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BUY 'IF GOD WILL SPARE MY LIFE....' HERE
Pembrokeshire, west Wales 1904: Apprentice solicitor Arthur Nicholas is seeking to trace one William Batine James, who stands to inherit an impressive farm near Fishguard.
Although Arthur knows James emigrated to Canada and then America in the early 1870s, nothing has been heard of him since.
What Arthur cannot know is that, following a series of adventures, James enlisted in the US Seventh Cavalry at Chicago in February 1872 and four years later fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn; better known as Custer's Last Stand, when 210 soldiers were massacred by the largest force of Indians ever assembled on the Great Plains...
As the unsuspecting Seventh depart Fort Abraham Lincoln, bound for their Armageddon, James himself recounts the tortured odyssey he undertook from a tiny north Pembrokeshire village all the way to hostile Indian territory in Montana Territory.
These recollections are interspersed with Arthur's own dogged efforts in following his trail thirty years later. As his investigation unfolds Arthur's motivation to find the elusive James unexpectedly becomes more personal than professional.
James reveals a chain of personal tragedy plus a brutal schooling during the hated 'Welsh Not' era when children such as himself were caned and beaten for using their native tongue.
This has cost him his religious faith; inexplicably, he finds himself unable to recite The Lord's Prayer in Welsh.
While proving himself a proficient soldier, James grows increasingly uncomfortable at what he comes to regard as the US Government's persecution of the Indians; even drawing parallels with Welsh oppression.
On the fateful ride to Little Bighorn, James reflects on his troubled past and gradually comes to the realisation that he is as much a fugitive as the Indians he is pursuing.
But the one thing he has not taken into account is that a man can never escape from himself...
Based on true events, Mike Lewis's novel examines how horrific childhood experiences shape the adults we become.
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Author Interviews
AmeriCymru: Hi Philip, and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. When did you first start writing? What inspired you to write the many tales of 'everyday' life in Merthyr that have entertained and amused many visitors to this site over the years?
Philip: A) It was around 1967 and my first writing was like the Egyptian hieroglyphics at Tutankhamun’s tomb- unfortunately it was my parent’s new wallpaper in indelible marker pen-it didn’t make any sense to anyone, but I was aged 3 and I am now 54 but I am still not making much sense.
B) The local newspaper – the Merthyr Express (the Depress)- in a backwoods Town (not backwards)- there is very little news worthy items for a reporter to produce- so I created aliases such as Lamby Davis Junior, Sue Ellen Eweing and Colt Seevers to liven up the letters page and parody the news items that were included. The first few got through but then they I was rumbled and my game was up. The local librarian, Carolyn Jacob spotted my ‘talent’ and asked me to write a story for a local book called ‘My Town’ in which professional writer Phil Caradice selected the story ‘Cliffhanger’ about Gerry Mander a disgraced MP, which I had to read out an extract in the Council Chamber- people were in stitches and the genie was out of the bottle . No matter how many times I wish he won’t go back in.
C) Inspiration is everywhere in the Valleys, Welsh people have a distinct black sense of humour- we can laugh at ourselves- something those across the bridge have extracted at birth-we have a we’ve lost until we have won-but once we have won- boy do we enjoy the moment!
AmeriCymru: A quote from one of your recent stories:- "In a recession there is only one growth industry and that is gambling and Merthyr Tydfil had been in recession for over 200 years now." Care to tell us a little more about Merthyr's recent history? Why do you think the town has fared so badly in economic and employment terms?
Philip: Alexander Cordell sums it up in one book title- ‘The Rape of the Fair Country’, Merthyr was exploited by the English Ironmasters and has been a ‘Rotten Borough’ ever since. It has been forgotten by successive Governments in Westminster – with the continual brain drain it has for the last 200 years been in perpetual recession and with capitalists preferring to take their factories and sweatshops to Asia and beyond- there is zero opportunity for the unskilled to find meaningful employment with the inevitable loss of the work ethic. Poor people chase the dream of becoming ‘scratch-card rich’ or idolise reality show ‘stars’ – it is so sad. Although conversely with the loss of heavy industry and the export of it’s unintentional by- product of pollution to China, there are echoes of Wales two Centuries ago- and a new question raises it’s head, How Green IS my Valley?
