Blogs
Save Wright!! A Message From The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy-Please Pass On!
By Ceri Shaw, 2012-11-13
Thank you for taking action to save the David Wright House from demolition by signing our petition. Your action is an important element in demonstrating the special significance of this building and the nationwide and even worldwide concern that has been voiced about its future. You can continue to support our preservation efforts by sharing this petition with your friends, family and co-workers. We still need many more signatures in order to demonstrate the extent of interest and concern. We share these numbers with the Phoenix City Council and the media and the amount of signatures has an important impact.
We plan to update you regarding our progress to achieve landmark or historic preservation designation for the David Wright House. We will also post major developments about the David Wright House on our website.
This petition is one part of multiple actions by the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and our local partners to save thisimportant building. Often our work is behind-the-scenes because we can be most effective in that way, but throughout our history the Conservancy has been instrumental in many "saves." If you are interested in helping support our mission to facilitate the preservation of ALL of Wright's built work, I would encourage you to become a member today! In addition to becoming a partner in our efforts, Conservancy members also receive:
- Subscription to SaveWright , the Conservancy's color magazine published twice a year
- Advance notification and opportunities to visit Wright-designed private spaces rarely open to the public
If you are already a member, thank you for your continued support!
With your help, we can help ensure Wright's legacy for generations to come.
Best regards,
Janet Halstead
Executive Director
Do you have a product or business or announcement that should be listed on our "Buy Welsh for Christmas" page? There are a limited number of spaces for only $5 each and we'd love to have your item or announcement on it!
AmeriCymru has five ad spots available in the right-hand column and until the end of 2012, $25 gets you a 125px by 125px spot there for a whole year, on every page on the site. This column only holds so many ads and when it fills up, we can't do a thing about it for a year so contact us to get your ad in the right-hand column.
Email Ceri at americymru@gmail.com get listed!
Visit Wales Announces The Richard Burton Diaries Sweepstakes
And The Opening of The Richard Burton Trail in Wales
New York, New York November 9, 2012 Oscar-nominated actor Richard Burton would have been 87 on November 10 th . This passionate native of Wales returns to the spotlight on the eve of his birthday with the first complete collection of his diaries ever published ( www.yalebooks.com ). To celebrate, Visit Wales has launched The Richard Burton Diaries Sweepstakes (enter at www.visitwales.com/usa ), giving one lucky winner and a guest an exclusive glimpse into the places, the passion and the people that shaped the iconic actor.
The five- night, six-day prize trip will include a chance to meet the books editor, Chris Williams and view Burtons original diaries at Swansea University. The winner will also tour the newly opened Richard Burton Trail in Wales ( www.visitnpt.co.uk/richardburton ), visit his home village Pontrhydyfen, and travel to the seaside town of Tenby where Burton and Taylor vacationed together.
Its hard to imagine the world-acclaimed actor as a family man fretting about his daughters wounded heart, as a thoughtful and voracious reader of all manner of subjects, and as an insecure man with self-esteem issues, who, nonetheless continues to captivate. But that is the man that is revealed in The Richard Burton Diariesin his own words.
The Richard Burton Diaries Sweepstakes offers an intimate glimpse into one of Richard Burton's greatest loves: Wales. Inspired by the epic romance between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, the Grand Prize is provided courtesy of Visit Wales and Lynott Tours and includes:
- Roundtrip coach air transportation to Britain.
- 6 days / 5 nights' accommodation in Wales with stops in the capital, Cardiff, Dylan Thomass home, Swansea and Burton and Taylors seaside getaway, Tenby.
- Ground transfers and rail transportation in Wales.
- A visit to Richard Burton's hometown of Pontrhydyfen where you can walk the recently opened Richard Burton Trail.
- A private driver-guide excursion to charming Tenby where Burton and Taylor vacationed.
- A chance to meet Chris Williams, editor of The Richard Burton Diaries , tour the Richard Burton Centre at Swansea University, view Burton's original diaries (subject to scheduling availability).
- Four runners-up will receive The Richard Burton Diaries , courtesy of Yale University Press.
Log on to www.visitwales.com/usa to enter the sweepstakes and explore the exclusive blog series, Richard Burton: Loving Liz, Loving Wales.
