We’ve just come out of the studio with our amazing producer, Steffan Pringle, tracking our next two singles. He’s an absolute wizard when it comes to making our tracks sound the best that they can and we just love hanging out with him too. We plan on releasing more tracks in 2018 than we did in 2017 which should be fun and will be announcing some live dates soon too.

AmeriCymru:  Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Shaun:   Just to say thank you for all the support for the music scene in Wales and please keep it up. We couldn’t do it without you. Let us know what you think of our new single ‘Water’ on twitter, facebook , email, letter, however. It’s always great to get feedback and we love hearing from people. Maybe it’ll make a perfect Christmas present for someone you know. Merry Christmas, Shaun x

Welsh comic Mellten is looking for the next generation of cartoonists by giving young children the chance to create their own cartoon character or cartoon strip in a big competition that is launched this week. As part of the 2018 World Book Day celebrations , the Welsh Books Council are running a competition with Mellten – a quarterly Welsh-language comic for children, bringing together stories, jokes, puzzles and competitions.

The prize for the winning entry will be an original piece of artwork by Mellten creator, Huw Aaron and a Family Ticket to Hay Festival 2018. The strip will also feature in the next issue of the comic! There is also a prize available for the winning school – a workshop with Huw Aaron himself.

The competition is open to all and you competitors can choose to complete the Capten Clonc cartoon strip included in the seventh issue of Mellten or create a totally new character or cartoon.

The competition closes on the 31 ^st of March and the names of the winners will be announced in April. Competitors are asked to send their work to cllc.plant@books.wales or through the post to – “Mellten Competition” , Welsh Books Council, Castell Brychan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 2JB.

‘'We are delighted to be working with Mellten and y Lolfa on this competition and give the children and young people of Wales the chance to get their imagination going by creating a new cartoon character or strip,’ said Angharad Wyn Sinclair, Reading Promotions Project Manager, ‘What better way to celebrate World Book Day this year than by reading the latest issue of Mellten and trying out in this competition? We look forward to seeing the various creations!’

‘The seventh issue is a great example of encouraging children to create and use their imaginations,’ says Huw Aaron, ‘We at Mellten are very eager to help and develop children’s creative talent. I myself especially want to see the next generation of cartoonists creating their own comics in the future.’

‘The creative talent is certainly there but children need the opportunity to showcase their talents’ he added.

In the pages of the seventh issue Gwil Garw discovers himself in a bit of trouble, Bloben discovers its affection for Cyw and Iola is preparing to race at the Space Rally competition.

There will be more stories from the shadows as the storyteller tells the story of Pontarfynach’s mysterious bridgge, the Allwedd Amser mystery will continue while poor Boc is missing on the farm and the animals are all on the run.

Aimed at children between 7 and 13, Mellten is the first original Welsh language comic in decades. The next issue will appear in March. Individual issues are available or it is possible to subscribe for £8 a year via the website, schools or local bookshops.

The seventh issue of Mellten (£2, Y Lolfa) is available now.

The secret history of the forgotten cinemas of west Wales has been rediscovered this week. Most of the cinema and picture houses of west Wales – from Barmouth in Gwynedd to Llanelli in Carmarthenshire – have long since disappeared, been demolished or converted to other uses. The Cinemas of West Wales by Alan Phillips records where they were, gives descriptions of their interiors and programmes, and includes over a hundred photographs of what they looked like then, and now.

In Wales construction of most cinemas took place in 1910 and 1911, although a number of buildings had been converted into cinemas before that.

‘In days gone by a weekly visit to the “flicks” was as common as watching the television is today. It was an adventure and one of the few modes of entertainment available,’ said author Alan Phillips, ‘It was a chance to step back in time or to the future, a chance to forget daily toils and, for an hour or two, be transported to a make-believe world’.

Wales had its own film pioneers, such as John Codman, son of the Llandudno pier Punch and Judy man, who travelled throughout north Wales with his magic lantern living picture show. Then there was Arthur Cheetham who filmed day-to-day scenes throughout the country for the purpose of showing them at venues across most of Wales. He eventually settled in Rhyl and in 1906 established the Silvograph Animated Pictures - the first permanent cinema in Wales.

But, by the 1960s the advent of television and increased running costs caused cinema attendances to decline and several went into financial difficulty.

‘Times have changed now,’ added Alan, ‘Some cinemas or theatres were converted into bingo halls or were used for other uses, such as supermarkets, or eventually demolished. Today several cinemas have been taken over by J.D. Wetherspoon pubs, and they have retained the décor to give us a glimpse of their former glory days’.

There are still some independent cinemas left in Wales, mostly run by local authorities with the help of volunteers. Over the years the Welsh Government has supported the venues with grants from the European Development Fund which have enabled the cinemas to invest in modern equipment such as digital projectors.

As well as being a former cinema projectionist himself, Alan notes that his motivation behind the book were ‘more than anything seeing the number of cinemas that have closed throughout Wales since the 1960s’.

Alan Phillips studied history at University College of Wales, Swansea, before joining the RAF. He worked as a cinema projectionist with the Kinema Corporation and later with the Ministry of Defence.

The Cinemas of West Wales by Alan Phillips (£6.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

We are extremely pleased and proud to announce that Distinguished Concerts International have made available a pair of tickets for the forthcoming Karl Jenkins concert in New York at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall on Monday, January 15th, 2018. The program includes Sing! The Music was Given , a new work commissioned for DCINY’s 10th Anniversary, and The Armed Man , which is presented with film. Read our (2010) interview with Karl Jenkins here

We are offering these tickets as a QUIZ PRIZE on Americymru!

Just answer the three easy quiz questions below ( answers can all be found on Wikipedia ) and send them to us at americymru@gmail.com ( all email addresses will be deleted when the competition closes ). We'll throw all the entries in a hat and pick the winner! Please email us by Tuesday, January 10th, 2018 no later than 9 PM ( Pacific Time ). Tickets will be ready at will call on 1/15 at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall; the winner will just need to bring a photo ID.

Only one entry per email address is permitted. Duplicates will be disqualified. You do not need to be an AmeriCymru member or logged into the site in order to enter this competition.

If you don't win the competition, please do not despair. DCINY is very kindly offering a 30% discount code for AmeriCymru readers. The code is DCC27599 and it can be used online, over the phone, or in person at Carnegie Hall

Karl Jenkins Quiz

1. What are Karl Jenkins middle names?
2. When is Karl's birthday and what year was he born?
3. At which Welsh university did Karl study music?

​MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2018 at 7:00 PM

Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

The Music of Sir Karl Jenkins: A DCINY Tenth Anniversary Celebration

DCINY honors UK composer Sir Karl Jenkins with an evening comprised of both new and lauded compositions by the honoree. The program includes Sing! The Music was Given , a new work commissioned for DCINY’s 10th Anniversary, and The Armed Man , which is presented with film. The performance is conducted by Jonathan Griffith , DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, and features Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International.

PROGRAM

ALL-KARL JENKINS PROGRAM
KARL JENKINS: The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace (with film)
KARL JENKINS - Sing! The Music was Given (New Work Premiere; Commissioned by DCINY Premiere Project)

PERFORMERS

Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Sir Karl Jenkins, DCINY Composer-in-Residence
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International
Tickets $20-$100!
On Sale Now!

Visit CarnegieHall.org or call 212-247-7800
Box Office: 57th Street and Seventh Avenue
Senior and Student Discounts Available at the Box Office with ID
For Group Tickets, VIP Packages, Discounts, and More, e-mail boxoffice@DCINY.org

Ticket Link: The Music Of Karl Jenkins
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