AmeriCymru: Do you write anything other than comedy? Are there any special difficulties when writing humorous stories? I guess it's essential to be funny at a bare minimum but how does the creative process differ?
Philip: A) Comedy is my bitch. I write for my own pleasure ( I laugh a lot of my own jokes) the purpose is a cathartic and once I have written the story and I have exorcised the demon of stress. Whilst my comedy shorts (not the Don Estelle ones) come and go, once I have written them they are forgotten. More recently (last 5 or so years) I write comedy football match reports on my local Non-League team, Merthyr Town, which I post on the Merthyr Town Fans Forum fortnightly, they rarely reflect the actual game but cheer people up. Opposing Teams have included my match reports in their programmes (the ultimate accolade) or retweet them to their fans- one match report was on a postponed match due to a frozen pitch but few people noticed such was their laughter.
B) Humour is very subjective- I would hate to offend any one person but I don’t agree with political correctness…for something to be funny it must be on the edge, celebrities put themselves in a position to be lampooned….but every celebrity that I have made laugh on Twitter which includes Ricky Gervais, Rob Schneider, Richard E Grant, Warwick Davis and the legendary Reg D Hunter are real good sports.
C) If I can make one person a day smile or forget their troubles then I have won. My readers in the past have complained that people think they are mad reading one of books poolside on holiday- for spontaneously bursting out in laughter- people have referred to my stories as ‘hilarious’ ‘hysterical’ , ‘zany’ and on occasion ‘pure genius’ and ‘criminal’ (Their words, not mine) - I have one even ruined one reader’s kitchen ceiling from her overweight husband reading a book in the bathtub, caused an injury off a sunbed and had a 90 year old Granny lock herself in the bedroom to finish a book in peace.
AmeriCymru: Where do you draw inspiration for the individual stories? Do they spring from overheard conversations, newspaper articles etc or are they simply inspired products of the authorial imagination?
Philip: Like my predecessor the late great Charles Dickens, I am a social commentator- I even pinched his pseudonym ‘Boz’ – he doesn’t need it as he is DEAD- just like Dickens I am a lawyer by profession- the same Dickensian characters exist today – albeit morphed into different people- inspiration comes from colourful characters- we all know them- in our minds eye, we see who we want to see in the leading role- the key is making the story almost believable – that it COULD happen – reading is the ultimate escapism and rich or poor can enjoy it in equal measures- I have been likened in style on more than occasion to Tom Sharpe (In Welsh-Dai Blunt?)- and of course a warped mind is essential.
AmeriCymru: Do you have any favorites amongst your stories or any that you are particularly proud of? If so , which ones.
Philip: The Ex-Files (My Boss gets caught dogging), Mass Murder (A Catholic Priest goes nuts), Chariots on Fire (Millenium Edition) – the only time you are allowed to be legally racist in Wales- the Wales v England Rugby Match-I particularly loved this one as BBC Comedian and genius Boyd Clack of High Hopes & Satellite City Fame did me the honour of reading it aloud in a local Rhymney Brewery public house- the Winchester- just like the beer and the tale he is pure class, - Big Top ( A local disabled child runs away to the circus) , A Knight at the Museum (Rolf Harris’ painting comes alive at Cyfarthfa Castle Art Gallery) and the ‘Raj Quartet’- four stories about the Royal Family – Harry’s Game (Set in Afghanistan) , Stuck Up – a Prince is Born at the Queen Camilla Hospital- The Royal Wee (HM stuck in a lift) and How Very Troll (Twitter gets a Royal Assent)- unlike Sir Rolf or Sir Jimi I am not likely to get a knighthood.
AmeriCymru: How many stories have you written in total and where can the connoisseur go to read them all?
Philip: Last Count 223 complete – one in its embryonic stages- they are only a limited edition- I produce five of each volume purely for close friends- the only places to go will be the Americymru Website and occasionally on the Merthyr Town Fc Fans Forum.
AmeriCymru: Do you have any publications currently available? Do you plan to publish in the future?
Philip: No- I had a free venture with a book called ‘The Hills have Dai’s’ a few years ago – on a ‘vanity’ publishing company based in Austria- it outsold Mein Kampf but it struggled a bit. I plan to publish Volume 45 called ‘Obese City’ for my friends in Wales and the ex-pats across the Pond. Past volumes have reached Italy, Australia and Canada and Rheola market, Neath Car Boot Sale- one day I hope to emulate JRR Hartley – I wonder if Fly Fishing is still an offence.