Dear/AnnwylAmericymru
I work for the Scarlets rugby region in Llanelli, Wales and I am looking to do a feature showing Scarlets rugby supporters around the world.
There are a number of Welsh people around the world with close links to home, who may be missing aspects of Welsh life. I myself have recently returned home after living in France for 7 years, so I am fully aware of this.
The Scarlets is West Wales biggest brand and we are looking to spread its appeal further afield.
If there are any members of your association who would like to be part of this feature or who would like to become involved in the Scarlets in any way, wed love to hear from you. My email address is RobertBowen@scarlets.co.uk
Kind regards/Cyfarchion,
Robert Bowen
An Interview With Welsh Writer Vanessa Gebbie - Author Of 'The Coward's Tale'
By AmeriCymru, 2012-11-12
AmeriCymru spoke to Vanessa Gebbie recently about her novel ''The Coward''s Tale'' and her future writing plans. Vanessa is an author from South Wales, currently living in the south of England who has previously published two collections of short stories. ''The Coward''s Tale'' is her first novel and it is to be hoped, the first of many more. Visit Vanessa's website here Find her AmeriCymru page here Buy The Coward's Tale here
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Vanessa: Hi, and thank you so much for the invitation! Merthyr was always referred to as ‘home’. ‘Home’ was with my paternal grandmother Ethel Rose Rees, my uncle, aunt and cousin, in Highland View. Other relatives lived in Gwilym Terrace, off Plymouth Road, and Christopher Terrace. Memories are so many and so clear - I could (and probably did...) fill a book with them. But a few...
Wild ponies came to graze on the old coal tips at the end of Highland View. There were a few of us kids - we used to try to catch them with lassoos made of washing line. No chance! I remember one, a beautiful thing, grey as the mist. We called her Venus, but I expect that made no difference. As a small child, I would go up to bed before Coronation Street came on the television. I shared my grandmother’s double bed - and can remember the struggle to climb up, and how lovely it was - soft as anything. In the intermission, she would come up with a pack of sweet cigarettes - and I would lie and ‘smoke’ listening to the theme tune trickling through the floorboards. Listen - “Da - da da dee di da...” (!)
There was no plumbing inside the house - apart from in the kitchen. No bathroom. I remember how cold the china pot under the bed was!
I used to go with my uncle for walks across the river. He knew many things - where to find wild strawberries, and where the gypsies camped, and how to trick people into shaking his hand when he was holding rabbit poo. Squish...
He took me to the mouth of the old railway tunnel and we would stand together and shout into the darkness to hear the echoes. You could see the rib cage of a sheep a long way in, across the rails, like it was luminous.
And I remember my aunt sitting so close to the fire in the front room, that her left leg changed colour. It became mottled, like a map. I was fascinated to see how far up it went - but never found out.
Vanessa: Thank you for the comparisons - I learned a lot from Dylan Thomas, obviously, but I wanted to create something that wasn’t mere whimsy, like Under Milk Wood - lovely and genius though that is. Yes, there are individual tales - but the whole is a weave that makes them impossible to take out - or the whole would miss something - I hope you agree!
At the back of all the tales there is the echo of a disaster that happened a few generations ago - the collapse of a coal mine called Kindly Light. Families now are still coping with the fallout - even though they had no direct experience of the accident. One of the themes I was exploring is that of coming to terms with the past - understanding and acknowledging it - and then you can move on. Without that understanding, we are tethered, somehow.
That all sounds rather heavy - but the book isn’t heavy, is it? Like life, it is at times sad, then funny, sometimes serious, sometimes not.
I was also exploring the importance of ‘story’ to us all. Isnt it through fiction that we learn important truths about ourselves and others? I’ll leave that as a question.
AmeriCymru: ''The Halfwit''s and the Deputy Bank Manager''s Tale'' resolves itself with a wonderful and symbolic device. The dead and frozen fish rescued from the Taff illuminates the theme of the whole with a clarity that caused this reader to gasp with delight. As an aspiring short story writer I must ask ....how do you construct your stories? Do these revelatory episodes arrive first in your imagination and is the rest of the story constructed around them?
