Blogs
AmeriCymru spoke with Mari Griffith author of 'The Witch of Eye' BUY THE BOOK HERE "Eleanor Cobham, the beautiful but unpopular Duchess of Gloucester, is proud of her hard-won status among the English aristocracy. She has used every trick in the book to entrap her royal husband, Humphrey of Gloucester, uncle to King Henry VI who is unmarried and childless...." read more here
AmeriCymru: A year or so ago, when we interviewed Mari Griffith on the publication of her debut novel 'Root of the Tudor Rose', she promised that Americymru readers would be among the first to know about her new novel. And are we, Mari?
Mari: Yes, absolutely! You're certainly among the first because the book has only recently been published. And, by the way, thank you for inviting me back - it's a pleasure to be here.
AmeriCymru: Now, this is your second novel, isn't it, so just before we hear all about it, can you tell us whether the first one did well?
Mari: Very well, I'm pleased to say, particularly in the US which I wasn't really expecting. But perhaps that had a little bit to do with this very web site - who knows?! And I was particularly pleased by its success because Root of the Tudor Rose was a story woven around the little-known Welsh origins of the Tudor dynasty. Essentially it was about the clandestine love affair between Catherine de Valois, the widow of King Henry V and the Welshman Owain ap Maredydd ap Tudur. I was filled with a missionary zeal to point out that the most famous dynasty in English history wasn't really 'English' at all - there was a strong element of Welsh in there, too.
AmeriCymru: And is the second book a sequel to it?
Mari: No, not exactly and neither does it have any particular Welsh flavour though it does continue the story of one or two of the characters we've already met, particularly Eleanor Cobham who became the Duchess of Gloucester during the course of the first book.
AmeriCymru: So what made you want to write this one?
Mari: Because it's such an astounding story. Let me give you a flavour of it ... and perhaps giving you the title is a good place to start. It's called The Witch of Eye and it's the story of the events leading up to the most sensational treason trial of the fifteenth century. Now, the Duke of Gloucester, who was so very nasty to Owen Tudor in the first book, is heir to the throne of his young nephew, King Henry VI. The king is a troubled teenager, spotty and a bit dim, who is by no means suited to the position he's inherited as supreme sovereign of England and France. To the Duchess of Gloucester's way of thinking, her husband, Humphrey, would make a far, far better King of England. She also realises that if anything should happen to King Henry, then her own husband would inherit the throne and she, Eleanor, would become Queen of England. A delicious prospect and she becomes obsessed with it!
AmeriCymru: Don't tell me she tried to bump him off!
Mari: Who, the King? No, not exactly, but she did gather around her a group of advisers, some of whom could interpret certain astral signs and not only read her horoscope but also tell her what the future held in store for the young King. And one of those advisers was the witch of the title - 'The Witch of Eye'.
AmeriCymru: 'Eye' as in 'I Spy'? That's an odd name.
Mari: Yes, isn't it? In fact it was the manor farm of Eye-next-Westminster, the monastic estate which belonged to Westminster Abbey and its Benedictine monastery. If you happen to be a tourist in modern-day London, it's difficult to imagine that in medieval times, a thousand acres of land to the west of the Abbey was prime farming land. It was a cattle station, too, where drovers from Wales and the West of England would take their bullocks to be fattened up before being slaughtered and sold at Smithfield Market to the townsfolk of London who had no room to farm crops and keep animals of their own. The whole of the area now occupied by Hyde Park and Mayfair to the north, right down through Belgravia to Sloane Square and Pimlico in the south, was once part of that farm. The old name of 'Eye' changed down the centuries and became Eybury and, finally, Ebury, which is now seen only in street names. One of these is Ebury Bridge Road which leads on to Buckingham Palace Road and the palace itself stands on land which was once part of the great monastic estate of Eye-next-Westminster.
AmeriCymru: So tell us more about the treason.
Mari: Well, in a sense, poor old Eleanor was more sinned against than sinning because, above all else, she wanted to be able to give her husband a son and heir so that, in the event that he did inherit the throne, at least he'd have legitimate heirs of his own. The only problem was that she sought help from Margery Jourdemayne, a so-called 'wise woman' whose husband was the yeoman-farmer in charge of the Eye estate. Eleanor consulted Margery in her desperate search for magical potions to help her conceive a child. Not such a terrible thing in itself but when the Duke's enemies got hold of the story they blew it up out of all proportion and it all got very nasty indeed. The sensational trial at which they were accused of treason against the King was the biggest cause célèbre of the fifteenth century!
AmeriCymru: Not much chance of a happy ending, then!
Mari: There is a happy ending, as it happens, but only because I invented it! It's the only part of the story which isn't absolutely based on fact. I decided to create a new character, a young Devonshire woman called Jenna, who could provide me with a positive love story which would make things turn out all right in the end. Oh, and there's a little girl in there, too, whom readers seem to dote on. She's called Kitty, or sometimes 'Kittymouse', which is Jenna's pet name for her.
AmeriCymru: It sounds as if the characters really came alive for you.
Mari: Oh, they did. It was almost as though they lived right here in the Vale of Glamorgan - around the corner from our house! I think you've got to believe in your characters before you can expect readers to enjoy your book.
AmeriCymru: Well, from what you've said about it, Mari, it sounds as though readers are already beginning to enjoy it.
Mari: It does seem that they are because it's already picked up several five star reviews. And I'm delighted at that because I've got a bad dose of 'second book syndrome' at the moment, just hoping that people will like the second book as much as they liked the first!
AmeriCymru: So, just remind us of the title again ...
