WINE TALES FROM DOLGELLAU TO VERONA

A long-standing business relationship between an Italian winemaker and a Welsh wine importer was sealed with the presentation of a book at the world famous Vinitaly wine fair in Verona this week.

Dylan Rowlands and two members of staff, Emma Williams and Terri Jones, flew over to Italy on Sunday taking a copy of his newly published ‘ Rarebit and Rioja – Recipes and Wine Tales from Wales’ to present to Vincenzo Bossotti and his daughter Cristina.

Bossotti’s vineyard features in the Welsh wine importer’s newly published book about wine.

The book’s chapters and recipes are structured around the wine producing countries from which Dylan imports and has tales about his journeys through Europe searching for wine. Vincenzo fittingly features in the first chapter.

The story began with Dylan’s first steps into the wine world as he ventured to Turin in Italy fifteen years ago to discover his first wines to import in the very same wine fair – quite a daunting affair as it is a very large expo with over five thousand producer stands on the site.

It was here where he met Vincenzo before visiting their family run vineyard in Cisterna D’asti, a beautiful little hilltop town in Piedmonte, Northern Italy.

Quality reigns at the Bossotti vineyard and this won Dylan over immediately.

‘The integrity of the winemaker is all important in a long-distance partnership like this and you have to trust the person you’re trading with to be consistent. The Bossotti family have never let me down over the years and I’m proud to sell the wine of a small family producer.’ said Dylan.

‘There is little doubt the passion of the whole family is reflected in their product, from the beautifully designed labels to the wine in the bottle. Long may this Italian - Welsh relationship last!’ he continued.

Wine shop and cafe bar Gwin Dylanwad Wine is based in Porth Marchnad in Dolgellau. Since 2003 Dylanwad have been importing exclusive wines direct from Spain, France, Italy and Austria. These are available to drink or buy in Gwin Dylanwad Wine or to take out and can be delivered throughout Britain.

Rarebit and Rioja: Recipes and wine tales from Wales by Dylan and Llinos Rowlands (£14.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.

This is a great read! It has every variety of chase sequence that 19th century technology will allow, black magic, voodoo and even zombies! I have often thought that Shakespeare suffers from a lack of zombies but Owen Parry knows that good literature cannot be without them.

This is the sixth book in a series that features Major Abel Jones, Welshman, British army and American Civil War veteran and investigator extraordinaire. As ever, Major Jones is directly commissioned by Abraham Lincoln and in this instance his mission is to investigate the murder of Susan Peabody, a Northern abolitionist, in New Orleans in 1863.

Owen Parry`s works have been described elsewhere as "well-researched entertainments" and it is difficult to resist his vivid depiction of war-torn New Orleans. The city is imbued with an atmosphere of decadence, mystery and intrigue which acts as a perfect foil for Major Jones' swashbuckling adventures.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of these books is the character of Jones himself. Jones is in many ways a stereotypical 19th century Welsh Methodist, albeit with an almost superhuman gift for self-preservation. He is aloof, self-righteous, judgemental and pompous almost to the point of arrogance. He never misses a chance to air his prejudices, particularly where the Irish are concerned. But for all that he is a likeable character who frequently fails to live up to his own very high standards and is entirely capable of self-criticism.

This book is a first class entertainment for the lover of historical fiction and an ideal companion for a long journey.

Owen Parry is a nom-de-plume of Ralph Peters who writes about political and military matters under his own name. Whatever one may think of the political opinions expressed in his more serious works, it is undeniable that he is a fine writer of historical adventures. It is also difficult not to sympathise with the sentiments expressed in the dedication to "Faded Coat of Blue" ( 2002 ),one of the earlier Abel jones mysteries:-

" To the Welsh, Scots, and Irish who built America while the English weren`t looking"

Faded Coat of Blue 2002

Dylan's Great Poem opens for submissions on Thursday 28 April at 9.00 am and invites anyone aged between 7 and 25 years old, living anywhere in the world, to submit up to four lines of poetry written in English or Welsh. From these, 100 lines will be chosen to create the Great Poem.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘hands’, after the Dylan Thomas poem ‘The Hand That Signed The Paper.’

Entries need to be sent via the Developing Dylan 100 website before 12.00 noon on Thursday 5 May .

This year, we have joined forces with Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. Selected entrants to Dylan’s Great Poem, who are between 11 and 17 years of age, and living in Wales, will be invited to a poetry writing masterclass to work on entries to the Poetry Society competition.

