The timeless story of the search for a better life is the inspiration behind and message of Rob Gittins’ new novel, Hear the Echo , which is set around an Italian café in a vividly portrayed South Wales Valleys community. The critically acclaimed novelist has also won awards for his screenwriting, and has written for numerous top-rated television drama series, including EastEnders, Casualty, The Bill, Heartbeat, Vera and Stella as well as many original plays for Radio 4. In 2015 he received an Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his work as EastEnders’...

Read More

In a new book titled Finding Wales , author Peter Daniels writes in praise of the Welsh and what drives Welsh exiles such as himself to return to Wales. Mark Easton, BBC News’s Home Editor, has recently enlightened us with the results of his study into English identity, The English Question Project, in which he claims that ‘interlaced English and British identities remain an important part of how the people of England see themselves. For many it seems the two are almost interchangeable’. ‘Britishness’ means Shakespeare, the House of Commons, idyllic English country villages, the...

Read More

Iolo Morganwg is an enigmatic historical figure in the Vale of Glamorgan and beyond. Gareth Thomas' novel I, Iolo , published this week by Y Lolfa, uses research and evidence recorded by his contemporaries and academics to recount his prodigious and astounding story. Iolo Morganwg had many faces: stonemason, self-taught scholar, poet, hymnist, politician, patriot, revolutionary, druid, failed businessman, drug addict, campaigner for human rights and perpetrator of the greatest act of literary forgery in European history. The closing years of the 18th century were, in Iolo...

Read More

One woman walked around Wales in a bid to visit and celebrate some of the country’s holiest sites. In 2015 Anne Hayward spent three months as a pilgrim, travelling on foot to visit some of Wales’ holiest sites and carrying everything she needed to camp along the route. Her main objectives were four ancient places of pilgrimage – Holywell, Bardsey Island, St David’s and Llantwit Major – but she also visited numerous churches and other places of interest along the way. Her reflections, insights and experiences will be published this week by Y Lolfa. In A Pilgrimage Around...

Read More

A decade after the death of one of the world’s best journalist photographers, the Welshman Philip Jones Griffiths, the first ever biography detailing his life and work has been published in Welsh. The volume Philip Jones Griffiths – Ei Fywyd a’i Luniau (His Life and Photography) by Ioan Roberts, is published this week by Y Lolfa and contains fifty impressive photographs by Philip himself, from Wales to Vietnam and many other countries. Philip Jones Griffiths is remembered mainly for his photographs of the Vietnam war – photographs that contributed to changing the attitude of...

Read More

One Mum has sought to bridge the gap in the Welsh books that are available to new parents which will illustrate the reality of bringing up a child in Wales with a Welsh perspective by publishing a new book that will be a fun and comprehensive guide for new parents. Heulwen Davies of Machynlleth publishes Mam – Croeso i’r Clwb (Mam – Welcome to the Club) this week – a book full of facts for new mothers recording the experiences of parents, families, doctors and midwives, leading the mother through the pregnancy up to the end of the child’s first year. The volume will include an...

Read More

An acclaimed author of bestselling Welsh quiz books has challenged readers to test how much they know about Wales in the run up to Saint David’s day. Matthew Jones is the author of many acclaimed quiz books including the bestselling Welsh Rugby Quiz Book which has been recently updated with over fifty new questions and reprinted after selling over 12,000 copies. This week, he publishes the comprehensive The Wales Quiz Book which will test the readers’ knowledge on Wales and all things Welsh. ‘It’s always fun to test your own knowledge, and even better to challenge...

Read More

The Welsh Books Council is delighted to confirm that a special book to celebrate World Book Day is to be published for the first time ever in Welsh. Na, Nel! Un Tro by Meleri Wyn James, illustrated by John Lund, will be published by Y Lolfa in time for World Book Day celebrations on 1 March 2018. The book will be part of the official World Book Day activities in Wales, which is supported by the Welsh Government and Waterstones. This will be the first time that a Welsh-language book has been included in the range of special £1 books that are published annually as part of the...

Read More

An original Welsh language children’s book has been selected for an exciting Welsh Government initiative to promote literacy in the most deprived areas of Wales. Geiriau Cyntaf Cyw by Helen Davies (Y Lolfa) was chosen as the successful book after the Welsh Books Council was asked to be part of the tendering process to supply 10,000 copies of a Welsh title as part of the Flying Start programme. Flying Start is part of the Welsh Government’s early years programme for families with children under four years of age living in disadvantaged areas of Wales. As well as...

Read More

Welsh comic Mellten is looking for the next generation of cartoonists by giving young children the chance to create their own cartoon character or cartoon strip in a big competition that is launched this week. As part of the 2018 World Book Day celebrations , the Welsh Books Council are running a competition with Mellten – a quarterly Welsh-language comic for children, bringing together stories, jokes, puzzles and competitions. The prize for the winning entry will be an original piece of artwork by Mellten creator, Huw Aaron and a Family Ticket to Hay Festival 2018. The...