Mari: The title is The Witch of Eye and it's published by Accent Press. You'll find it on Amazon as an ebook and it's out as a paperback too, so it should be available through most US bookshops and via the Americymru web site of course. And by the way, thank you for making that possible and for letting me tell you all about it. But in case anyone has any problems, I'll leave you with some links you might find helpful:
www.marigriffith.co.uk
www.accentpress.co.uk
Little Eris - New self produced single Golden Meadow featuring Cat Southall
By AmeriCymru, 2016-08-28
Electronic music producer LITTLE ERIS (BRONWEN DAVIES), classically trained singer CAT SOUTHALL, and writer/actress JENNI DAVIES team up for a very special song inspired by the poem THE BRIGHT FIELD by R. S. Thomas. The 3 former pupils of Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen collaborated on the song following a chance meeting in their hometown of ABERDARE.
LITTLE ERIS wrote GOLDEN MEADOW inspired by a painting hanging in her Grandmother's house that was linked to R. S. Thomas’ poem ‘The Bright Field’. Using the poem as inspiration, the Aberdare trio collaboratively brought the song into fruition lyrically, and embellished the song with harmonies. Golden Meadow was recorded and produced by LITTLE ERIS in her studio at THE WELLS HOTEL, CARDIFF before being mastered by electronic music expert LOZ GROVER at CRIMSON SUN AUDIO in Kent. The result is a fresh and current single with a CLASSICAL edge that fuses together the soaring vocals of CAT SOUTHALL with the unique electronic style of LITTLE ERIS.
GOLDEN MEADOW is a contemporary song with a timeless sentiment featuring two creative Welsh female musicians who’ve both been releasing music for a number of years. They were motivated into action to record the song by JENNI DAVIES who managed the smooth communications of the production and contributed the melody for a spine tingling vocalised part where SOUTHALL’S exceptional SOPRANO range is showcased.
LITTLE ERIS - GOLDEN MEADOW featuring CAT SOUTHALL Released by ORIGINAL HUMAN
SEPTEMBER 14th 2016 available from digital retailers.
AmeriCymru: Hi Seimon and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. How would you describe the 'Tin Shed Experience'?
Seimon: "Old School Museum with a real interest in people." For four very happy years I worked as a stills photographer for American Magazine "Armchair General" Weider History Group. When my contract came to it's end, I was left without a job, I was living in Aberystwyth at the time, and unfortunately had to sell my house and move back to Carmarthenshire. I happened to bump into an old friend who invited me to Laugharne, (Dylan Thomas Country) to put on a display of WW2 memorabilia in the local memorial hall. I'd been collecting items from the second world war because of my involvement with "reconstructions and film work" so basically they were props and costumes. Our 1940's event raised over £1500 for the hall, but made us realise there was significant interest in the 1940's period in the area. That is when we had the bright idea of opening up a museum.
AmeriCymru: In what ways does the 'Tin Shed' differ from an ordinary museum?
Seimon: We have no signs to explain the exhibits, we have no shop for merchandise, we have no computer technology or interactive screens. I would describe ourselves as "Old School".....we love meeting people and we get to hear their stories.
AmeriCymru: It has been 3 years since we talked last. How has the project developed in that time?
Seimon: Where do I start?!..We now have a dedicated group of volunteers helping us, We've had grant funding for various projects including bathroom facilities and an undercover area for school visits. We've had charity music events including bands from Canada ( Tia McGraff) and Nashville (Lost Hollow). We've also been able to help other local museums by loaning items to them, consequently building a network of local support for other venues. To be honest, there's so much that has happened and so many more ideas on the horizon.
AmeriCymru: Promoting local artists has been an important part of your work over the years. Any current plans in that area?
Seimon: More charity events next year...of different types, keep an eye on our Facebook page/ Website as plans get confirmed.
AmeriCymru: What does the future hold for the Tin Shed Experience? Any planned expansions or future events you would like to mention?
Seimon: The collection is growing, and we hope it may take more of a "Home Front" direction. On certain days of the week our volunteers become 'Living Exhibits' too...with Marion our local dressmaker actually using a vintage sewing machine to make clothes from original patterns. We also plan on having more schools to visit.
One of our major exhibition planned for 2017 is to commemorate the GI's who were stationed in Wales from October 1943 to April 1944. We're looking for stories and accounts from that period, even memorabilia if people care to donate.
Also looking at Welsh heritage and family tree projects. Both Andrew (Isaacs) Co-director and owner of the Tin Shed ) and myself have an interest in the Welsh in 'Old' America, with Andrew just recently returning from the anniversary of the Little Big Horn.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Seimon: Thrilled that we get your support, please feel that you can get involved with us, despite that bit of water that separates us.
Diolch yn fawr! Pob Hwyl! Seimon
Back to Welsh Literature page >
Centered in Brittany, Last Rites by John Humphries begins with a ringing telephone, once belonging to the KGB, with a woman pleading for help at the other end of the line. But how can the telephone ring if it is not connected?
The ringing telephone becomes an obsession investigative journalist Jack Flynt carries with him in a plastic bag from Paris to Wales, then to Île d’Iroise, an island off the French coast, a refuge for a community of Breton-language speakers hiding a dark secret. Flynt’s only hope is to do what he does best. If he finds the mystery caller he’ll find the person trying to kill her - unless he’s too late.
‘The idea for the novel came from a real event,’ explains John Humphries.
‘The KGB telephone in Last Rites does exist. I bought it for $5 from a second-hand shop in Tallinn in Estonia where I was lecturing to journalists how newspapers ran in a free society.’ he said.
‘Estonia had only recently broken free from the Soviet Bloc and the shop owner swore the telephone had been looted from the former KGB headquarters in Tallinn.’ said John.
‘It has since been connected to the landline in my study but crackles awfully! Although, I’m not sure whether that’s KGB or B.T!’ he added.
Last Rites has already receieved critical praise, with author Terry Breverton praising the novel as ‘a razor-sharp thriller that leaves the reader off balance throughout’.
John Humphries is a former national newspaper editor , investigative journalist and Foreign Correspondent. As European Bureau Chief for a large newspaper group, he has travelled widely covering major international news stories. Since retiring Humphries has written a number of non-fiction books relating to Wales including ‘Spying for Hitler’ published by University of Wales Press and translated into Portuguese by a Brazilian publisher. This is his first novel. He lives in Gwent.
