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SFA unveil entire new record in gig webcast!
At 8pm GMT on March 16th ( 4 p.m. Eastern, 3p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Mountain and 1 p.m. Pacific ) log onto superfurry.com to see a gig webcast - its the first airing of the new album, Dark days/Light Years and you'll be able to see the band playing the new album in its entirety.You can buy the new album immediately from 8pm UK time on March 16 from superfurry.com on MP3 download...there will also be options to pre-order it on CD, which will be available from April 13.Expect to start hearing tracks from DD/LY on the radio and online from next week - Inaugural Trams features Nick from Franz Ferdinand doing a German rap, so worth looking out for!
The full tracklisting is -
DARK DAYS/LIGHT YEARS
Crazy Naked Girls
The Very Best Of Neil Diamond
Moped Eyes
Inaugural Trams
Inconvenience
Cardiff In The Sun
Mountain Helium Hearts
White Socks/Flip Flops
Where Do You Wanna Go
Lliwiau Llachar
Pric
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Our more eagle-eyed members will have noticed that the AmeriCymru Bookstore has undergone a major remodelling over the last few days. The old categories and navigation were somewhat confusing and for various reasons we felt that a reorganisation was in order.
Of course, this means that we will have to re add a great many titles that were formerly listed. Please feel free to suggest titles in comments below. The bookstore is a work in progress and we will be adding a significant number of titles every day over the next week or so.
Additionally we will be featuring a 'Book of the Day' from the store. Todays title is The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still by Malcolm Pryce.
Wales is a continent in the Atlantic Ocean that is commonly confused with the Republic of Congo.
By Ceri Shaw, 2009-03-14
More amazing revelations from the Uncyclopedia WALES ( http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Wales )
At last the truth can be revealed! Read the Uncyclopedia article HERE . ( http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Trilobite )
Llangollen International Eisteddfod hailed a success despite the adverse Weather
By Ceri Shaw, 2012-07-09
Concert Ticket Sales Up nearly 2,000 from last year
Llangollen International Eisteddfod 2012 has been hailed a success despite all the rain that challenged the week events. Over 2,000 competitors from 23 countries overcame the adverse weather to compete in the years festival. Sell out concerts like Alfie Boe on Thursday evening helped to push ticket sales up by 2,000 compared to last year!
At the end of his first Llangollen International Eisteddfod as Music Director, Eilir Owen Griffiths said, It has been a week full of colorful competitions for competitors that have traveled to Llangollen from all over the World. Applicants for the competitions were higher this year which is also reassuring for a Festival in its 66th year. We were pleased that the number of competitors in 2012 remained on par to 2011. The rain did affect footfall on certain days and we had 800 visitors less in comparison to last year, but to counterbalance that, concert tickets Im happy to say were up by 2,000. The variety Llangollen had to offer certainly pulled in the crowds especially the young audience. We are still counting the cost of the extra last minute provisions which had to be provided underfoot due to the bad weather conditions, however we can safely say that Llangollen International Eisteddfod is back on its feet financially and withstood weather condition unlike other festivals.
Terry Waite CBE officially opened the 2012 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in a spectacular all singing and all dancing concert on Tuesday night. In his speech from the pavilion stage he said, The whole of the World has been suffering from economic difficulties, but thanks to the remarkable resilience of volunteers, supporters and sponsors we have yet another successful Eisteddfod in our hands. The festival plays such an important role in the life of the community and indeed in the life of the whole world. It has been of course, a testing year, but it takes more than an economic recession to defeat the spirit of those who stand behind this Eisteddfod.
Soprano Leslie Garrett hosted an all-star lineup of Britains most charismatic artists on Wednesday night and a sellout Alfie Boe concert on Thursday helped to pushed ticket sales to nearly 2,000 higher than last year.
History was made on Friday night when a record number of performers, a 200 strong choir, took to the stage to perform Karl Jenkins The Peacemaker. In complete contrast on the same night at Llangollen Railway Station this unusual location became a second stage for the night and the audience of around 150 were given a feast of folk music by the likes of The Hennesseys and Irish band Ioscaid.
The competitions came to a close on Saturday night with the Pavarotti Trophy awarded to DelicaTon from Germany, crowned Choir of the World.
The Grand Finale Concert on Sunday night bought Llangollen International Eisteddfod to a star-studded close as Walesfinest artists such as Wynne Evans, John Owen Jones and Cr CF1 entertained the audience.
Exiting new changes have been introduced to Llangollen International Eisteddfod 2013. Music Director, Eilir Owen Griffiths added, We want to ensure that Llangollen Eisteddfod has the best choral competitions in the World therefore the International event has begun the search for 40 choirs to compete in the Choir of the World Competition next year and introduced a new Childrens Choir of the World competition. We want to build on this years success and appeal to on even wider range of potential applicants.