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Philip: In Merthyr, our perceived life expectancy is shorter than Sierra Leone (Source: the Sun newspaper) , if a Tydfilian reaches 50 years of age we get a telegram from the Queen- so the message is don’t buy the Sun ….oh and that life’s too short not to laugh- and thanks to Ceri Shaw and Gaabi on Americymru, the World can now laugh with you.
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AmeriCymru: Hi Daniel and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Care to introduce your new book 'The Devil On God's Doorstep' for our readers?
Daniel: Diolch! It's great to be engaging with Americymru - I've been a member of the network for several years and I'm a fan of the way in which you guys engage with and connect the Welsh diaspora in North America with those of us back here in the Land of Our Fathers. The Devil On God's Doorstep is my debut novel - a religious thriller set in Rome and the Vatican about the theft of a religious relic that reignites a decades-old fight for control of the Eternal City. A desperate thief, a cabal of conspiring cardinals, an ailing fortune teller and a fame-hungry journalist clash and collide within the pages, in a story of ambition and accountability that has drawn inevitable comparisons to the work of Dan Brown.
AmeriCymru: The book was twenty years in the making. Why was this?
Daniel: That's a story that's longer than the book itself! I escaped Wales and ran away to Italy when I was nineteen to complete the first draft, and after I returned life sort of got in the way. I fell into the film industry more by accident than design, and never quite made it out again! After two decades of developing and producing short and feature films that have been distributed in the US and Canada, the UK and Europe, across North Africa and the Middle East, it was actually the Covid-19 Pandemic that made me stop and take stock, and provided me with the necessary insight and spare time to see the book through to completion and its eventual publication earlier this summer.
AmeriCymru: You have also started your own publishing company - Gwion Press. What can you tell us about the history of this venture?
Daniel: Press was established out of necessity: I'd been unable to secure a traditional publishing deal in the first few years of writing the book, and technological advancements in the publishing industry during the intervening years made it possible to bypass a lot of the gatekeepers and cut out the middlemen, empowering authors such as myself to self-publish their work. After the last Covid lockdown in Wales, I found myself standing before the window of a bookstore in central Cardiff reflecting on the thought that the Pandemic hadn't prevented people from buying books, despite the shops being shut. Self-publishing, on-demand printing and eBooks have allowed stories to be told the world over that might otherwise never have made it to publication. I started Gwion Press with the aim of making use of these opportunities to tell stories of Welsh origin. The company name and logo are a reference to the boy Gwion Bach, servant to the legendary witch Ceridwen who drank three drops from the Cauldron of Awen - the source of inspiration for Celtic storytelling. Just as Gwion Bach became Taliesin the Bard of Bards, after receiving the gift of Inspiration, Gwion Press aims to develop storytellers and stories of Welsh origin.
AmeriCymru: What are your future plans for Gwion Press?
Daniel: For the immediate future, plans are to formally establish the Company by opening an office in Cardiff Bay and staffing it. In addition to promoting The Devil On God's Doorstep, I'm also readying the next title for Gwion Press: Shakespeare, Hitler and Jesus, a collection of essays from my archive about World Religions, English Literature and European History that will be published mid-September. I then have an anthology of short supernatural horror stories called More Than A Little Scared that will be published the week before Halloween, with my second novel out next March. Beyond my own creative works, I'm also developing a hardback photo book featuring images of historical sites in South Wales taken by an American photographer friend who visited earlier this year. I'm looking forward to working with others to see what stories they want to tell inspired by Wales and its culture.
AmeriCymru: You are also an independent film producer. Care to tell us a little about your involvement with Seraphim Pictures?
Daniel: Sure! Seraphim Pictures was founded in early 2006 after a research and development trip to Hollywood. Our first short film The Things Unsaid earned us our first accreditation by the Cannes Film Festival, and our first feature film, the sci-fi co-production Expiry is currently being distributed in North America by Cinedigm. As for my own involvement, I work heavily on the development and pre-production side of things, and also in sales and distribution of Seraphim Pictures titles. I've recently secured global distribution through Sofy.tv for our short film The Final Punchline, a psychological horror ideal for Halloween viewing. Our next short, The Last Christmas Tree, will be released this December, and in a few weeks' time there'll be an announcement about our next feature co-production filming in Summer 2023.
