This is a copy of an email which we are currently circulating. Please let us know if you can help.


Hi

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ceri Shaw and together with my partner Gaabriel Becket I run the AmeriCymru website which is a networking site for the Welsh, Welsh Americans and Cymruphiles all over the world. We also organise an annual event in Portland , Oregon called the Left Coast Eisteddfod. This year we have arranged a major presence at Wordstock ( October 7th-10th 2010 ) which is the US NorthWest's equivalent to the Hay on Wye festival in Wales. The estimated attendance is between 15 and 20 thousand and we have a featured panel discussion ( Welsh Identity in Literature: From Dylan Thomas to Doctor Who ), several workshops and a booth at the event. The festival is in part sponsored by Powell's who are the second largest online distributor of books ( second only to Amazon.com ) and whose physical bookstore in Portland takes up an entire city block. Our goal at this event is to stimulate interest in, and attempt to establish Anglo-Welsh literature as a distinct and marketable niche with the US reading public. Here are a few links to further information about the event and our role in it:-

http://americymru.ning.com/profiles/blogs/wales-at-wordstock

http://www.welshicons.org.uk/news/literature/you-cant-keep-a-welshman-down-wales-at-wordstock/

We operate in the US as a 501c3 ( registered charity ) and as such we raise funds to promote Wales and Welsh culture in the States. As you can see from the above link to the WelshIcons site we recently missed out on $20,000 worth of funding by a mere 32 votes in the Chase Manhattan Community Giving contest on Facebook. We are proceeding with our plans despite this and will be flying over a number of authors for this event and featuring local authors of Welsh heritage or with an interest in Wales. Next year we plan to do likewise and hopefully in larger numbers.

At the moment we have a problem which we believe is also something of an opportunity. Shipping books in quantity from the UK or via US distributors is incredibly expensive. Also it is frequently the case that US distributors do not have the titles we would like. We are appealing to recipients of this email to consider whether they have copies of their works that they would be willing to mail for display and sale at our booth at Wordstock. We are not expecting large quantities, just a book or two will make all the difference. We will gladly send you the full purchase price of any books sold unless you wish to donate your work in which case the money will be used to defray other expenses ( airfares, accommodation etc ). I should stress that we cannot refund the cost of postage. I appreciate that this is an unusual request but these are hard times and we want to avoid a situation where we have a booth at a major literary event full of people all hungry to buy books and nothing on it except a few AmeriCymru tshirts.

Above all ,this is a major opportunity to promote Wales and Welsh culture in the US and we are appealing to you to help us make it a huge success. For our part we pledge to continue with his work until such time as Wales is very firmly on the literary map here in the States.

For further information please email Ceri Shaw at americymru@gmail.com