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[Media Newswire - Press Release Distribution]For IWP participant Fflur Dafydd, the Welsh language is in her bloodWhy would a writer who grew up bilingual, with one language the most-spoken in the world and the other understood by only 700,000, choose to limit her audience by working primarily in the language spoken by the few rather than the many? For fiction writer and singer/songwriter Fflur Dafydd, a participant in the 2009 University of Iowa International Writing program the answer is simple: Welsh is in her blood.(Media-Newswire.com) - Why would a writer who grew up bilingual, with one language the most-spoken in the world and the other understood by only 700,000, choose to limit her audience by working primarily in the language spoken by the few rather than the many? For fiction writer and singer/songwriter Fflur Dafydd, a participant in the 2009 University of Iowa International Writing program the answer is simple: Welsh is in her blood.( Fflur Dafydd is pronounced fleer DAH-fith. )"I grew up with Welsh-language activists for parents," she said. "They were very much involved in the Welsh Language Society [see http://tiny.cc/YRdmI ]. During the '60s and '70s there were many things that needed to be done. We didn't have bilingual road signs; we didn't have a proper Welsh Language Act; we didn't have Welsh television. So there was a real struggle at that time against English imperialism."Both my parents were imprisoned at different times for their acts. My father was imprisoned for six months when I was a baby for his role in a campaign where 12 people from the Welsh Language Society demolished a transmitting tower because there was no Welsh-language television channel. In the end we did triumph, and my parent's generation achieved quite a bit. We were able to have a bilingual education and we were able to reap the rewards of a new attitude toward bilingualism."So when Dafydd writes and sings in Welsh, her motivations are both literary and political. "Any activism I do it through the work," she said. "The songs are not overtly political, but singing in Welsh is a political decision. I feel that I want to record only in Welsh, I feel that I have something to bring to the Welsh music scene because there are so few of us. I don't think the English language world needs my songs in English in the same way."She has released three albums in Welsh and has performed in Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Finland and the United States. [See http://www.myspace.com/fflurdafydd and http://www.fflurdafydd.com/ for more information on her work.]And yet, because of the encouragement of her publishers and readers, Dafydd's recent writing has become available in English. Her second novel "Atyniad" ( "Attraction" ) was awarded the prose medal at the 2006 National Eisteddfod -- a traditional Welsh competition for writers and musicians -- and is now available in her English "translation" as "20,000 Saints.""It's been a very long journey for this story, and it has gone through several mutations, but the genesis of it was when I spent six weeks on Bardsey Island ( Ynys Enlli in Welsh ) in 2002 as their first-ever writer in residence. It's quite remote. You have to get there by boat; there's not much electricity; there is a very small community living there; it is only two miles across."All sorts of different people are drawn there for different reasons. I found myself being the only artist on the island, but surrounded by people who were interested in a lot of the different aspects of the island -- the archeology, the bird-watching, people who go there for religious reasons. I found this rich tapestry of people and events, and also a real intensity. On one hand you are free and away from the world, but you are also incarcerated, and you can't leave the space. These tensions were a real gift for a writer. The story started with this canvas."I wrote a book that was quite abstract and fragmentary. A collection of different recollections of my experiences on the island, coupled with fictional characters and some real character, and there was real mingling of genres."After winning the prose medal, her Welsh activist spirit convinced her that the book provided an opportunity to educate English-language readers about this iconic location in Wales where, according to myth, 20,000 saints must be buried because of all the religious pilgrims who died there."When I began writing it in English I realized that this kind of fragmentary rhythmic narrative that worked in Welsh perhaps didn't work as well in English because of the difference between the languages," she explains. "English is perhaps cooler and more exact, while Welsh was more passionate. What seemed poetic in Welsh seemed overindulgent in English. The kind of humor I have in Welsh is definitely different because I'm inside the culture -- I poke fun at things that Welsh speakers understand. In English I have a different register for the humor -- more understated. Writing in the two languages is like working with different tools. It's like having these two people inside you and they are influencing each other."That's when I decided to have a little bit of different agenda, and I saw it as a golden opportunity to talk about the Welsh language and what it's like to be a Welsh speaker, and to be in this small country and have the tensions of a small country. So the island in "20,000 Saints" becomes a microcosm of Wales, and how extreme we can get, but also how we interact with each other in creative ways. By the end of it I had a novel double in size with a completely different thread in terms of plot and the emotional development of the characters. It's been a very interesting and rewarding process."The result led to her selection as the Oxfam Emerging Writer of the Year.Her third novel, "Y Llyfgell" ( The Library ), winner of the 2009 David Owen Prize, the top fiction prize in Wales, in going through a similar process, in which the English version will not be so much a translation as a re-imagining in a different language, for different readers.The library in the title is the Welsh National Library, an institution that is another source of national pride.But she is not straying far from her roots: She is simultaneously writing a new collection of short stories in Welsh. "I feel very proud that of all the Celtic languages Welsh is the one that has flourished," she says. "The fact that I am able to live my daily life through the medium of Welsh -- most of the colleagues in my department at Swansea are Welsh-speakers, the people around me are Welsh speakers -- sometimes I forget that it is a minority language. Watching Welsh on television, sometimes you can forget. That for me is a blissful thing that occasionally you forget that not everyone speaks this language."Dafydd, who teaches at the University of Wales at Swansea and also writes poetry and scripts for film and television, is the first writer to attend the IWP through a new partnership with the British Council's UK Writer-in-Residence Program.Biographies of all the 2009 IWP writers are accessible at http://iwp.uiowa.edu/writers/index.html .UI arts events are searchable on the UI Master Calendar: http://calendar.uiowa.edu . For additional arts information, visit http://www.uiowa.edu/artsiowa . To receive UI arts news by e-mail, go to http://list.uiowa.edu/archives/acr-news.html and click the link "Join or Leave ACR News," then follow the instructions.STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Arts Center Relations, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 351, Iowa City, IA 52242-2500MEDIA CONTACT: Winston Barclay, 319-384-0073 ( office ) 319-430-1013 ( cell ), winston-barclay@uiowa.eduBookmark and SharePublished by:Release DateThis story was released on 2009-10-21. Please make sure to visit the official company or organization web site to learn more about the original release date. See our disclaimer for additional information.(c) Media-Newswire.com - All Rights Reserved