Vanessa: I am delighted you liked that story. And although I don’t plan and plot when I write, I often do have an idea of the final tableau of a piece - and set characters loose to work towards that tableau, to make sense of it. I think that’s how that piece happened - I wrote most of it in about 2005/6 so it’s a while back now.
The river freezing was a real gift - when things like that happen as I write, it reminds me why I love this work. Then I found photos of The Taff frozen over in reality - and that was great. Here’s a link to some images, taken in 1895. http://www.peoplescollection.org.uk/Item/7446-view-of-the-bridge-over-the-frozen-river-taff
But if course, this happens in September, in The Coward’s Tale, and at the end of that piece it says, “but rivers don’t freeze in September...” so it’s up to the reader to decide whether it did or didn’t! I love playing games.
I am a visual writer, and take inspiratation from visual images too. Photos, paintings, all sorts.
If you are a short story writer, I think Short Circuit - Guide to the Art of the Short Story is available in the US. I was asked to pull together a text book on writing short fiction - and as I’d never got to the end of a single-author ‘how-to’ book myself, decided to invite over twenty prizewinning short story writers, who are also teachers of writing, to contribute chapters/essays on all sorts of craft and process issues. It’s gone down well - and is recommended reading on many writing courses. It’s deliberately slightly different - there is no single ‘do this and you will be successful’ message, like there is with so many others. Something for everyone.
AmeriCymru: In a recent Telegraph article the reviewer/interviewer observed that "...Astute readers will find the 12 apostles in the characters he (Ianto Jenkins ) describes." Is this a religious novel? Does it have a religious dimension?
Vanessa: No - it isn’t. Not in the “Religious with a capital ‘R’” sense. I am not religious, really. However, the creation of the main characters was greatly helped by images and myths that have attached themselves to the twelve men who we have come to know as The Twelve Apostles. All I was doing was using those images as guides in making up my men, and/or their problems. They gave me jump-off points.
Some were easy - Peter, for example, The Rock - it was obvious to attach him to coal in some way. Others were less easy. Nathan, or Bartholomew, for example - less immediately well known images. I needed to research, and I much enjoyed finding out about the myths and legends, and in many cases used Biblical stories too. The Clerk’s Tale, for example, uses Tommo Price, a character who is a modern version of Doubting Thomas, in large part.
But having said I am not religious - I wouldn’t say I am not spiritual. Maybe partly, the novel is saying we need to accept the existence of things we don’t understand, things that have no or little logic?
AmeriCymru: I know you must have been asked this before but how does it feel to have your first novel described as "the legitimate offspring of Dylan Thomas and Gabriel Garcia Marquez” ?
Vanessa: Rather nice! I am immensely grateful to a fab writer, Charles Lambert, for that quote.
AmeriCymru: Besides appearing in numerous anthologies you have also published two collections of short stories, ''Storm Warning'' and Words From A Glass Bubble Can you tell us more about these collections? What can we expect to find between the covers?
Vanessa: “Storm Warning - Echoes of Conflict” is my ‘war book’. Written for my late father, who was a Sapper, and decorated in WWII, it explores conflict from the point of view of those caught up in it.
My father was a mild, gentle man from a Welsh valley town, working in a drawing office. He was pivoted into WWII as were so many, not really knowing what he was going to. He rose to the rank of Captain in the sappers, and was awarded the MC. But afterwards, he never really came to terms with what he’d experienced - it affected him for the rest of his life, in subtle and not so subtle ways.
‘Storm Warning’’s stories usually take place after the conflicts - WWI, and WWI, Vietnam, and many many others - and explore the legacy of the conflicts. (My Vietnam story is interesting, about power, and revenge - a man wants to take revenge on his old commander, and takes a job as janitor in the block of flats where the now-retired man is living...)
‘Words from a Glass Bubble’ is my first collection, a gathering of stories that had won prizes here and there, at Bridport, and Fish among others. Both that and ‘Storm Warning’ are from Salt Modern Fiction.
AmeriCymru: From your blog ( http://morenewsfromvg.blogspot.com/ ) we learn that you run a series of ''Daily Story Gym Exercises'' on Twitter. Care to tell us more about these?