AmeriCymru: Where can readers purchase a copy of 'The Devil on God's Doorstep`?
Daniel: The Devil On God's Doorstep is currently an Amazon exclusive, available in hardback, paperback, and Kindle eBook formats in multiple countries via this link: The Devil On God's Doorstep
AmeriCymru: What's next for Daniel Lyddon? What are you working on at the moment?
Daniel: An easier question would be to ask what I'm not working on! In addition to everything mentioned above, I have several documentary projects for both film and television in the works - some of which will see me crossing the Atlantic again. The Welsh Cariboo Adventure will film in Canada, and A History Of The Welsh In America will go into production in the US - both in 2023. Beyond my production and publishing work I've also been lucky enough to be involved in the Cardiff-based startup Dewi Sant Catering, which specialises in Cymric Fusion Cuisine - adding a Welsh twist to familiar global dishes. I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops and finding out whether the world is ready for chef Ben Parker's Welsh Lamb Poutine and Bara Brith Cheesecake!
AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?
Daniel: Wales and the Welsh have had a huge cultural impact on the world, one we have historically failed to capitalise on. Some 16 of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence were of Welsh descent, as was David Thompson who mapped much of the Canadian border. Wales has a rich shared history with North America which I would encourage people to discover - whether through books, film, television or by other means. As an online community Americymru is a resourceful starting point for anyone wanting to discover more about the ties that bind our respective nations.
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Reviews
Read our interview with Matthew G. Rees here
Not to be confused with the recent, wildly acclaimed Welsh language horror movie of the same name ( Y Gwledd ), this is Matthew G. Rees' third published anthology of short stories. You will find reviews of his other works here The Keyhole and here Smoke House & Other Stories
We have expressed the opinion that Matthew G. Rees is a major new talent elsewhere and this new collection confirms our estimation. The Feast is a deliciously dark and frequently amusing collection that leaves one in no doubt that Rees is a writer at the top of his game and destined for popularity and acclaim.
In so far as this collection has a theme, the author outlines it in his brief introductory note:-
" This collection of stories created itself over the course of two years in which I found that I seemed to be writing short fiction that possessed a connective tissue ."
The nature of this 'connective tissue' becomes clearer when we consider the accompanying quotation from Shakespeare:-
" Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. " William Shakespeare Richard II
Indeed there is an element of - be careful what you wish for - in most of these tales. In 'The Twilight Maiden' we are introduced to Guiseppe Dellucci, an Italian restaurateur in search of a delicious legendary variety of tomato which only grows in the vicinity of the remote village of Collina Rossa. The atmosphere of suspense and thinly veiled threat are skilfully crafted until Guiseppe is finally inducted into the mystery of the fabled tomato plant.
These stories are set in a variety of locations and in 'Stone Cold' we meet Candice Canyons, an exotic dancer at The Southern Peaches Go-Go Club, somewhere in the American south. She dreams of a better life and opportunity presents itself in the form of Seymour Thrayle, an aged wealthy landowner who frequents the Club. His obsession with, and desire for, peach tarts leads to a grim and humorous denouement.
In 'Fungal' the protagonist is distracted by a store front sign which reads:-
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Enquire within
Having nearly exhausted a fortune he had inherited from his family he decided that there would be no harm in inquiring. Needless to say his life is changed forever in the most unexpected of ways.
If you are not acquainted with the work of Matthew G' Rees this collection provides an excellent introduction. His tales have the capacity to simultaneously delight and disturb and always stay in your thoughts for some time after reading. The Feast by Matthew G' Rees is AmeriCymru's selection for Book of the Month January 2022.
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In this collection of bizarre tales from the Welsh master of the absurd we are introduced to a Professor with a small class and an unusual subject matter. Rhys explains thusly:
There are few students in my class. When one considers what the subject is, this isn’t surprising. I teach myself.
In other words, I impart to my students facts and fancies based on my life and ideas. It’s the least popular class in the university and I doubt it will be funded for another term.
As a homework assignment the students are asked to write an essay in which they must try and imagine how the Professor spends his spare time. Needless to say he has told them nothing of his personal life.