Dylan’s Great Poem will be edited by Rufus Mufasa and clare e. potter, and will be published online and performed on #DylanDay.

For resources, see: http://www.literaturewales.org/dylans-great-poem/

To submit lines visit the Developing Dylan website .

For more information contact Literature Wales:

07846484274 / mabananajones@gmail.com

Follow online #GreatPoem #DylanDay @DyddDylanDay

Cynan Jones lives near Aberaeron in West Wales. His first book, 'The Long Dry 'was published in June 2006. The novel , which won a Betty Trask Award in 2007 is set on a Mid Wales farm. His second book 'Everything I Found on The beach' is also set in West and North Wales. AmeriCymru spoke to Cynan recently about his novels and his plans for the future.

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C ynan : I find it difficult to be around good things without wanting to try and do something good myself. If I eat amazing food, I want to learn to cook. Reading amazing books probably made me want to write, way back. But in terms of inspiration, I think the question is mostly asked the wrong way round. I didn't get 'inspired to be a writer.' A person is inspired, and they find an outlet for that. Be it chefing, or excellence in sport, or writing. It's driven by a great love of a thing and the consequent desire to want to do it well.

AmeriCymru: Your first book 'After The Factory' is somewhat difficult to find. Care to tell us a little more about it and whether it will become more easily obtainable in the future?

Cynan: 'After the Factory' tells the story of Joseph Napoleon, a factory worker who comes home every night to his basement flat and, while trying to sleep, imagines the characters behind the footsteps that echo across the square outside his room.

It's a short work, but one that readers seem to like very much. It's very different from the two 'Welsh' novels. I'm hoping there will be some news on the 'After the Factory' front soon. I'll keep you posted.

AmeriCymru: In both your subsequent books:- 'Everything I Found on The Beach' and 'The Long Dry' the central characters life and circumstances are revealed through an intimate connection with their surroundings. How important is a sense of 'place' in your writing?

Cynan: A good story should work even when it's lifted out of its setting - I'm talking about the key themes, the big motors of the thing. This is how great 'universal' tales are built, even when they are humble like 'The Old Man and the Sea'. But creating a sense of place is akin to setting the spell, making a world for a reader. It happens that the main characters are very linked to their environments in both these stories so the sense of place is vital. It's the environment I grew up in and am very close to. While I haven't written that intimacy in deliberately, its picked up majorly by readers.

AmeriCymru: You live in West Wales and your books reveal a strong familiarity with the rural lifestyle. What is your background? What did you do before you became a writer?

Cynan: I grew up in West Wales and returned to live here at twenty eight after a stint in Glasgow working as a freelance copywriter. I grew up very close to my grandparents' farm, so spent most of my time there. The farm was small, sixty acres or so. But it had woods, fields and scrubland, and ran right down to a beach. It had an incredible range of places to play. I don't think I ever outgrew that. All I'm doing now really is playing made up games like I did when I was a kid. Just I'm writing things down rather than running round playing them.

Before now I've been a substitute teacher, mentored in a behavioural unit, worked on building sites and as a wine presenter. I've worked in aquariums, and in a kitchen. All sorts. I've done whatever it took to get by without getting tied up in a contract which wouldn't let me drop out to work on a book when I needed to.

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little more about The Long Dry . What can readers expect to find? How would you describe the book?

Cynan: The Long Dry is the story of a bad day that gets worse. A calving cow goes missing, and the farmer has to try and find it. He is meanwhile beset by doubts and questions.

I wrote it very quickly (in ten days) and immediately knew it was the strongest thing I was capable of at the time. That was back in 2005. It was accepted for publication relatively soon after I wrote it. It went on to win a Society of Authors first novel award, and has been translated into French, Arabic and Italian. It is ostensibly a very simple thing, but people say it's very strong.

AmeriCymru: Everything I Found on The Beach paints a grim picture of life in rural West Wales. How has the area been affected by the current economic hard times?

Cynan: In some ways there hasn't been a major 'boom' here, so we're not as badly affected as those places that grew and swelled with the prior injection of affluence. Statistically, people here earn considerably less than the average wage, and house prices are higher than near anywhere in the UK as compared to earnings, (because of the huge second home market). In terms of jobs, there's not much to do. There's farming, but on small family run farms that are increasingly unfeasible. There's some factory work in relatively small factories. There's a university and hospital in Aberystwyth and lots of seasonal work in tourism related industries. The local authority is a major employer. But the quality of life if good. If you use and appreciate this area, it pays back. You don't need vast amounts to exist. The grim element perhaps comes from the limited choices here.