Last Rites by John Humphries (£8.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
An Interview With Tracy Prince, Author Of 'Culture Wars in British Literature: Multiculturalism and National Identity'
By Ceri Shaw, 2016-08-16
Back to Welsh Literature page >
"The author of Portland''s Goose Hollow (2011) and Culture Wars in British Literature: Multiculturalism and National Identity (2012), Dr. Tracy Prince is also a featured speaker for Oregon Humanities in the Conversation Project program and travels throughout Oregon presenting "Uniquely Oregon: Native American Art of Oregon." Dr. Prince has spent her career teaching and writing about race, gender, and social equity issues. She uncovers forgotten or overlooked historical moments by digging through archives and interviewing folks who like to talk about the good ol'' days."
AmeriCymru spoke to Tracy about here recent book ''Culture Wars: Other Voices in British Literature" which provided the theme and title for our recent ( Oct 4th, 2013 ) panel discussion at the Portland Center for Public Humanities
Tracy: Thanks! I’ve appreciated learning about the good work AmeriCymru does to promote Welsh writers in English. Good stuff!
In my book I argue that British literature is more than Anglo-English literature, despite depictions by London literary elite and anthologies. When teaching and researching 20th and 21st century British literature, I was frustrated to see that literary anthologies and public discussions about Britain’s literature and identity still often exclude ethnic- minority writers and often remain fixated on an Anglo-English versi on of Britishness. My book analyzes who is left out of the British literary canon and explores the culture wars surrounding the discussion of Britishness (highlighting how a white Anglo-English image of British identity has been promoted and assumed and its supposed demise grieved over).
Here’s the blurb my publisher put on the back of the book:
The past century''s culture wars that Britain has been consumed by, but that few North Americans seem aware of, have resulted in revised notions of Britishness and British literature. Yet literary anthologies remain anchored to an archaic Anglo-English interpretation of British literature. Conflicts have been played out over specific national vs. British identity (some residents prefer to describe themselves as being from Scotland, England, Wales, or Northern Ireland instead of Britain), in debates over immigration, race, ethnicity, class, and gender, and in arguments over British literature. These debates are strikingly detailed in such chapters as: "The Difficulty Defining ''Black British''," "British Jewish Writers" and "Xenophobia and the Booker Prize." Connections are also drawn between civil rights movements in the U.S. and UK. This generalist cultural study is a lively read and a fascinating glimpse into Britain''s changing identity as reflected in 20th and 21st century British literature.
AmeriCymru: What special difficulties do you see in defining British literature in the modern age?
Tracy: Consciously or unconsciously, presuppositions of Anglo-English centrality remain deeply imbedded in the teaching of British literature. A study of this issue reveals the underpinnings of the construction and maintenance of an Anglo-English definition of Britishness and the British literary canon. John Freeman, the editor of Granta (literary magazine published in England) claims: “American writers are constantly engaged with the question of being American.” He was implying that this is a uniquely American trait and that he doesn’t see British literature as having these qualities. Indeed, American literature is widely understood as central to the process of how American-ness is analyzed and defined. But I believe that British literature has been equally as important to the analyzing and defining of Britishness, even when critics and authors claim to focus strictly on literary aesthetics and would not think of themselves as engaging with issues surrounding British identity. British literature offers many cues to the reader about what Britishness means, about who is included, and about who is excluded.
So, my book is filled with quotes from a variety of writers in the UK who have expressed how they feel about Britishness (from the early 20 th century to 21 st century authors). I also cover the decline of the British Empire, immigration, race/ethnicity, and devolution debates and how writers have responded to those issues. And I cite studies that attempt to quantify how UK residents feel about being British. For example, in 2003, when polls were conducted in England asking whether residents would describe themselves as English or British, 38% said English and 48% said British. In Scotland the study revealed that 72% identified themselves as Scottish and 20% as British. In Wales the study revealed that 60% identified themselves as Welsh and 27% as British. When the BBC conducted an online survey asking people “What Makes You British?” a man from Scotland responded that he is Scottish and has never considered himself British. “[M]y views on what it means to be ‘British’ will be the same as many from Scotland, Wales and Ireland, that being ‘British’ equals being English.” He wonders “what there is to be proud of when British achievements tend to focus on English achievements.”
An example of presuppositions of Anglo-English centrality is that A.S. Byatt assembled an anthology in 1998, the Oxford Book of English Short Stories , in which she ethnically cleansed writers in England. Shockingly, she even explained her editorial criteria as selecting “writers with pure English national credentials.” Yet most literary critics didn’t notice her ethnic cleansing. Only a Black British and a British Jewish literary critic noticed. Byatt’s anthology, read widely throughout the world and republished by Oxford University Press in 2000, 2003, and 2009, serves to continue reifying and “marketing” Englishness as white Anglo-ness among students and teachers of literature around the world. It is not surprising then, when London-born, English writer Hanif Kureishi demands a different version of Englishness and of Britishness. He declares that it is time for “the white British” to deal with the idea that there is “a new way of being British after all this time.”
Professor Jane Aaron, who teaches in Wales, offers a Welsh perspective of British national identity tensions in Postcolonial Wales . Her view is that when many people throughout Britain hear someone referring to themselves as British, this is often understood as coming from someone who is English. “[I]n today’s Britain, the default position for those who identify, or are identified, as British only, with no qualifiers, remains an unexamined English cultural identity.” (15) In much of the North American academy and in many university settings around the world, British literature often continues to be taught (1) without addressing this “unexamined [Anglo] English cultural identity,” (2) with little discussion of contemporary multicultural and national identity debates in the United Kingdom, and (3) without including a cross- section of authors from throughout the four nations of the United Kingdom.