Read More

The secret history of the forgotten cinemas of west Wales has been rediscovered this week. Most of the cinema and picture houses of west Wales – from Barmouth in Gwynedd to Llanelli in Carmarthenshire – have long since disappeared, been demolished or converted to other uses. The Cinemas of West Wales by Alan Phillips records where they were, gives descriptions of their interiors and programmes, and includes over a hundred photographs of what they looked like then, and now. In Wales construction of most cinemas took place in 1910 and 1911, although a number of buildings had...

Read More

A long-awaited new volume has been praised as a ‘masterpiece’ by Professor Deri Tomos. The volume Flowers of Wales published this week by Y Lolfa is the life work of botanist Goronwy Wynne, a leading Biology lecturer and life long member of the British Botanic Society. The book, which spans almost six hundred pages, covers all known Welsh plants in an ambitious hardback volume. ‘This volume is the fruit of a lifetime’s labour’ said Professor Deri Tomos, ‘As well as being a prestigious catalouger, Goronwy Wynne is one who is passionate about what is behind the romantic...

Read More

A new novel published this week has brought to light a forgotten atrocity perpetrated against the Welsh by English Roundhead soldiers, where over a hundred Welsh women were brutally murdered. Dark Territory by American-born and Wales-based author Jerry Hunter is set in the seventeenth century around the period of the English Civil War, and highlights the fact that the violence associated with religious extremism is not a new issue. ‘It is relatively well known that during his bloody military campaign in Ireland Oliver Cromwell approved the wholesale slaughter of civilians...

Read More

The first Welsh language novel to have a trans woman as a main character is published this week. Am Newid by Dana Edwards follows main protagonist Ceri who returns to her childhood home but has changed a lot since she left. She goes to join Merched y Wawr and despite being a woman, the fact that some still think of her as a ‘boy’ mean that it is not easy for them to accept her. But Ceri isn’t the only one who’s changed. Over the past twenty-five years, her community’s language, culture and attitudes have also changed. ‘I wanted to write something that was contemporary but...

Read More

An author who moved to the Vale of Glamorgan has been inspired by the story of Iolo Morganwg so much that he wrote a novel about him. Gareth Thomas moved to the Vale of Glamorgan six years ago following a career in England as an actor, teacher and director. Like many others he had heard of Iolo Morganwg but knew little of his story or significance. His imagination was fired by the attention given to ‘Old Iolo’ in the National Eisteddfod in Llandow and visits to the places in the Vale associated with the bard such as his memorial in the church in Flemingston, the Samson Pillar...

Read More

The memoir and inside story of BBC Wales by a former controller has raised ‘questions about the role of the BBC in today’s Wales’ according to a prominent broadcaster. The Broadcasters of BBC Wales, 1964–1990 by Gareth Price, published this week by Y Lolfa, is the inside story of an exceptional period in Welsh broadcasting when an eclectic collection of characters emerged both in front and behind the microphone. Gareth Price, a former Controller of BBC Wales (1986-90), worked for the Corporation between 1964 and 1990, during the most exciting period of growth in the history...

Read More

With this year designated the Year of Legends in Wales, an artist has gone on to celebrate the best of Welsh mythology by publishing a sequel to her bestselling colouring book. Lliwio’r Chwedlau / Colouring Welsh Tales by artist Dawn Williams published this week includes 21 beautiful pictures of scenes from popular Welsh folk tales to colour in, including Gelert, Pwyll Pendefi g Dyfed, Branwen and Llyn y Fan Fach. The book is a follow-up to the incredibly popular Lliwio Cymru / Colouring Wales, the first Welsh colouring book for adults published last year which...

Read More

A well known Welsh artist has accused the art scene of being ‘too elitist’. The famous artist, Wynne Melville Jones, said that ‘art needs to be for everyone and not just for a select few who are financially privileged’. ‘Too often public galleries and private business concentrate more on people who are wealthy’ said Wynne, ‘But I strongly believe art should be a medium that enriches everybody’s life’. His comments follows the publishing of Darluniau o Gymru / Paintings of Wales this week. This striking bilingual book shares some of Wynne Melville Jones’s most...

Read More

Retired Welsh international rugby union player Lee Byrne has spoken publicly for the first time about the treatment he suffered under Robert Howley in his new tell-all autobiography, The Byrne Identity , out now. Lifting the lid on his toxic relationship and refusal to play under Robert Howley, Lee gives a damning verdict on the former Welsh rugby union player turned coach. ‘I was eased out of the Wales team; subjected, in my view, to bullying treatment; dragged back and forth from Clermont to squad training in Wales without WRU reimbursement for travel expenses, just to...

Read More

600 years since his death, Owain Glyndŵr is still one of the most important and fascinating figures in Welsh history. His fate during his last years is unknown, and where he was buried is an enduring mystery. In The Last Days of Owain Glyndŵr , which is published this week by Y Lolfa, Gruffydd Aled Williams, a leading authority on the subject, here rigorously assesses the evidence in oral tradition, manuscripts and printed sources, as well as on the ground, sorting fact from fiction. He also investigates Glyndŵr family history and, based on new research, brings to light new...

Read More