AmeriCymru: How difficult is it for Welsh writers to get published and to succeed these days?

Cynan: It is simply difficult to get published, Welsh or not. (You could even argue it's easier when you're Welsh, particularly writing in Welsh, because of the funding that makes that process possible).

When I decided to write I said to myself: write as strongly as you can, everything else is a side effect. I've stuck by that. However, the key thing now is visibility. Breaking through the London-dominated media wall is difficult, and perhaps they don't take Welsh publishers as seriously as they should. In France and Italy my work had big reviews in major newspapers, with some extraordinary critical acclaim. The next step, as well as continuing to write strongly, is to get that attention on my own turf.

AmeriCymru: What do you read for pleasure? Any recommendations?

Cynan: I read massive amounts. Writers like Steinbeck, McCarthy, Carver and so on are on a different level. Brink, Coetze. Graham Greene, Orwell. The great writers. When you write yourself, the quality of the writing has to be very very high. For something more recent, try 'The Solitude of Thomas Cave' by Georgina Harding.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Cynan Jones? What are you working on currently?

Cynan: There's a new novel on the desk right now. Come the end of January, I'll start work on the final draft. It's called 'Traces of People.'

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Cynan: Keep reading! When you read something you like, tell everyone!

Interview by Ceri Shaw Google+ Email

While visiting the San Rafael (CA) area I became aware that the local Civic Center was designed by internationally acclaimed Welsh American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. I simply had to get a few snaps! I have posted them below. They're not very good because I don't know the area and it appears to be difficult to get a good vantage point. The last shot on this page (of the interior) is from Wiki Images. 

From the Wikipedia :- Marin County Civic Center

"The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wright's protégé, Aaron Green; it was completed in 1962. The Hall of Justice was begun in 1966 and completed in 1969. Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976.

Located away from the former county seat in downtown San Rafael, the expansive complex stretches across two valleys just east of US 101. Its pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are distinctive. The smaller wing is the county administration building and the larger the Hall of Justice, joined by a round structure on a small hill that houses a county library.

A battle between factions of the Marin County Board of Supervisors played out through the selection of the site and the architect, the financing of the project, and its eventual completion. The Marin County Civic Center is a state and National Historic Landmark."

A psychological thriller published this week explores how surveillance can becomes its own addiction as the narrator of this novel attempts to possess, control and spy on his partner when she’s unaware he’s watching.

Investigating Mr Wakefield by acclaimed writer Rob Gittins, follows Jack Connolly, a war photographer whose career went into freefall after he manipulated the image of a dead soldier to make it appear the soldier died a hero’s death. The deception cost him his job, the trust of his peers and his career. It taught Jack an all-important lesson, only one thing matters and that’s truth. No matter how unpalatable.

He soon becomes obsessed by a nineteenth-century short story, Wakefield by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Wakefield tells the story of a man who, one day - and in Hawthorne’s own words - decides to absent himself from his wife. He hopes to assess how much she loves him by gauging the extent of her desperation at his apparent disappearance.

Jack attempts to recreate in fact the events of this fiction and gradually infiltrates the private spaces of his  partner’s life by the use of surveillance technology attempting to capture her private conversations and record her emotional responses to the tests he puts her through. His obsession inevitably spirals out of control, inexorably leading to the destruction of his relationship and his life.

Unsettling and culturally significant, Investigating Mr Wakefield digs into issues of trust and loss at the most intimate and disturbing of levels.

‘While the hero of Investigating Mr Wakefield clearly takes matters to an extreme, the theme of the novel can resonate with almost anyone.’ explained Rob Gittins.

‘Many people, at one time or another, have probably wondered what a wife, husband or partner are like when they’re not watching.  This novel explores the dangers waiting to ensnare those who try to find out.’ he added.

This is Rob Gittins’ fourth novel. His previous novels received high critical acclaim, including The Poet and the Private Eye (2014) which was praised as a ‘compelling novel that values truth above what is simply true – at the same time as declaring that death really does have no dominion.’ by T. James Jones, former Archdruid and translator of Under Milk Wood, and Gimme Shelter (2013), commended as ‘Visceral, strongly visual and beautifully structured’ by Andrew Taylor, Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Winner.