Vanessa: Sure. I tweet as vanessagebbie on Twitter. But it struck me that it would be nice to have writing prompts appearing out of the blue, not attached to any writer in particular. So if you search for #StoryGym on Twitter, you will find a daily writing prompt tweeted by me, designed to intrigue, to kick off a new character, a story, perhaps. It’s about the first thing I do every morning!
AmeriCymru: What are you working on currently? What''s next from the pen of Vanessa Gebbie?
Vanessa: A novel, but it will take a long time. It is a prequel and a sequel in one, to The Coward’s Tale. Ianto and Laddy feature large as life. I am also writing poetry, and doing a lot of teaching.
AmeriCymru: Any plans to visit the US?
Vanessa: I wish! Who knows, maybe if the book does well, Bloomsbury will stump up for a ticket and a vist to an Eisteddfod. Wouldn’t that be great!
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?
Vanessa: Thanks for your time reading this, it is greatly appreciated. And thanks Ceri for such interesting questions. Good luck with your own writing.
Inigo Jones recently supplied 12 bespoke printed Welsh Slate Clocks for the London Welsh Festival of male voice choirs held at the Albert Hall in London on the 13th of October 2012.
Inigo Jones has recently invested in a new printing machine that enables the company to supply small runs of bespoke printing, onto various slate products.
John Lloyd said " This allows us for the first time to produce short runs of slate products that can be printed in full colour at very competitive prices" London%20Welsh%20Choir%20Clock%202012%20001.jpg
I would like to introduce you to WelshSinger Songwriter Aeram Evans who lives at Garndolbenmaen in Snowdonia, Wales.Aeram has been a musician since the age of 15, has been in a number of bands, and has released a number of CD's in, both, Welsh and English. Aeram's Welsh languagecompositions areregularly played on Radio Cymru, he's a dedicated Pentecostal Christian and as well as his compositions in the Welsh language in this genre, he has released a CD entitled 'Streets of Gold' . 
Streets of Gold comprises of 10 powerful Christian songs which can be listened to at: http://www.isound.com/aeram_evans
Aeram's latest compositions howeverare'pop' which can be listened to on SoundCloud at: http://soundcloud.com/aeram-evans/tracks On this introductorypage Aeram explains that he has composed these songsin the hope that he may interest world wideFilmProducers and established artistes inpurchasing them. He also states that he has worked on one of the songs 'Ready to go' -which is a touching song about wife or partner abuse,in collaboration with retired Firechief Ron Oliver of Redmond, Oregon USA. He and Ron are currently working on further compositions andare reaching the completion offour Christian tracks which I'm confident will be well worth listening to when they are released if the current songs on SoundCloud are anything to go by!
Aeram is also currentlycollaborating with American musician John Walch on some pretty powerfulCountry tracks...here's a link to thegems released from this collaboration to date; well worth listening to: http://soundcloud.com/search?q%5Bfulltext%5D=JonWinkzilla
I hope you will all enjoy and support this music and if you, like myself, think that Aeram and his collaborators deserve recognition for their creativity, please pass on the links as widely as possible.
I knew Christmas was just around the corner when the headmaster of the school my grandson attends called me into his office last week. Whatcould Isay but yes? I supposeI've grown into the role over the years! What a joy to be able to ask your grandchild whathe wants for Christmas. If the answer is too expensive I always have the option of explaining the elves are in dispute with the management so he might have to settle for another football! Last year was easy - he was onlyfive - but this year I know I'm going to come under more intensescrutiny. Let's just hope he doesn't start peeping under my beard. I'll have to change my deodorant though as last yearhe commented that"Father Christmas smelt just like you Bampa!"
Christmas is also an opportunity for writers to relaunch any books with a Christmas related theme. Goodreads has listed its top 20 favourite fictional Christmas Books. Click on the image below to view it for yourself but before you do, try and guess which book you think would be top of the list. My guess was that perennial favourite, and my personal number one, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. I was astonished to find I was wrong. See if you fare any better.