My goal was to present evidence from surveys, films, literature, television shows, children’s books, political debates, etc. to give a glimpse into how dramatically the sense of what it means to be British has changed in the last 100 years. I wrote the book with a non-academic audience in mind. So I write in a reader-friendly way that teaches the history of the issues and authors, and I hope it inspires people to make reading lists of the authors they’d like to read more of.
AmeriCymru: In Chapter 6 you state that:- "Britain''s culture wars are on explicit technicolor display in discussions about the Man Booker Prize" Can you tell us more?
Tracy: In 1994 the prize was awarded to Scottish author James Kelman for How Late It Was, How Late , written in a working class Scottish dialect. According to literary critic Merritt Moseley, the selection process was flawed by its eagerness to be “politically correct” and select multicultural rather than “English” entries. “The selection and award process for the U.K.’s Booker Prize for novels is cumbersome, biased against English entries.... The novels reflected a multi-cultural background that, while politically correct, did not include native, non-minority British authors.” This statement is a blatant effort to portray white writers from England as the downtrodden and to blast efforts at political correctness for the perceived displacement of Anglo-English writers from the center of the British literary realm.
Pat Barker, 1995’s Booker Prize winner for The Ghost Road , made provocative comments which revealed a lot about Britain’s culture wars over multiculturalism and national identity. She said: “I think that there is a certain amount of unacknowledged resentment among ... white native British writers, on the ground that the additional tinge of exoticism when it comes to the Booker Prize does a writer no harm at all.” Barker further pronounces that although it is difficult to say this in a way “that does not sound racist ... there’s a sort of resentment that the Booker judges are so obviously straining to be unparochial and exotic ... the homegrown English novel is really rather undervalued now.” I found it fascinating that Barker too seemed to be painting a picture of the Anglo-English as underdogs in the Booker Prize process. This idea would be found laughable among Welsh writers, who struggle to get on the radar of what is now called the Man Booker Prize (based upon its current sponsorship).
A.S. Byatt has expressed similar indignation over the “left-wing political correctness in this country” which she sees as unfairly privileging the “Empire Strikes Back” authors. Byatt calls “total rubbish” any notions that the English novel has become daring or more interesting with the addition of “these books by people from elsewhere.” She calls the “Empire Strikes Back” a “myth” that obscures writers like Muriel Spark, Lawrence Durrell, William Golding, Iris Murdoch, and Anthony Burgess: “All those people were in place, writing away, absolutely brilliant. They’re all English; they’re all white. It doesn’t seem to me that anything Rushdie does is anything more interesting technically than what they do—although it’s not less interesting.”
About the 2003 Booker Prize lineup, Fiachra Gibbons, writing for the Guardian , called attention to the prize’s excessive focus, not just on England, but on writers in the greater London area. (The M25 motorway surrounds Greater London. Although Oxford and Cambridge are outside the loop, they are within an hour’s train ride to London.) “It was as if Martyn Goff, the Booker Svengali ... had imposed an accent test so that [they] ... might not be threatened by barbarous tongues from beyond the moat of the M25.” Gibbons marveled at the incestuous nature of the London literary scene’s Booker Prize judges and longlisted authors, since the judges seemed to focus on their friends in and near London, with a few gratuitous outsiders thrown in. As the judges posted effusive comments about writers from north London and Oxford “and the odd exile to the sticks” on their online diaries, Gibbons said he couldn’t help but play the “old mental game, How Are They Related?” He mused: “I may have got this all horribly wrong, of course. No doubt the judges have concealed youths spent digging coal with teaspoons in the Welsh valleys or working the checkouts on the dawn shift at Grimethorpe Asda. But that is not what it looked and sounded like to me, or anyone else cringing at home who craved just the merest acknowledgement that someone outside the Woosterian Brahmin caste of literary London might read a book, or know good writing when they saw it.”
In The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins (2001) British academic Graham Huggan blames the media, the Booker Prize, and the postcolonial literary establishment for this focus on the “exotic.” He argues that postcolonial writers, academic critics, the Booker Prize, and publishers are at fault because they “market” “exotic” imperialist nostalgia. Of course, one look at the definition of the countries eligible for the Booker Prize refutes this premise. Since this prize is an award for Commonwealth and Irish writers, the percentage of British and more specifically Anglo-English writers represented on shortlists and longlists is embarrassingly high. (In 2013 the rules were changed to allow American writers to be eligible). In fact, 20th and 21st century novels about and by Anglo-England are being read in disproportionate numbers around the world, in places where Anglo-English experiences seem “exotic” to people who have few points of reference with this culture. The only way these Anglo-English novels are sold to people whose lives bear no resemblance to the lives in the novels is through marketing and especially through marketing of imperialist literary nostalgia. Thus, instead of arguing that the Booker is overly concerned with so-called “exotic” novels, the argument is easily made that there is a great big world of eligible writers who, over the life of the Booker Prize, have been ignored in favor of mostly Anglo-English writers.
The discussions that have occurred over the past few decades have often made it abundantly clear who is considered British, who is thought of as “exotic,” and who is though of as “homegrown.” Writers are always being given the advice to “write what you know.” Yet when writers outside of an Anglo-English London/Oxford/Cambridge moat write what they know, from their cultural perspectives, which are not Anglo-English perspectives, they are called “exotic” then blamed for pandering with their exoticness and “marketing” it. This excruciatingly obvious point seems to have escaped great swathes of the British literary establishment.
Consciously or unconsciously, many Anglo-English critics and authors have been disquieted over the decline of their literary empire, wondering why “homegrown” stories seem not as engaging as global ones, and fortifying themselves against what Pat Barker called the “exotic” people and, as A.S. Byatt said, the “people from elsewhere.”
AmeriCymru: In your opinion, how has the ''rapidly changing sense of national identity'' in Britain (both pre and post devolution) been reflected in the writings of Welsh authors?