A Ceredigion based publishing company is hoping e-book technology can help breathe new life into Welsh language literature. Y Lolfa is launching the first ever Welsh language eBook. Managing director Garmon Gruffudd said the technology, which enables works to be published without printing costs, could enable Welsh works to be distributed widely across the world.He said: Production costs for e-books are far less tha n for printed books. You dont have to take paper, ink and glue into account. Nor do you have to worry about delivery costs or warehouse storage. It means we can sell Welsh language books to readers all over the world without the great expense of distribution and postage.
The first work to be published as an e-book by the long established Talybont based company will be a murder mystery novel Y Llwybr (The Path) by Geraint Evans, a former lecturer at Aberystwyth University. The cost of downloading an electric EPUB file of the book is a pound cheaper than the paper version. Y Lolfa hopes that this book will be the first of many eBooks in both Welsh and English that will be available on its website www.ylolfa.com . Garmon Gruffudd added,
The problem at the moment is that the e-reading devices are quite expensive, however as with music, in the long run, technology will improve and prices will come down. As a forward looking company we want to be prepared.
Good News
We are busy preparing for the National Eisteddfod 2012. Seren will have a stand on the Maes at which you can browse and buy - look out for special offers! You can also meet authors, have books signed and talk to Seren staff about our work, and yours. Keep an eye on the Seren website and events page for more information.
The Eisteddfod Maes is at The Old Airfield, Llandow, Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan. The Eisteddfod runs from Saturday 4th August until Saturday 11th August 2012 we hope to see you there!
Two Seren titles have been shortlisted for the dlr Strong Award 2012 . Eoghan Walls The Salt Harvest and Nerys Williams Sound Archive are on the shortlist along side two other poets. The Strong Award is part of Poetry Now at Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival and serves to recognise the promise and achievement of both English and Irish language poets.
All shortlisted nominees will read at the Strong Reading during the Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival 2012 and the prize-winner will be awarded 1,000.
The dlr Strong Award in partnership with Shine is awarded in memory of Rupert and Eithne Strong.
More news
The Wales Book of the Year 2012 winner will be announced next Thursday, 12th July at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff at 7pm.
Seren have two books on the Best Fiction shortlist, The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness and The Keys of Babylon by Robert Minhinnick, and we wish them well. To buy tickets, contact Literature Wales: 029 2047 2266 / post@literaturewales.org
New titles - Out Now
 | Lightning Beneath the Sea by Grahame Davies Already well-known for his prizewinning Welsh-language poetry and fiction, and for his scholarly non-fiction, Grahame Davies has now produced his first collection of poems in English. Using a native warmth and an intimate, conversational tone, his poems are as concerned with character and relationships as they are with wider cultural matters. 'Departed', a poem from this collection will be the Guardian 'Poem of the Week' starting from Monday 9th July. ISBN: 9781854115751 Paperback 8.99 |
 | Big Low Tide by Candy Neubert A small island stands in the channel, barely changed by the tides. On its surface, the islanders go about their daily lives aware that its not possible to make a move undetected here, where everyone knows everybody else; where the neighbours will always notice, and judge. They know this, but they may have forgotten that its always possible to leave. ISBN: 9781854115836 Paperback: 8.99 |
Forthcoming Titles
 | Burying the Wren by Deryn Rees-Jones Poetry Book Society Recommendation In her fourth poetry collection from Seren, Deryn Rees-Jones returns to familiar preoccupations but with a new clarity and maturity of vision. Intensely lyrical and elegiac, these poems focus on hymns to small things to set against a grave loss, that of her late husband, the poet and critic Michael Murphy. Above all these are poems of the body, ...the blue heartstopping pulse at the wrist, which are alive to the world and the transformative qualities of love. ISBN: 978185411576 Paperback: 8.99
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| | Keidrych Rhys The Van Pool: Collected Poems by Charles Mundye (ed) Keidrych Rhys was one of the most influential writers in Wales in the 40s and 50s who counted Dylan Thomas, Glyn Jones, Vernon Watkins, Emyr Humphreys, Alun Lewis, RS Thomas and many others among his circle of friends and literary acquaintances.This book brings together The Van Pool (Faber, 1942), Rhyss only poetry collection and a wide variety of uncollected and unpublished poetry and translations. ISBN: 9781854115829 Paperback: 12.99 |
 | The Mind/Body Problem by Katha Pollitt The British edition of a prize-winning book of poetry by the renowned American poet and essayist, Katha Pollitt. Informed by a sensibility both keenly political and artfully subversive, she touches on such subjects as Lives of the 19th Century Poetesses, Collectibles and The Night Subway. The middle section of the book is devoted to revisionist tales from the Bible where female characters like Martha and Lots Wife get the last word, followed by pieces that hinge on philosophical questions that evoke paradox, like the title poem and Happiness Writes White. ISBN: 9781854115744 Paperback: 8.99 |
 | Poet to Poet: Edward Thomass Letters to Walter de la Mare by Judy Kendell (ed) This collection of letters from Edward Thomas to Walter de la Mare amounts to over three hundred, running from 1906 to 1917. Inspiring and poignant, they give a moving account of the growing trust between these two poets; including some fascinating biographical detail and insights into their composing practices, their close and changing friendship and their special influence on each other. ISBN: 9781854115805 Paperback: 14.99
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Forthcoming Events
Friday 6th July 11am: Radio 4. Paul Henry presents 'Excusing Private Godfrey' celebrating the life of playwright, actor and Somme survivor Arnold Ridley.
