Welsh writer Dave Lewis has just published his new book Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses , a collection of poetry split into five sections and accompanied by photographs on the authors web site. The collection contains the poem Learning in Gaps which was highly commended in the New Writer competition judged by Helen Ivory.

Praise for Sawing Fallen Logs:

"From the first eponymously titled poem, we realise that Dave Lewis's work possesses an energy and freshness that lifts his imagery and empathy way above the work of many less ambitious poets. The element of surprise in each poem, however short, is even more startling coming as it does from such uncluttered writing. Last lines are an example, while phrases such as trees as tall as ships, a severe lack of hares, the brittle grass of misunderstanding... will surely enhance the readers' own perceptions of the world around them. This collection's structure too, works well under its five separate headings, and the diverse forms used in several poems adds visual variety. A wonderful read. Buy it!"
Sally Spedding
"Dave Lewis is a vital voice of the Valleys, in touch with both the streets and the natural world. His free-flowing verse makes him a Welsh son of the Beats."
Mike Jenkins

Dave Lewis has done it again! A superb collection of Zen-like poetry, not the usual pseudo-academic bullshit churned out by most of the arts council hangers-on but a cutting edge piece of art guaranteed to make us all sit up and take notice. A cyclic collection divided into five parts, each one able to stand alone yet each also flows easily into the next. We find ourselves transported from the beauty and fragility of nature past ex-lovers and exotic far off lands before finally returning home to the valleys and close family a wonderful sense of time and place. The last poems highlight an obsession with his local environment where sparse verse expertly pin-point what surrounds, influences and controls us all. This is another book to savour, full of surprises, but more importantly, full of answers in an ever distracting modern world.
Mark Davies

Dave Lewis is an accomplished photographer who moves easily between the beauty of an ecological landscape and the stark reality of urban decay.
Andrew Davies, The Gallowbirds

Dave is also competition organizerfor the Welsh Poetry Competition , an international event based in Pontypridd. You can purchase a copy of his third title, plus his other work from his website, Amazon, Welsh Books Council and all good booksellers. For more information visit the following websites:

Dave Lewis website www.david-lewis.co.uk

Welsh Poetry Competition www.welshpoetry.co.uk

"OpenSocial is now live across our more than 500,000 social networks this morning. This release replaces and improves our older Gadgets beta functionality, and enables Network Creators and their members to add all sorts of great new features, or Applications, to their profile pages with a single click. Each social network on Ning now offers more than 30 OpenSocial applications from which to choose, including file sharing from Box.net, poll creation from Polldaddy and e-commerce from Shopit. Here are some cool highlights of our OpenSocial integration:* The OpenSocial directory on each network automatically inherits the branding and visual design of that network.* OpenSocial applications on Ning can inherit the visual style of the member profile page to which theyre added.* OpenSocial applications are automatically integrated into a networks viral loops. The ability for OpenSocial applications to write to a members latest activity feed, send messages on behalf of the member and spread using a networks default viral sharing options are all there by default."

Its that time of year again: voices will be lost, throats will be hoarse, and all in the name of the highly anticipated Six Nations. But the author of a new book on the Welsh national anthem tells politicians, rugby players and fans not to sing Hen Wlad fy Nhadau on Saturday unless they truly believe and agree with the words.

Sin Jobbins, author of The Welsh National Anthem (Y Lolfa, 3.95) says that he'd rather have a quiet but honest stadium for the national anthem in Wales's opening match against Ireland, rather than 80 minute patriots sing the song without believing in the words.

When the anthem was composed by Evan James and James James, the Pontypridd father and son in 1856, some 80 per cent of the Welsh population spoke Welsh, explains the author. But as we've seen from the latest census results, were down to 20 per cent Welsh speakers by now. There's been a lot of singing in those 150 years, but not enough action. If the politicians, players and fans are serious about the anthem, then we all need to stand up and do our bit for the Welsh language. After all, it's the language which gives us the license to call ourselves a nation and have a national rugby team.

Coincidentally, Wales made history in 1905 by singing the national anthem for the first time at the start of a sporting event. Although hymn singing and singing the anthem were popular during matches, on the 16th of December 1905, the Welsh rugby players and crowd answered the New Zealanders haka dance with a rousing rendering of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau.

The national anthem is a fantastic song with a fascinating history. For thousands of us, o bydded ir heniaith barhau - long may the old language endure - is the most important line in the anthem, adds Jobbins. This line has sustained and challenged people for over 150 years. I love hearing the anthem at our international rugby and football matches, and wish it would be played when next a Welsh athlete stands on an Olympic podium, also.

The Welsh National Anthem traces the story behind the stirring song that, just because it was so good, became the nations anthem. The book also explains the meaning behind the words and includes a handy song sheet as well as an English translation and a phonetic version for learners. If youre committed to Wales then dont fail the John Redwood test, says Jobbins. Learn the words and learn the meaning. Its a rough-guide to the story of modern Wales.

Born in Zambia but raised in Cardiff, Sin Jobbins studied history at the University College in Aberystwyth. He is one of the founders of the dotCYMRU bid to gain status for Welsh identity on the web and is the author of The Phenomenon of Welshness.

Another superb design from Peter Lewis of Wales Ireland Design . Only two weeks to go. GO HERE to send this card to your friends/relatives for St David's Day ( or bookmark the page for later )

Looking for a selection of St David's Day cards? Look no further.

The AmeriCymru Directory will be displaying a selection of e-cards from today. Just a few to begin with but we will be adding more over the course of the next few weeks. Check back to see the latest designs. Cards are free to send so...Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus/Happy St David's Day

AmeriCymru Welsh ECards

" Thursday 14th April 2011 at 18:30 Welsh time and 10:30 U.S. time, ... Wales and the U.S. link up live for the first time since Llanelli's finest Dave 'The Edge' Evans strutted his stuff with U2 at Live Aid in 1985, when Ceri of Americymru and David of David Garland Jones appear in a live video Skype session on Youtube. Be there. "

You can witness this historic moment in the history of Welsh cinema 'live' on David's YouTube channell ( April 14th 6.30 p.m. Wales time, 10.30 Pacific time, 1.30 Eastern time ) Screen debut of a seedy 'Pontypool Boyo'

www.youtube.com

www.youtube.com

Home of the actor David Garland Jones' broadcasts and associated progamming. [N.B.: Some of the music used has not had copyright release. This is a not-for-profit enterprise.]

I guess everyone who has been following our progress is aware by now that we have achieved our funding goal with the Kickstart appeal. This is an important milestone in the development of our program for this years West Coast Eisteddfod and I want to take this opportunity on behalf of AmeriCymru and A Raven Above Press to thank you all for your generous support.

We will be making many further announcements as we develop the schedule for this years event and we are acutely conscious that none of our plans would be realisable without your donations. A thousand diolch's to everyone who contributed . We remain committed to bringing you the best possible event in September and we will be announcing other ways in which our supporters can assist us with that as we move nearer to the date.

We will be distributing complimentary tickets for Eisteddfod donors in the coming weeks. Please check your inbox for details.

Diolch yn Fawr Ceri Shaw ( AmeriCymru ) Lorin Morgan-Richards ( A Raven Above Press )