Tracy: Black Welsh writer Charlotte Williams imagines a revised Britishness. She writes of her upbringing in Wales by a Welsh speaking white mother and a black Guyanese father in Sugar and Slate (2002). When she lived in Guyana for a few years she was thought of as British, though being Welsh calls to her most profoundly. Williams traces connections between Africa and Wales in an effort to write a history of Wales that includes her story within Welsh identity.
And white Welsh writer R.S. Thomas (1913–2000), the son of a sea captain, pointed out the English-centered ideas within Britain: “Britishness is a mask. Beneath it there is only one nation, England.” He declared: “Britain does not exist for me. It is an abstraction forced on the Welsh people.” While he chaffed at the domination of a British identity over a Welsh identity, he also chaffed at the Welsh people whom he saw as being lazy, indifferent, or snobbish when they chose to speak English instead of Welsh.
Born in Cardiff in 1923 Dannie Abse wrote about his Jewishness and Welshness in Goodbye, Twentieth Century: An Autobiography (2001). However, Abse lived much of his adult life in Golders Green, London, primarily a Jewish neighborhood, with many synagogues and Jewish owned restaurants, bakeries, and bookstores. A doctor as well as a novelist, playwright, and poet, his 1954 autobiographical novel Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve tells of growing up in Wales in the 1930s. In his poem “Case History” he writes about the double marginalization of being both Jewish and Welsh. He tells of an interaction with a patient:
‘Most Welshmen are worthless,
an inferior breed, doctor.’
He did not know I was Welsh.
Then he praised the architects
of the German death-camps—
did not know I was a Jew.
AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little about any Anglo Welsh writer or writers who have captured your attention in recent years?
Tracy: Since I focus a lot on the Man Booker Prize, here are a few Welsh writers featured there: The Booker Prize winner in 1970 for The Elected Member and short-listed in 1978 for A Five-Year Sentence , Bernice Rubens (1928– 2004) was born in Wales to a father who had escaped anti-Semitism in Lithuania and a mother whose family had fled Poland. Timothy Mo (born in Hong Kong to a white Welsh-English mom and a Cantonese dad, moved to England at age 10) has had three short-listed novels: Sour Sweet , An Insular Possession , and The Redundancy of Courage . Chinese-Welsh writer Peter Ho Davies was raised in England but spent his summers in Wales. His The Welsh Girl was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2007 and deals with complex questions of belonging, loyalty, and identity. Sarah Waters was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire. Her books Fingersmith (2002), The Night Watch (2006), and The Little Stranger were shortlisted (2009). Born in Cardiff, Trezza Azzopardi’s The Hiding Place (2000) was short-listed for the Booker Prize. This story of an immigrant Maltese family delves into the Cardiff underworld of the 1960s.
Another Welsh writer that I write about is Leonora Brito, who passed away in 2007. Brito lived in Cardiff her entire life and was called a “voice...from the long-established, but hitherto culturally under-represented, multi-ethnic communities of Cardiff ’s Docklands.” Tiger Bay (the Docklands), her neighborhood, was known for its migrant communities from over 40 different countries who, for more than a century, had been attracted by work at this busy harbor. In the last half of the twentieth century the area was filled with decrepit buildings because of the decline of the coal industry and the related decline of harbor traffic. So in 1999 in a re-development scheme, large areas were bulldozed and the bay was reconfigured and, in a controversial move, renamed Cardiff Bay. Brito’s Dat’s Love (1995) and Chequered Histories (2006) tells the stories of that neighborhood before it was bulldozed by exploring the life, love, pressures, and tensions of Black Welsh women.
AmeriCymru: Do you foresee a time when ''Welsh Writing In English'' is taught as a separate subject or discipline in American universities?
Tracy: Such a course would have strong appeal for Welsh ex-pats and people of Welsh ancestry, so I would think it wise for American universities to explore this option. However, I have taught literature in three countries (America, Canada, Turkey), and I can report that many universities do not have the funding or professors specializing in Welsh literature to add a course on Welsh Writing in English.
Since most universities offer British literature every semester, it seems important to at least make sure that Welsh writing in English is taught more robustly in British literature courses. Because of America''s strong link to the Mother Country, because of our continuing "special relationship" with Britain, the teaching of British history and literature will remain important in American universities. Thus it is important to have the teaching of British literature include all of Britain and not just London, Oxford, and Cambridge. My feeling is that it is bizarre and archaic to see the teaching of British literature and British literary anthologies continuing to focus mostly on dead, white, English writers. I feel that it is crucial to include the teaching of Welsh writing within the British literary tradition (while pointing out Welsh discomfort with the “British” label).
However, it would be great to think of ways to encourage universities to enhance their courses by offering Welsh Writing in English. It seems like the demand would be strong.
AmeriCymru: What''s next for Dr. Tracy J. Prince ? Will you be exploring similar themes in future works?
Tracy: I’ll continue to do talks to teach folks about the political/cultural issues brought up in Culture Wars in British Literature . My upcoming schedule includes talks at the University of Washington Tacoma (12/2) and University of British Columbia in Canada (12/3). But I research in a wide array of historical areas. I researched Oregon history back to Indian and pioneer days in two pictorial history books ( Portland''s Goose Hollow 2011 and the co-authored Portland’s Slabtown 2013) that allowed me to dig around in archives and talk to folks about the good ol’ days. The literary non-fiction book I''m currently writing, Might Oughta Keep Singin'' , is taking me back to my roots--to the sharecroppin'' plantation where my dad grew up pickin’ cotton in the Arkansas delta region (across the Mississippi River from where Elvis grew up). It''s the story of four generations of southern women, breast cancer, and the music of the American south.