I was delighted to see that listed among them was Dylan Thomas' A Child's Christmas In Wales not just because I'm biased but because it is a magical book. Christmas seems to have inspired many fantastic stories. So much so that the classic fairytale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson did not even make the top 20. I was also astounded that one of my favourite stories that was turned into a smash hit BBC serial never even got a mention. John Masefiled's The Box of Delights is truly a delight. If you have never read it then give yourself a treat this Christmas. Also do all you can to get a copy of the BBC DVD starring the late great Patrick Troughton. Christmas still provides inspiration for stories from contemporary authors like the ones featured in this blog that embrace many genres.
Probably the most famous Christmas character after the Infant Jesus and Santa Claus is Ebenezer Scrooge the hardened old miser who found redemption and joy in the season of Hope and Forgiveness.I have always been fascinated by this particular character and it was one of the motivational factors behind my own particular Christmas story contribution A Christmas Carol Revisited. Set in contemporary Manhattan it attempts to explore issues that Dickens may well have written about were he alive today. Here is Ebenezer Clinton Scrooge III's take on Christmas as he watches the bustling sidewalk crowds from his penthouse eyrie.
"Scrooge gazed out of the window. Somewhere
below, the river flowed blacker than the Styx through the citys dark heart
into the eternal depths of the poisoned oceans. But Scrooges eyes were fixed
upon another river. The unceasing flow of humanity condemned as surely to
follow the course of existence to its inevitable conclusion as the river was
compelled to flow into the embrace of the blind and restless sea.
Christmas held out hope that the journey
was not in vain. That was one of the reasons he despised it. Christmas was for
the weak, for sentimental fools who had never grasped that salvation in this
world was something to be wrung forcefully from lifes unwilling grip. Once the
presents had been opened and the parties were over what was left apart from
hangovers and a bigger overdraft? He smiled. He was above that now, had been
for years. Just as detached and aloof as the gigantic reflection of himself
superimposed on the vista upon which he cast such a scornful eye."
Ghost stories are aso a great Christmas Tradition so next week we'll take a look at some Indie authors who write within this genre.
The first of our authors with a Christmas theme is Carol DeVaney.
Her novel is entitled 'A Smoky Mountain Christmas' .
Tina Cole has one goal: to take back control of her life. Falling in love isn't
part of the bargain. On the rebound from a fizzled relationship, she lands on
writer Hank Gordon's doorstep and finds that everything she thought she wanted
out of life means nothing without love.
Recently divorced and disillusioned
by love, Hank Gordon has sworn off women. He isn't in the mood to entertain a
woman with an attitude who frustrates him more than any woman hes ever met.
Hanks novel deadline is twenty-four hours away and he's cut off from the world
with no phone or email service, and a beautiful, aggravating crazy woman to
distract him. If Hank thinks his life couldn't get any worse, he's wrong. Not
only is he baby-sitting a sassy Southern princess who has no idea what a kitchen
is for, but two escaped convicts turn up at the cabin, while Hanks horse is
about to foal.
A Smoky Mountain Christmas is available on Amazon Kindle. Click the image to access the book.
The next author is the exotically named 'PY Lab' .
Her Christmas offering is 'A Chinese Christmas Carol' .
After giving birth to her daughter, Joies world begins to fall apart as she becomes a whole different person. She is not the happy person that she once was. One evening, she meets a woman, and from then onwards, she finds herself re-living specific moments of her painful childhood past.
Our third author is Christopher Lord and his book is entitled The Christmas Carol Murders .
Its the holiday season in Dickens Junction, Oregon. Local bookstore owner Simon Alastair is getting ready for the communitys annual celebration of Charles Dickenss well-known story. But when a mysterious stranger shows up in the Junction and is murdered hours later, Simon begins to suspect that his little community has been targeted for destruction by a shadowy organization. And why is everyone suddenly reading Ayn Rand?
Christopher's novel has received rave reviews on Amazon.
[ The Christmas Carol Murders ] is full of love for books...readers will
eat it up. Full of homespun characters and curious goings-on, Lord's mystery is
a love letter to both Dickens and to the small town amateur detectives who've
kept the peace in hamlets from River Heights to Cabot Cove.