I have my CD of Dylan Thomas short stories - A Child's Christmas in Wales, The Outing, and The Tin of Peaches - for sale at $17.50 including shipping. To order or get more information, e mail djholmes@shaw.ca.

David is an AmeriCymru member, a singer-songwriter who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. He was in the running for the 2008 John Lennon Singer-Songwriter of the Year competition and I spammed the crap out of him on here and he shared his song, "Take Us Down" with us all.I got a message on Facebook that David's injured his left hand, which makes performing and playing the guitar especially a bit hard. A benefit concert to raise money for his medical bills and rehabilitation is being done by some of his friends in Nashville: http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/event.php?eid=146192826975 If you like David' music or want to help, go check that out, send him an email and also buy his albums! http://davidllewellyn.com/ He's a good guy, a good musician and I hope he recovers 100%

 

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Singing sensations Only Men Aloud have hit the top note in the classical charts today reaching Number One with their new album Band of Brothers. Todays chart announcement also sees Welsh rock legend Bonnie Tyler receive her first ever classical Number One, following her collaboration on an arrangement of her 80s hit anthem Total Eclipse of the Heart which features on the second album from the Nations favourite choir. The release of Only Men Alouds second album Band of Brothers comes a year on from signing their multi-million pound record deal with Universal/Decca following their victory on BBCs Last Choir Standing last summer. Tim Rhys-Evans, Musical Director of OMA, expressed his delight at the announcement of the albums number one spot This news makes me extremely proud, the boys have worked really hard and they deserve this success. When I was a child I used to wonder how ABBA felt being number one, but now I know how it feels!. Tim added, The publics continued support has been truly outstanding, thank you diolch. In their new album Only Men Aloud go back to their Welsh roots, with traditional anthems such as Land of Our Fathers and Blaenwern. The choir also present interpretations of modern classics such as Somebody to Love, performed with Kerry Ellis who hails from the Queen musical We Will Rock You and has performed as the lead in Wicked in both the West End and Broadway. Demonstrating the choirs eclectic background and tastes, from opera through to rock songs, they are all truly great tunes despite being from varied sources. Tim Rhys-Evans explained From the beginning I wanted this album to represent our wide ranging repertoire. The arrangements have a filmic feel and Only Men Aloud are very proud of Band of Brothers. Also proud of the albums success is legendary Welsh rock icon Bonnie Tyler who, following a performance with the choir at their concert tour in Cardiff International Arena earlier in the year, stepped into the studio with OMA to re-record a new arrangement of her award-winning song Total Eclipse of the Heart. Bonnie Tyler said I am absolutely delighted that the album is Number One in the classical charts, this is a first for me! It just goes to show the strength of Jim Steinmans wonderful song, which can appeal across all genres of music.