I have eclectic intellectual interests. For my author page on Facebook, I’m "encouraged,” every time I log in, to buy an ad to increase traffic to my page. I joked with my friends that the ad would need to read: "Are you interested in Oregon history, Native American art, 1930s-60s magazine illustrations, architectural preservation, British literature, the history of Southern music, cotton sharecropping in Arkansas, or Oklahoma half-breeds? Then I''m just the professor for you!" So, if you share any of those interests, let’s chat! https://www.facebook.com/
I also enjoy connecting with folks on Twitter @TracyJPrince and Goodreads. So, stop on by and say hello when you mosey that way.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for readers of the Welsh American Bookstore?
Tracy: Maureen Duffy, poet, playwright, and critic, muses on the state of angst over British and English identities in England: The Making of Myth from Stonehenge to Albert Square (2001). Her book deals with some popular English perceptions regarding the inclusion of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland within the concept of Britain, with the English feeling threatened, aggrieved, and abandoned—feeling that their identity is “under threat.” I think this quote from her is very revealing when discussing what a collective British identity means: “Scotland and Wales have no difficulty with their myths; they have several hundred years of opposition and reluctant integration in which to polish them. We, the English, on the other hand had always believed deep down that the union was indissoluble, that the Scots and Welsh didn’t really mean it in spite of the example of Ireland. Now devolution has actually happened and they have assemblies, flags, control over their own affairs. We feel aggrieved, abandoned, and find it hard to accept the outcome of what we have done. We argue over whether ‘they’ should have the right to sit in “our” parliament and vote on ‘our’ affairs. We have always regarded our confederates as children, as we did the rest of the empire, even though they are historically our predecessors.”
I find the most interesting parts of British literature are authors who are struggling with a sense of a cohesive British identity. With post-war immigration leading to a more multi-ethnic populace and with uncertainties brought about by devolution, it is important and fascinating when writers explore what it means to be British. I’d like to see more British literature courses teaching this conflicted sense of Britishness.
Pilot Welsh Language Program Starts July 4
Tegid, living in New England, only speaks to his mother in Welsh. Christine moved to Ohio as a young girl and tries to share her Welsh stories with friends. Ana's family fled to Argentina over 100 years ago, where she teaches Welsh as the first language in a Spanish speaking country. The language and history of Welsh is complicated. Thousands of native Welsh speakers are scattered all over the world. Cada Dia Welsh brings them together in a daily online meeting, to share Welsh culture and language.
Through a grant from the Welsh Government , the University of South Wales has teamed up with Point-Productions, to produce an authentic language learning program. The pilot program will run eight weeks, July and August, when students and native born Welsh speakers will share stories, songs and talk about the Welsh language and culture.
This innovative approach to language learning is based on the idea that authentic language is not taught through grammar or even vocabulary. Rather it is an effort to understand, based on contextual cues, in a social language learning environment. The program sessions start in English. Facilitators help participants understand how to participate. Then they start a "virtual immersion" experience. Students will hear and see native language Welsh in the daily web meeting, and figure out what is happening, by reading the helper text on the screen.
Beginners as well as native language speakers are welcome to participate at their own level. "We found that student want to talk... not study language," according to one of the program designers, Michael Henry, at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. "After some experimentation, we developed an environment for beginners, intermediate and advanced speakers, and they don't even realize they are learning" Henry adds. Advanced speakers help the beginners, by sharing stories, culture and history of Wales, in Welsh.
The program is offered for free, during the pilot program, through a course on the Canvas Network, ( https://www.canvas.net/) Open house meetings are being conducted the month of June. More information for individuals and organizations that would like to be a part of the pilot program are encouraged to visit CadaDiaWelsh.com
See the Full Schedule of CDW Webcasts .
Ernesto Suarez - Ariel Media 877-708-2093
Produced through a grant from the Welsh Government, administered by the University of South Wales.
Now at the end of its second tourist season is Tin Shed Experience a volunteer museum of 1940s and wartime memorabilia housed in the humble surroundings of a large tin shed.
The concept came to be through a mixture of elements. Redundancy, hard work, determination, community spirit, great support and of course Tin!
The creators Andrew Isaacs and Seimon Pugh-Jones worked together in the Ministry of Defence establishment in Pendine for many years during the late 70s early 80s. Andrew worked in the armoury whereas Seimon was in the photographic department. Cuts in the MOD led to subsequent redundancies with Andrew and Seimon being two such casualties. Undeterred by this setback, Andrew started his own successful cleaning company and Seimon's photographic skills led him to work in the TV & Film industries. Seimon has worked on HBO's award winning miniseries 'Band of Brothers' and Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' to name but a few. He was also the staff photographer for the American magazine, 'Armchair General’ where he scripted and shot much of the re-enacted scenes of war from a multitude of different time periods that littered the pages of the magazine. Both have always had a love of nostalgia and history, Andrew collects items from the American old west and even spent his summers as a ranch hand in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Seimon has a great love of the 1940s and the war era often visiting famous battlegrounds in Normandy and the rest of Europe and has accrued a vast collection of items. In 2009 they had a chance meeting in a local supermarket and got talking, eventually leading them to stage a 1940s themed dance backed by an exhibition of Seimon’s collection in Andrew's hometown of Laugharne.
Andrew explains, ‘the exhibition went so well we thought there may be space in the township for something more permanent. Laugharne is certainly a town quirky enough for it to work in!’
Seimon informs, ‘after numerous meetings with various bodies a small match funded grant from the Welsh Assembly Government was secured. Pretty soon though it dawned on us that the money would not go all that far so we turned to looking at ways in which we could use recycled materials to help us continue with the restoration and set about sourcing the right materials to keep the building in keeping with the original structure. There has been great support from the community with donations of second hand zinc sheeting coming from local farmers and other bits and pieces coming from here and there. It’s estimated that a near 70% of the building has recycled elements. Through the skills, patience and understanding of our friend and builder Stephen Hughes we have managed to create something we feel is quite special.