The eighteen essays which follow offer an extraordinary and hilarious variety of imaginings, some of which are, worryingly, partially accurate. Is the Professor being spied upon? Who is the woman waving from the street below, and which of his students is prowling around on the roof presumably watching him? Of course you will have to read the book to a conclusion for answers to the above questions.
Meanwhile the 'homework assignments' on offer here will delight Rhys Hughes fans. There is the strange case of Professor Spark who we meet walking the corridors of the university thinking about the meaning of life. His musings are of little interest because:
It could be the case he was about to make a major discovery in his field, to prove that viruses have knees or that aardvarks are descended from dragons, who knows? I didn’t care much.
The situation quickly deteriorates, however, when Prof Spark returns from a local bookshop with a copy of 'The Pop-Up Book of Fire'. The consequences of his purchase are at once, tragic, absurd and hilarious.
Then there is the tale of Miss Diane Ra who loves labyrinths. The problem is that clothes have a habit of unravelling whenever she is accompanied on a walk through town. And who is the madman who prowls the city streets with the strongest lamp he can find looking for darkness?
Towards the end of the book the Professor is advised by one of his students:
You have taught yourself. Now teach others.
Is this further foreshadowing of Rhys Hughes forthcoming emphasis on non-fiction and essay writing?Readers may remember the following announcement in Weirdly Out West :
I will switch to non-fiction and start writing essays and articles. In fact I began last year to take my non-fiction much more seriously and I am hoping that my first book of essays will be out in the next year or two.
Whatever the truth of that, 'Students of Myself' is another triumph from the pen of Rhys Hughes and will delight both fans and new readers alike. If you are not familiar with Rhys's work this would be as good a place to start as any. If you are, you will need no further recommendation or encouragement.
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New Titles
This week sees the extraordinary book Pity the Swagman: The Australian Odyssey of a Victorian Diarist by Bethan Phillips republished. Described by the late Jan Morris as “a truly fascinating book”, Pity the Swagman is a classic that has been out of print for over twenty years.
The book is the biography of Joseph Jenkins (1818-98) who was a successful farmer in Tregaron in west Wales. Without warning, aged 50, he left his farm and family to travel Australia and live as an itinerant farm labourer. His diaries returned to Wales with him and were kept by one of his daughters for over 70 years, until a chance encounter between the author and Joseph Jenkins’ great-grand-daughter.
In his Preface to the book, Dr R. Brinley Jones, then President of the National Library of Wales, describes it as “a very moving human story” and Bethan Phillips’ work as both “readable and scholarly”.
The diary illustrates both the state of Welsh rural society at the time – with social and financial inequality between the poor and the gentry - and the corruption in parliamentary elections. The hardships endured by early migrants to Australia and the travails of the Aborigines are described, as well as the fate of the Kelly Gang.
In her Foreword, written in 2002, Bethan Phillips says:
“The diaries reveal him as a man seeking to exorcise his own demons by attempting to escape from them, but they also reveal him as an astute observer of the people and occurrences impacting on his own eventful life. His dogged determination in keeping a daily journal, often under the most difficult of circumstances and in the most unpropitious surroundings, has given us a uniquely valuable historical record of life in the nineteenth century.”
Bethan Phillips’ spent 15 years studying the original diaries, which covered a period of 58 years, skilfully choosing extracts from them. She also spoke to Joseph Jenkins’ descendants, still living in Ceredigion, hearing family stories, and reading further writings, including his poetry, which won prizes. She also followed Joseph Jenkins’ footsteps in Australia, which was filmed for a documentary for the BBC.
Joseph Jenkins’ diary spanned 58 years and is celebrated as one of the richest sources of information about life in rural Australia. Pity the Swagman is an in-depth, authoritative study of rural life in the nineteenth century and is studied on the school curriculum in Australia.
Pity the Swagman by Bethan Phillips (£16.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
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Jac by Sam Adams (Y Lolfa) is a novel of boyhood novel set in a south Wales Valley during the Second World War (1939-1945).
Described as “a lyrical and beautifully crafted story of growing up in the Valleys in the shadow of World War II” by poet, essayist and editor John Barnie, the novel follows Jac, a young boy at the start of the story, as he grows in awareness of the world beyond his home and family.
