Pioneering Photographs inspired by Rembrandt

By Simon Collinge and Andrew Gale

Invitations have now been sent to over 100 groups, societies and organisations who have taken part in the project and the authors look forward to welcoming everyone with an interest in the History of our Town. Courtyard Books, Llangollen Library and Llangollen Museum will also display books on the theme of Llangollen.

Inspired by Rembrandt and Frans Hals portraits Simon Collinge and Andrew Gale applied the Dutch artists dramatic lighting techniques to photograph Llangollens various clubs and societies .

Simon Collinge, said:

The book is a unique record of the people and their activities preserved for posterity providing both an historical record for the town and a fascinating guide for visitors

These 100 plus portraits show how rich and varied an experience living in a small town can be if you simply reach out to find like minded individuals

The book website, llangollencommunity.co.uk , will go live on the 25 ^th April when the book is on sale. The website will include the content from the book with photographs with their copy and, in addition, contact details for the groups. It will also be possible to purchase copies of the book and prints through the site.

1.00 from every copy sold will be donated to the community venues that were used for some of the locations.

Interesting comment from one of the proof readers that the book, with over 500 named individuals, should be titled Langollen Whos Who?.

What a useful guide for identifying all those people whos faces you recognise but cannot remember their names!.

A selection of prints from the book are also on display in our exhibition at Llangollen Museum during April where large quality photographs from the book can be viewed.

Further details:

http://www.memorybox.org.uk/Llangollen_People.htm

Llangollen Community Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Llangollen-community/287437458043111?ref=ts&fref=ts

Llangiollen Museum Exhibition

https://www.facebook.com/events/282063581927778/

Simon Collinge

simon952@btinternet.com

Andrew Gale

info@andrew-gale.com

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The re is still time to enter this years sixth international Welsh Poetry Competition and be in with a chance of bagging the 300 1 st Prize.

The aim of the competition is to encourage and reward the abundance of creative writing talent that we know exists out there but finds difficulty getting recognition.

Writer and competition organizer Dave Lewis said: Poets have just over a month left to send us their entries and be in with a chance of a cash prize and publication on our website.

We are 100% independent, we do not use filter judges, we do not get grants, bursaries or other public money from the Arts Council but are purely self-financing.

This year weve already had entries from France, India, USA , New Zealand and Cameroon to name just a few places. We are looking for new and innovative writers, so if you think youre the one why not send us your work!

Weve had f ive great years now which confirms the Welsh Poetry Competition as a truly international event firmly embedded in the literary calendar. As always many people enter because they know it is a unique opportunity and feel our competition is judged fairly.

W e aim to discover previously unpublished voices and are less concerned with an academic approach to poetry but would rather see pure raw passion burst onto the creative writing scene in Wales.

The prize money for 201 2 is as follows. Prizes are: 1st Prize - 300, 2nd Prize - 150 and 3rd Prize - 75 plus 17 runners-up being published on our website .

We are absolutely delighted that John Evans , has agreed to judge this years competition. He has become an internationally respected figure both for his writing and his work campaigning to conserve our wildlife and environment.

To enter you just need to compose a poem, in English, of less than 50 lines and send to the competition organizers. Entry forms are available by post, can be downloaded from the web site or picked up from all of Wales libraries. It is only 4 to enter and the closing date is Sunday 2 7 th May 201 2 .

Competition Website - www.welshpoetry.co.uk

Competition Judge www.johnevans.org.uk

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This is the second in an occasional series of interviews with accommodation providers in north Wales who are connected with the Celticos/AmeriCymru Trail Tour . This week we would like to thank Peter Lavin, proprietor of the Castle Hotel, Conway for agreeing to be interviewed about this superb vacation venue, its location, history and attractions. Visit the Hotel website here:- Castle Hotel

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St Davids Day Means Poetry Day!

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The international Welsh Poetry Competition, 2012, was launched this week in Pontypridd, South Wales.

The annual competition, now in its sixth year, has become an important event on the literary calendar.

Writer and competition organizer Dave Lewis said: The competition has been a huge success and it has become more and more popular each year. We are especially pleased that it has now become a truly international event with entries arriving from around the world.

Many feel the competition is unique because it is truly independent and we do not use filter judges. All our entries are also judged anonymously and so, whether you are an established writer or beginner, everyone has an equal chance. This is important because it allows new talent to be discovered.

This year the competition will be judged by Welsh writer and environmentalist, John Evans .

We are absolutely delighted that John Evans , has agreed to judge this years competition. He has become an internationally respected figure both for his writing and his work campaigning to conserve our wildlife and environment.

The competition has had five great years already and last year we celebrated with an anthology containing all the winning poems from the competition so if anyone also wants to see the standard of work before they enter they can buy a copy from the competition website.

As always, we hope to discover previously unpublished voices alongside the more familiar literary names. We believe good poetry should be raw, passionate, and honest we are less interested in dry, academic, poetry. This is the kind of writing wed like to see bursting onto the creative writing scene in Wales.

The prize money for 2012 is as follows. Prizes are: 1st Prize - 300, 2nd Prize - 150 and 3rd Prize - 75 .

To enter you just need to compose a poem, in English, of less than 50 lines and send to the competition organizers. Entry forms are available by post, can be downloaded from the web site or picked up from c libraries. It is just 4 to enter and the closing date is Sunday 27 ^th May 2012 .

Competition Website - www.welshpoetry.co.uk

Competition Judge www.johnevans.org.uk

Add blog posts, discussions, photos, videos and music directly from the front page. Just click the appropriate link above the status update box and go to work. Saves a bit of navigation

May be a few bugs with this initially but it should be working ok soon.

We are extremely pleased and proud to announce that Jack Bevil will be appearing and performing at this years West Coast Eisteddfod in September. Watch this space for further details.

In the meantime here is Part I of our three part interview with Jack originally posted in 2009 Master of The Crwth - Digon o Grwth Part (1)

And here is a selection of tracks originally uploaded to the site to coincide with the interview. Enjoy!

Many South-Walians do not speak Welsh. Many of them wish they did. Ever since the introduction of bi-lingual road and public utility signs in Wales it has been easier to acquire a basic vocabulary. Most people, Welsh speakers or not, are aware that an "ysbyty" is a hospital and an "ysgol" is a school. It is also a fact that many of this site's members ( myself included ) are Welsh learners and we would like to make things a little easier for them.

Starting today, we are going to translate the site into Welsh. This will be done bit by bit over a fairly extended period. Some areas will possibly be left in English, due to space considerations, but we want to work toward a fully bilingual site. We are inviting members to consider translating words or phrases and emailing them to us for inclusion in our new language file.

We made a start in the Quickstart box at the top of the right hand column. As you can see "Friends/Cyfeillion" and "Invite/Gwadd" now appear in Welsh and English. As we proceed more bilingual links and instructions will appear throughout the site.

So......if you have a little time to spare please consider sending us a translation or two to help move things along. Pick a phrase....any phrase, translate it and send your translation to americymru@gmail.com.