Recently we became aware that our network performance was becoming somewhat flaky....constant timeouts and "Ooops that link appears to be broken" messages. Hell of a job to get any work done. I installed Firestarter ( a linux firewall app ) and checked the logs. Sure enough...suspicious activity appearing to emanate from an ISP in Absecon New Jersey called Linode.com. Heres an excerpt from the log:-

Time:Oct 12 07:50:18 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:40782 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 07:50:18 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:40790 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:03:22 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:43731 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:04:04 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:57936 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:13:36 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:57253 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:14:03 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:59380 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:14:13 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:59384 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:14:45 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:59396 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:17:44 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:57256 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:18:04 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:43123 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:19:46 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:57884 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:21:01 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:54621 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:24:02 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:54657 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:25:56 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:54658 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:27:08 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:57888 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:28:11 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:55010 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:29:11 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:55023 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:307 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:41:22 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:56699 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:UnknownTime:Oct 12 08:47:15 Direction: Unknown In:eth0 Out: Port:55300 Source:72.14.177.229 Destination:192.168.1.2 Length:306 TOS:0x00 Protocol:TCP Service:Unknown

Constant and intermittent connection requests on random ports in the 30 - 60,000 range. Highly suspicious! What could it be...an inept portscan, a bungled dos attack? In an effort to find the truth I installed Wireshark, a packet sniffer, and spent several hours scratching a hole in my head trying to establish a pattern in all this random activity. I had already contacted the ISP and informed them that if they didnt take action I was going to refer the whole matter to our legal department ( a.k.a. Gaabriel ). Just as I was about to start emailing law enforcement it struck me I should try one last thing. I googled ' ning linode ' . Turns out that the ning chat server ( or one of them anyway ) is hosted on Linode.com. Please dont tell anyone that I was on the verge of calling the FBI to shop the Ning chat server. I am going into the corner of the room now to cringe with embarassment.

This is what happens to people who stare too long at logfiles.

Many people were saddened when they heard the news that Oceans Apart had broken up recently. Well...the good news is that John Good is back with a new musical venture and a new website. 'Tramor' can be contacted via the website HERE , and I am sure that you will all join us in wishing John the very best with his new venture. Pob lwc John! From the website:- " Tramor (Overseas) is the new traditional music project of John Good. John is well known through out the West, South, Midwest and in his native Wales as a multi-instrumentalist, Welsh piper, singer/songwriter, composer and poet. Veteran of many Celtic festivals and concerts, including Estes Park, Chicago, San Diego and Denver, he brings the subtly different flavor of traditional Welsh music to the stage. Along with friends like mandolin virtuoso Billy Parker and the classically trained mistress of the harp Mary Bouley, a Tramor show is an event not to be missed." Hear John perform 'Of Dogs and Cats Mice and Men' here:- Of Dogs and Cats Mice and Men.mp3