- Chelsea
Cain , New York Times best-selling thriller writer
A delicious romp
through the world of Dickens wonderfully imagined in the 21st century by
Christopher Lord. The Christmas Carol Murders has it all: mystery,
eccentric characters galore and a touch of frivolity. You don't have to be a
Dickens fan to fall in love...
- Margaret Coel , New York Times
bestselling author of Buffalo Bill's Dead
"...a different, yet
delightful, type of cozy mystery...coupling old fashioned values with au
courant perspectives and literary interests... The Christmas Carol
Murders is one treat you won't need to beg for! Just go out and get it or
gift wrap it up for a friend!
- Audrey Lawrence , Fresh Fiction
(tinyurl.com/9ocubkf)
Lord [brings] this story to life in an old
fashioned kind of way with a modern day twist...The murders were tastefully
done...[Lord] had me guessing to the very end...Mr. Lord writes with passion,
pulling you into the story, not letting you go until the end, leaving you
wanting more. I say he has a hit on his hands.
- Robin ,
Romancing the Book
NOW: One to look out for:
Kelly S Gamble
Her darkly humorous Christmasnovel They Call Me Crazy is due for release this December.
Roland Adams was just a good ol' boy from Deacon, Kansas. When his wife, Cass, is found trying to dump his body in the Spring River, the town can only come to one conclusion: She's crazy. Certifiable. Always has been.
While Cass' big city lawyer fights for her freedom, Cass' life unfolds, as do her odd relationships with her worm-farming brother-in-law, her psychic grandmother, her gold-digging sister, and her estranged best friend ... her only friend, a promiscuous fifth grade teacher. What binds them together has also torn them apart, and their secrets may be the key to Cass' deliverance.
But Roland is the only one who has all of the answers. And he's not talking.
They Call Me Crazy is due to hit the shelves this December.
Good Luck Kelly
NEXT WEEK: Ghost Stories For Christmas
SwanTV were pleased to contribute to the Dylan Thomas Literary Award ceremony by producing the video shown at the beginning of the evening and by following the finalist during the week as they were involved in different events including talking at local schools to inspire pupils.
Jamie Owen of BBC Wales hosted the event. We heard excepts read by each finalist from their book.
Chibunda Onuzo read from The Spider King's Daughter. Born in Nigeria in 1991, she is the yongest of for children. She gradated fro King's College. London in 2012 with a first in History. When not writing Chibunda can be found playing the piano or singing.
D W Wilson was born and raised in the small towns of the Kooteney Valley, British Columbia. He read from Once You Break a Knuckle . He is the recipient of the University of East Anglia;s inaugural an Booker Prize Scholarship - the most prestigious award available to students in the MA programme. His stories have appeared in literary magazines across Cananda, Ireland and the United Kingdom: and The Dead Roads won the BBC National Short Story Award in 2011. He lives in London.
Seating Arrangements was read by Maggie Shipstead . She graduated from Harvard in 2005 and earned an MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Currently, she is
a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Seating Arrangements is her first novel.
Tom Benn read an except from The Doll Princess . Born in 1987, he grew up in Stockport. He is a graduate of the UEA Creative Writing MA and was a recipient of the 2009 Malcolm Bradbury bursary.
The White Shadow was read by Andrea Eames who was born in 1985. She was brought up in Zimbabwe, where she attended a Jewish school for six years, a Hindu school for one, a Catholic convent school for two and a half, and then the American International School in Harare. Andrea's family moved to New Zealand in 2002. She worked as a bookseller and editor and now lives in Austin, Texas with her husband. Her first novel, The Cry of the Go-Away Bird, was published in 2011.
It was no surprise to hear that the judges had a tough job selecting a winner, each book was a joy to listen to, and I would highly recommend reading all.
The winner was Maggie Shipstead and she was presented with a cheque for 30,000 by Hannah Ellis, grand-daughter of Dylan Thomas.
The
evening celebrations were held at the Waterfront Museum, Swansea and
this was a superb sumptuous setting for such a glittering prize. 
This is a bi-annual event and will coincide with the century of the birth of Dylan Thomas.
- More local info at http://swanseabay-tv.blogspot.co.uk/