The museum opened in June 2011 and saw 1700 people come to see and learn about the various exhibits. Seimon proclaims ‘Visitors can expect to spend a lot more time in the museum than they initially would have expected. Part of our name is ‘Experience’ we want our visitors to leave us knowing that they are very important to our progression. We want them to share their recollections or their father’s, mother’s, grandparent’s recollections of the 1940s so that they may be retold to the new generations ensuring the stories are kept alive and can learn from them. He goes on ‘Most visitors expect to spend 10-15 minutes walking around a cold and faceless museum when they often stay for an hour to an hour and a half. Why? Well we love people, we are very much about engaging our visitors, giving all guests personal guided tours, explaining in depth about items, informing them of local history, good places to eat in the town, where to visit. I guess we are kind of a museum/information centre. We also love learning, after all, an ‘Experience’ should not be one sided.’
The Tin Shed has received fantastic reviews on review sites with people seemingly preferring the ‘old fashioned’ approach to museums where nothing is ‘touch screen’ and the only interaction you get get is from very real, very enthusiastic tour guides
Appeal For Information On Veterans
We would like to make an appeal to any of the Americymru community that may be, or have contact with veterans of Pennsylvania’s 28th Infantry Division who were stationed in Wales during WWII to please get in touch with us so that we garner as much information as possible and hopefully create a very special memorial.
...
The Tin Shed however, is more than your average museum. Matthew elaborates ‘When the museum closed for the winter last year we started working on various other projects under the umbrella of the Tin Shed. We are very interested in the Arts and music and also charity fund raising. We have staged a few musical evenings with local musicians helping us raise money for local charities and organisations. We were fortunate to supply and consult on the operation of vintage camera equipment for ITVs Christmas drama ‘Just Henry’ last year and this has been inspiration for one of our current projects. We are midway through building what could be used as a small film set at the rear of the museum. It contains an original Anderson shelter that has been dug in by hand (Anderson Shelters were small build it yourself bomb shelters and were widespread in gardens along the South Coast of England and in the larger industrial areas of Wales) a working man’s tin cottage complete with authentic interior as well as a victory garden. We are also actively encouraging TV & film makers to get in touch to see what can be done with us as a location.’ He goes on ’We are working closely with local amateur and professional theatre groups as well as university students on staging their own events here at the Tin Shed.
He goes on, ‘Local heritage to us is of course of a great importance and were delighted to be approached to produce a series of retro/stylised photographic images for the towns’ iconic Browns Hotel which opened earlier this Summer.
The Tin Shed may be closed until late March 2013 but the work is never over. Andrew is quick to point out ‘Over the Winter we will be working hard on building new staging and filming areas, whole new dioramas and displays for exhibits as well as launching a series of our retro photography images for sale for the first time.
On top of all this we are also in production of a series of life-sized fibreglass figures based on the characters from ‘Under Milk Wood’ the town of ‘Llareggub’ in the play is believed to be based on our town, Laugharne. We are doing this in conjunction with local sculptor John Howell as part of the 2014 celebrations for the centenary of Dylan Thomas’ birth. We hope to create a visitors trail around the town with the characters placed in unusual places for visitors to go off and find. We are looking for famous Dylan Thomas fans and people with connections to the poet to get involved with the design of the characters. Perhaps this is something that the Americymru community could also help us out with? If anyone has contact with any famous Dylan Thomas fans please inform them of our project and point them in our direction. All we require is a simple sketch or description of how they would like the character to look. We have a few artists, actors and musicians onboard as we speak. We are chasing fans like Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Bob Dylan, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Matthew Rhys and ex US President Jimmy Carter......well why not? We believe anything is achievable in a shed.’
For more information on Tin Shed Experience please visit www.tinshedexperience.co.uk
They can also be found on facebook at www.facebook.com/
And on twitter as Tinshedexpo
From The North American Festival of Wales (Sept. 1-4, 2016, Calgary, Alberta, Canada): LAST CALL!
By Ceri Shaw, 2016-08-12
It's still not too late... to enter the Eisteddfod competitions on Saturday, September 3 , at the 2016 North American Festival of Wales (NAFOW) in Calgary!
We again are holding three competitions in poetic recitation: Adult and Welsh Learners', both involving recitation of a set piece from memory in Welsh, as well as English Language Recitation. Copies of the set pieces are made available to competitors upon application.
On the singing side, we have a new category this year for Solo Voice (Youth), open to those aged 15 and under and sponsored by the Calgary WELSH Society. As with the equivalent adult competition, all entrants will perform at least two songs, at least one of which must be in Welsh.
In addition to the new Solo Voice (Youth) competition, we'll be holding three more singing competitions: Hymn Singing, Solo Voice (Adult, 16 and over) and Solo Voice/Semi-Professional. The Solo Voice/Semi-Professional competition, as usual, offers the David G. Morris Memorial Award with a generous cash scholarship as a first prize, for travel to compete in the 2017 National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Our competition entry form (and information sheet) is available at the NAFOW website: http://www.nafow.org/WNAA_
Anyone may enter up to three competitions total, subject to restrictions noted on the entry form and information sheet. All entries must be received by August 20, 2016 . Please contact us at any time with questions (email: eisteddfod@nafow.org , phone: 412-215-9161 ), and we'll see you onstage in Calgary!
Back to Welsh Literature page >
Gwenno Dafydd, professional broadcaster, singer, actress and leadership coach, writes the ultimate canon of female stand-up comics.
‘Funny is f u nny’ , as Joan Rivers said , regardless of gender—and with Stand Up and Sock it to t hem Sister , Gwenno Dafydd has finally managed to upend the old stereotype that women lack humour . She has tirelessly interviewed eighty four people working professionally in the comedy industry including numerous funny feisty females of all ages and backgrounds who share their success stories about their love affair with comedy and the challenges they faced and overcame in the male-dominated , aggressively competitive world of stand-up comedy.