Rob Gittins is the longest serving scriptwriter on EastEnders having written over 250 episodes of the programme. In recognition of his work on EastEnders, Rob received an Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 British Soap Awards. He has also scripted for Casualty, The Bill, Emmerdale, Soldier, Soldier and Heartbeat and has won many other awards for his work including the Gold Drama Medal at the New York International Radio Festival.

Rob was Script Executive and Writer on Stella starring Ruth Jones (Gavin and Stacey) and was executive Producer and co-lead writer on Crash, a drama series for BBC Wales.  Rob has written over twenty original radio plays for BBC Radio 4 and over one hundred episodes of The Archers.

Rob’s short film Sacrifice, was released theatrically and Rob’s feature film, Blue Monday has just completed principal photography.

Investigating Mr Wakefield by Rob Gittins (£8.99, Y Lolfa) is out now.

URGENT: Please Please Support this Appeal!!!

Carwyn Edwards has probably done more to promote Wales in the USA than any other man alive. He inspired us and hundreds of others to take up the cudgel. He is now seriously sick in hospital with infective Endocarditis. If you have anything to spare please support this campaign!!!!

For those of you who don't know Carwyn Edwards let me just say that he was the most influential promoter of Wales in the USA for many years. He inspired me, Dave Parry and o thers to spend our time productively and promote Cymru. The news of his current medical condition is devastating!! We must help our own AND Carwyn Edwards is the first among us. His Wales Newsletter went out to 30,000 people a week long before AmeriCymru was born. I have donated personally and I will give more. Please help this online Welsh American pioneer in his hour of need!!

"He is suffering from Infective Endocarditis, which is a bacterial infection in the blood that settled on his mitral heart valve. This growth grew to abo ut 2cm, and then started showering blood clots throughout his body. This has led to him having his left leg amputated above the knee and he will also lose part of his lower right leg. The clots have also seriously damaged his kidneys and spleen and he is presently on constant dialysis. The clots found their way into his brain causing lesions and hemorrhaging. This brain injury is delaying the open heart surgery that he needs to replace his heart valve." https://www.gofundme.com/carwyn

An Interview with author Charles Parry

"Owain Glyn Dwr (Shakespeare's Owen Glendower) is one of the most iconic characters in all of Welsh history. Descended from native princely stock, when an increasingly intolerable English hegemony coincided with the advent of an unpopular English king, he was the natural choice of many of his nation to lead them out of oppressive English rule. Such a leader had been foreseen by Welsh prophets for centuries as Y Mab Darogan or The Son of Prophecy."

Buy the book here:- The Last Mab Darogan

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Charles:   Thanks for inviting me to discuss the book and Glyn Dŵr. It's always a pleasure for me to do so but especially so for Americymru because I know that many of your members have a love of Welsh history and so will have at least some awareness of the Glyn Dŵr legend.

It's hard to say exactly when I became interested in him as he seeped into my soul from a young age. I was born not far from where he had lived so he’d be mentioned occasionally at school and, of course, there were hotels, streets and even railway locomotives named after him. Sometimes on days out with my family to Rhuddlan, Conway and Caernarfon castles his attacks on them were mentioned by guides – not always in complimentary terms! I remember Welsh nationalists invoking his name: I suppose it lent their campaigns a militant, anti-English air. A little later there was even a nationalist group calling themselves Y Meibion Glyn Dŵr who took to attacking English interests in Wales – mostly setting fire to holiday homes. So Glyn Dŵr wasn’t exactly seen in a good light by everyone! I have to admit that I forgot about him for a while whilst I pursued my university studies.

AmeriCymru:  Many books have been written about Owain: novels, scholarly accounts etc. How does your book differ from the rest? What approach did you adopt in tackling his story?

Charles:  The first book I read that seriously addressed Glyn Dŵr as an historical subject was Rees Davies’s excellent ‘The Age of Conquest’, which I read in the early 90’s. In that was a whole chapter on Owain’s revolt. It was the first balanced account that I’d read and one that saw him in a relatively positive light when shown against the oppression that the Welsh were suffering at the time. Professor Davies went on to write his classic ‘The Revolt of Owain Glyn Dŵr’, which I read in about 1996 and I was completely entranced once again by this amazing Welsh hero. I then read dozens of other books and articles – some good, some bad – about Glyn Dŵr before deciding I should write my own.