I'm reading this minute a French publication entitled 'Midi Olympique Magazine', dated monday 5 October, apparently Hirwaun is in the heart of the Rhondda Valley at the extreme south-west of the Principality, where all the mines were called the Big Pit, the mine owners were English and every mine had its rugby club. Now I'm on dodgy ground, I don't remember 120 miners dying in an explosion at Hirwaun in 1966, and I don't remember 114 dying in a flood in 1975 at Cymmer, it might have happened; Newport, Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff are the economic lungs of the west coast. They headed towards the Brecon Forest and along the way they stopped at a pub at the side of the road in Trehafod called the 'Royal Oak', which translated from the French means 'Royal Eagle', it is part of an industry that will never know a crisis in Wales, that of hops. Inside the pub they were told a story of a university educated coach who warned the local rugby team of an imminent match against the French who were renowned for their rough play, the miners in the team laughed, they knew all about violence, for hadn't they only recently lost 120 fellow workers in the bowels of the Welsh earth! A customer brought it in to me yesterday and I thought I'd share it with you.Right, let me explain for those non-Welsh amongst you: Hirwaun is not in the Rhondda, is not in the south-west; Big-Pit is not a name for pits in Wales, only one tourist attraction; the biggest mine owner in the Rhondda was David Davies, a Welshman who built Barry docks; not every mine had its rugby club;120 people died in Aerfan, not Hirwaun, in 1966 but not one was a miner; neither Newport, Cardiff, Swansea nor Llanelli is on the west coast; I don't know of a brecon forest; Royal Oak does not translate 'l'Aigle Royal' as for the hops, pubs are closing everywhere; Where did they get this journalist, and did they pay him; didn't they expect anybody to check?

Halloween. It is one of the oldest festivals of all, and represents a curious mixture of many different traditions. The Celts called it Samhain, a festival that provided a boost for people as they entered the long dark winter months, when the countryside seemed dead and the days seemed so short.

Over time it became mixed in with All Saints Day, a day set aside for those poor saints who didnt have a day of their own.

Originally it represented the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a new year. The Welsh term for the festival is Nos Calan Gaeaf - a reference to the beginning of winter. As we all know today it is regarded as a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead become blurred.

A door to another reality opened up briefly and all sorts of horrors spilled out. So bonfires were lit to frighten away the spirits. This was the time in the Welsh tradition when Hwch Ddu Cwta appeared the Black Sow.

They would light bonfires and roast apples (and in later years potatoes) and leap through the flames to bring good luck. Then they would throw stones in the fire and run home to escape Hwch Ddu who would be on the prowl. On the first of November they would return to look for their stone. If they could find it then you were guaranteed good luck for the New Year. If you couldnt then you were facing bad luck, or even death.

Apples played an important part in Samahin because it came at the end of the apple harvest and there were plenty around. Apple bobbing was common. The most successful technique, assuming they had no stalks, was to plunge into the barrel and trap the apple against the bottom. Boys have always been so competitive.

In another apple game, one was tied to a stick suspended from the ceiling with a candle tied to the other. It was spun around and you had to catch the apple with your teeth. How they laughed when someone got a face full of wax.

There was also the Puzzle Jug. It had many spouts and you had to guess which one was correct. Get it wrong and you would be soaked by beer or cider. I bet they could hardly wait for the invention of television.

A lot of the traditions seem to centre upon finding a partner.In Montgomeryshire villages they would make a large vegetable mash in which a ring would be hidden. The local girls would dig into it with wooden spoons. The one who found it would be the first to be married. In Carmarthenshire nine girls would gather together to make a pancake of nine ingredients. They would divide it up into nine pieces and eat it. As a result they would, before morning, have a vision of their future husband. Which may or may not have been a good idea.

In Scotland, as you can see similar traditions outlined in Robert Burns poem Halloween. A girl could eat an apple in front of a mirror and she would see her future husband looking over her shoulder, presumably telling her that the porridge needed stirring.

Alternatively she could hang a wet shirt sleeve in front of the fire to dry and watch it closely. At midnight the spirit of her future partner would appear and turn it round a fascinating idea completely destroyed by the invention of the tumble drier.

Everywhere Halloween has been a time for the universal walking abroad of spirits, a time when the boundaries between our world and the spirit world are momentarily lowered. A time of inversion, when everything was turned upside down. In parts of Wales it became a bit of a cross-dressing festival. Boys and girls would swap clothes and go from home to home, chanting verses and spells and asking for gifts of fruit or nuts which were used to predict the future.

Other boys might dress up in sheepskins and rags and blacken their faces. They were the gwrachod (hags or witches) and they would look for gifts of apples or nuts or beer. Their job was to drive away evil spirits from the home. Clearly an early variation on the theme of trick or treat.

Of course, these days the role of the Trick or Treaters themselves has changed. They are the evil spirits who should be driven away.