A product of 20 years of research, Stand Up and Sock it to t hem Sister , an empowering story with resonance for every woman who wants to make it in a ny man’s world, was long overdue. Through thorough research with plenty of laughs interspersed, Dafydd looks at the genesis of female comedy from the time of music hall and supper clubs in Victorian London through to the excitement and challenge of the international world of comedy today. Featuring a unique section of Tips for the Top and interviews with over sixty-five comics working world-wide, from the pioneering Joan Rivers, Jo Brand, Jenny Eclair, and Helen Lederer , to relative newcomers such as Nina Conti, Shazia Mirzah , and Amy Schumer, Stand Up and Sock it to them Sister offers a practical guide and invaluable advice on the practice and challen ges of being a stand-up comic and how to make it in the w orld of comedy. Stand Up & Sock It to Them Sister is a n inspiring and unique read for everybody who is interested in reading about th eir favourite stand-up comics and learning about the history of women and comedy. According to Roy Hudd , Author and world expert on the British Music Hall ‘It was about time that a book of this nature was written and female performers given the recognition that they deserve. These amazing Role Models from the last hundred and fifty years or so that Gwenno has compiled can only inspire future generations of funny women. She has done a great job.
The book will be launched at Edinburgh Fringe Festival o n 17 August 2016.
Publication date 1 August 2016
Paperback £11.99
978 1 910901 55 7
Find more abou t Gwenno on her website : www.gwennodafydd.co.uk .
Mae’r ddarlledwraig gantores actores ac annogydd arweinyddiaeth broffesiyniol Gwenno Dafydd wedi ysgrifennu casgliad di-guro o ferched sy’n creu comedi ‘dal dy dir', fel mae hi yn ei alw . ( stand-up )
‘ Digri yw Digri ’ fel wedodd Joan Rivers, s’dim ots beth yw r h yw y person sy’n creu y comedi a gyda Stand Up and Sock it to t hem Sister , mae Gwenno Dafydd wedi llwyddo unwaith ac am byth i chwalu’r myth wirion fod me rched ddim yn ddigri . Mae hi wedi cyfweld wyth deg pedwar o bobl sydd yn gweithio yn broffesiynol yn y diwidiant comedi , gan gynnwys nifer helaeth o ‘ Difas D igri a Genod G wirion ’ ( Enw trafodaeth ddiweddar Tafwyl gyda Jon Gower a m y llyfr ) o bob oedran a chefndiroedd sydd yn rhannu eu storiau o lwyddiant am eu carwriaethau gyda comedi a’r her barhaol sydd yn eu wynebu . Mae hi’n dangos sut mae nhw wedi llw y ddo i oresgyn y rhwystrau yn y byd yma sydd wedi ei boblogi yn hanesyddol gan ddynion – byd treisgar , cystadleuol a heriol – byd comedi ‘ dal dy dir ’ .
Bu Stand Up and Sock it to t hem Sister yn lafur cariad 20 mlynedd o waith ymchwil dwys a c mae ’ n llawn o storiau sy’n adleisio’n gryf iawn i unrhyw ddynes sydd eisiau creu llwyddiant mewn byd o reolau dynion . Hen bryd i’r stori au yma gael eu hadrodd . Ymysg y gwaith ymchwil gofalus mae digon o ddigrifwch a mae Gwenno Dafydd yn edrych ar gomedi me rched yn blaguro o gyfnod y ‘music halls’ a clwbiau swper yn Llundain hyd nes y dyddiau presennol a’r cyffro a’r her o’r byd comedi rhyngwladol . Gan gynnwys pennod arbennig o ‘ Ganllawiau i Lwyddo ’ (Tips for the Top) a chyfweliadau gyda dros ch w e deg pump o gomics benywaidd yn gweithio ar hyd y byd , o’r arloesol Joan Rivers, Jo Brand, Jenny Eclair a Helen Lederer , i gomics fwy diweddar megis Nina Conti, Shazia Mirzah , a’r anhygoel Amy Schumer( Trainwreck ) mae Stand Up and Sock it to them Sister yn cynnig canllawiau ymarferol a chyngor amhrisiadwy ar yr arfer a’r sialensau o fod yn gomic ‘ dal dy dir ’ a sut i lwyddo yn y byd comedi . Mae Stand Up & Sock It to Them Sister yn lyfr unigryw , llawn ysbrydoliaeth ar gyfer unrhywun sydd a diddordeb mewn darllen am eu hoff gomics benywaidd a dysgu mwy am hanes me rched mewn comedi . Yn ol Roy Hudd , ( Arbenigwr ac Awdur fyd eang ar Music Hall Prydeinig ) mae’n dweud , ‘ R’oedd hi’n hen bryd i lyfr fel hwn gael ei ysgrifennu ac i berfformwyr benywaidd i gael y clod haeddiannol . Mae’ r Rol Fod e l au anhygoel yma o ’ r ganrif a hanner ddiwethaf a mwy mae Gwenno wedi eu casglu ond yn mynd i ysbrydoli cenedlaethau o ferched digri sydd i ddod . Mae hi wedi gneud job wych!
Caiff y llyfr ei lawnsio yng Ngwyl Ymylol Gomedi Caeredin ar y’r 17eg o Awst 2016
Diwrnod cyhoeddi 1 af o A wst 2016
Clawr med d al £11.99
978 1 910901 55 7
The successful applicant will have a strong background in choral music and the ambition and ability to challenge the choir to excel. Our new music director (he/she) will be willing to explore traditional Welsh repertoire and contemporary Welsh choral music. About a third of the choir’s repertoire is sung in Welsh, and the director will need to become familiar with Welsh pronunciation (instruction is available).
The choir rehearses for two hours on Sunday afternoons in Westchester from September through June, with occasional free Sundays, on occasions to be determined. The choir aims at performing at least one public concert in the Fall and one in the Spring (generally close to St. David’s Day, March 1 st ).
Interested applicants should submit a resume and letter of interest to the choir President, Larry Dunlop at LDu59@aol.com .
Auditions for finalists will be held on Sunday afternoons in September. Pob lwc * Good luck