Firstly, I wanted to write a book about him that placed his story in a wider context than all the other books I’d read. I wanted it to include, for example: how the tumultuous events in England influenced the revolt; how the situation in France affected its cause, progress and demise; how the schism in the church at the time colored it; how the Scots helped (or hindered) their Celtic cousins’ bid for freedom. It’s why the book is subtitled ‘The Life and Times of Owain Glyn Dŵr’. Secondly, I wanted it to read chronologically, rather than have chapters dedicated to particular aspects, so that the story of Glyn Dŵr unfolds in a continuous stream that takes the reader on a journey through the timeline of his revolt. Finally, I wanted it to be historically accurate and include new research that had come to light since Professor Rees’s book. Many books and articles on Glyn Dŵr unfortunately peddle myths about him and his revolt: anything written in my book as a fact is backed up with a reference supporting it. The hardback book has over a thousand footnotes and several appendices for the keener reader to explore some relevant aspects of the time in more detail, like castle warfare, arms and armor, and the anti-Welsh statutes – some of which were still in the statute books in Victorian times! It also has over 80 illustrations, including maps, almost all of which are in color. It makes for a large book (although the ebook is shorter) but to me its level of detail is a bonus. There are shorter books on Glyn Dŵr but they don’t give the whole picture and frankly many of them are under-researched and rely on hearsay.

Monument to Owain Glyndwr's Victory at Hyddgen

AmeriCymru:  How important a figure is Owain Glyn Dŵr in the history of Wales?

Charles:  Glyn Dŵr is an immensely important figure in the history of Wales. The revolt he led was a watershed in Welsh history. It so devastated Wales that no serious attempt to throw off the ‘Saxon Yoke’ by violent means was ever again attempted. After it many Welsh adopted English customs at home, worked in administering the country for the English, sought their fortunes in England or went fighting for the English abroad. Even the architecture of Wales, its vernacular at least, can be considered pre- and post- Glyn Dŵr as so much of it was destroyed or damaged beyond repair in the revolt – by both sides it has to be said. For much of the time after the revolt he became a symbol of the unruly Welshman: despised by the English and quietly revered by the Welsh. Since Victorian times he has become a lot more rounded as an historical figure – even the English have come to appreciate his finer qualities. I have heard people, especially Welsh people, say that Nye Bevan or Lloyd George was the greatest Welshman ever but they do not come close to having the same effect on Wales as did Glyn Dŵr: their achievements were great but they only marginally impacted on Wales; Glyn Dŵr was a Welsh leader of Welsh people in Wales and at that he was one of the greatest if not THE greatest.

AmeriCymru:  Owain is famous for disappearing from history around 1410. What do you think became of him in his later years?

Charles:  The greatest Glyn Dŵr conundrum is what happened to him when, as the bards said, he disappeared. After Harlech fell to Prince Hal, I believe he lived in or around his old patrimonial lands in Powys Fadog and Edeirnion where his retinue would have been most loyal. Living with one or more of his daughters on the English borders, as later local legends suggest, would have been too risky even if he were cunningly disguised as a friar or a shepherd. An interesting story in Welsh I unearthed suggested that he sailed to France to persuade Charles VI to give him some more support and died on the way but there is no other evidence for that. He most probably died around 20th September 1415. No one knows where he died or was buried but if I had to guess I would say that he died near Glyndyfrdwy and was buried in sacred ground somewhere not too far away.

AmeriCymru:   What's next for Charles Parry?

Charles:  I have been researching a book on John Oldcastle who as Lord Cobham became one of the first Lollard martyrs. I came across him whilst researching my book on Glyn Dŵr as he has strong ties with Wales and fought with Prince Hal. I hope to complete it this year and with luck have it published in 2016. I am also researching the death of my younger brother Ian in the 1989 Romanian revolution. As a recent S4C documentary ‘Pwy Laddodd Ian Parry?’ has discovered, it looks like it wasn’t the accident it was made out to be at the time. There might be some further developments in that this year too.

AmeriCymru:  Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Charles:   AmeriCymru is a great forum for Welsh culture and history. It’s 600 years this year since the death of Owain so I hope that AmeriCymru members commemorate him and the anniversary of his death in some small way, if only by thinking of his legacy and his contributions to Wales. Keep up the good works! Blwyddyn newydd dda i bawb.