Saturday 7th July 7.30pm: Poetry on the Border offers an evening of rare musicality and compelling power, when the extraordinary Ian Duhig, master of high seriousness and low clowning - meets Paul Henry. Newport's most musical son and favourite poet at The Drill Hall, Lower Church Street, Chepstow NP 16 5HJ. Further details: www.poetryontheborder.org
Saturday 14th July - Sunday 15th July: Rhian Edwards reads from Clueless Dogs in the Poetry Tent at The Latitude Festival. 3.40pm (Sat) and 4.40pm (Sun). Check the Latitude Festival website for more details.
Monday 16th July 2pm: 'Winning Words' Tony Curtis will be holding a poetry workshop at The Hours book shop in Brecon. A chance for budding and established writers to work along side one of Wales most foremost writers (Fee 5)
Monday 16th July 7pm: 'Winning Words' - Poetry Reading. Tony Curtis will be joined by the Poet, Novelist, Editor and Literary Critic Grahame Davies for a reading of their work. Grahame has recently released his first collection of poetry in English, Lightning Beneath the Sea with Seren.
Thursday 19th July 7pm: Rhian Edwards is reading from her poetry collection Clueless Dogs at The Imp in Merthyr Tydfil. The Imperial Hotel, High Street, Merthyr Tydfil.
Friday 20th July 6.30pm : Grahame Davies launches his first collection of poetry in English, Lightning Beneath the Sea , at Waterstones Cardiff (The Hayes).
Friday 20th July 7.30pm: Rhian Edwards reads from Clueless Dogs at The Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl. See the Grand Pavilion website for more details.
Tuesday 24th July 6.45pm: Seren poet Judy Brown (Loudness) will be reading with Ruth Padel as part of the Wordsworth Trust Poetry Season 2012. At St Oswalds Church in Grasmere.
Monday 30th July - Saturday 4th August : Ty Newydd writers centre Starting and Restarting to Write with Paul Henry and Sian Melangell Dafydd. A poetry and prose course for adults which welcomes those who are new to writing and also those wishing to re-embark on previously abandoned forays into poetry and/or prose. Bookings/Details via: www.tynewydd.org
Wednesday 1st August 7.30 pm: Tokens for the Foundlings event, readers to be confirmed. Board Room, Barry Docks Offices.
Monday 6th Saturday 11th August : Ty Newydd residential poetry course in North Wales. Tutors Pascale Petit and Daljit Nagra, guest reader Karen McCarthy Woolf. Ty Newydd, Llanystumdwy, Cricieth, Gwynedd LL52 0LW To book phone 01766 522811 or email: tynewydd@literaturewales.org
Poem of the Month
The Hunt
New Bedford, Massachusetts
They still go out from here, the fishermen,
although you have to search these days to find
their rust-stained craft among the pleasure-yachts,
the pristine, white vacation voyagers.
They go with gasoline, of course, not sail,
not stars and sextants now, but satellites,
yet still the circling stormfronts when they stray
and still the waves cold welcome when they fall.
That much has stayed the same since Melvilles day:
out on Acushnet from New Bedford port,
back two years older, and a whaling man,
scarred, crown to sole, like Ahab, by the hunt,
ashore again, but not on solid ground.
Because its always there, the enemy,
the one you would give everything to kill,
the one you cannot bear to live without,
greater than you are, guessed at, never grasped,
something with teeth, your lances in its side,
hidden in darkness, whiter than the snow,
silver in shadow, lightning in the sea.
From Grahame Davies's new poetry collection Lightning Beneath the Sea 8.99