Author Sam Adams says:
“I wrote the novel to recall a lost age – wartime and the era of coal production in south Wales; the realities of the time. I also wanted to explore and commemorate the first steps in life outside the home, first friends and first boyhood adventures.”
The novel explores how war affected everything, including the play of children.
“The novel is semi-biographical, as I was a boy during the Second World War and grew up in a mining valley in south Wales. I have tried to recapture a time and a place which I know well,” said Sam Adams.
Jac by Sam Adams is available now (£9.99, Y Lolfa).
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This week sees the publication of a bilingual English/Welsh history of an amazing Petition that sought world peace. The Petition, started in Wales in the wake of World War I, asked American women to work alongside the women of Wales in the name of peace and held almost 400,000 signatures – a significant percentage of the female population of the day.
2023 marks the petition’s centenary, and for the first time the inspiring story is available in book form, The Appeal – The Remarkable Story of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition 1923–24 (Y Lolfa), edited by Mererid Hopwood and Jenny Mathers.
The various contributors to The Appeal recount how the petition was organized and transported to America, how it was lost and found again a century later. This account of how women challenged the establishment is told with photographs accompanying the text.
In 2014 the text of the appeal made in 1923 saw the light of day at the Temple of Peace and Health in Cardiff. It was found as the Welsh Centre for International Affairs in Cardiff was preparing to commemorate the centenary of the First World War with their programme ‘Wales for Peace’. The peace petition called for America to join the League of Nations to prevent another war after World War I’s unprecedented slaughter.
Under the leadership of Annie Jane Hughes Griffiths (of Cwrt Mawr), a delegation from Wales travelled to the USA with the aim to connect with the women of America. They presented the petition to representatives of American women’s peace organisations that together had a membership of many thousands of women, meeting with some of the most influential women in the country. They also presented it to President Calvin Coolidge at the White House, where they were warmly received.
The Petition was found in storage at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, still kept in the impressive oak chest carved by Mr J. A. Hallam to transport it. In April 2023, in its centenary year, the Petition was returned to Wales as a gift to the nation with support from the Welsh Government. It will now reside at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth where funds from the National Heritage Lottery will make it possible to ensure that people in Wales and further afield can learn about this intriguing chapter in our history. Editors Mererid Hopwood and Jenny Mathers said:
“It is our hope that reading the story will inspire us to continue to act in the spirit of the women of Wales who imagined, organised and signed the Appeal. It offered its readers a vast vision. That vision remains as vast and as valid today.”
In her Introduction to the book, Jill Evans, Chair of the Peace Petition Partnership Research Committee, said:
“The story of women transcending political, ideological and cultural differences to assemble and take action for peace. It is clear that there were organisers and signatories of the 1923 Petition in communities throughout Wales. One strength lay in the fact that they were inclusive and non-elitist.”
The Appeal will launch at 5pm on 3 November in the National Library of Wales, as part of Aberystwyth University’s 2023 Festival of Research, The Pursuit of Peace.
The Appeal by Mererid Hopwood and Jenny Mathers (Eds.) (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
Notes
Chapter authors are Jill Evans, Aled Eirug, Catrin Stevens, Meg Elis, Eirlys Barker, Craig Owen, Sian Rhiannon and Annie Williams.
- Jill Evans – Introduction: A Century of Women’s Peace Activism in Wales
- Aled Eirug – The Aftermath of the Great War in Wales and the Search for Lasting Peace
- Catrin Stevens – “Arm in Arm” for Peace: Organising the Appeal
- Meg Elis and Sian Rhiannon Williams – Hands Across the Sea: Organising the Journey to America
- Eirlys M. Barker – Influencing America
- Annie Williams – Women and the Peace Movement in North Wales 1926–45
- Craig Owen – Rediscovering a Hidden History
Posted in: New Titles | 0 commentsNEW BOOK EXPLORES WHAT IT IS TO BE AN IMMIGRANT WITH A CREATIVE SOUL IN AMERICA
By Ceri Shaw, 2023-09-25
Llanelli-raised Dr Mari Morgan emigrated to the United States in 1996 to pursue a career as a classical singer. Braids of Song: Weaving Welsh Music into the American Soul (Y Lolfa) by Mari Morgan evokes the experiences of other Welsh people who have ventured across the Pond to follow their musical dreams. Mari Morgan asks: “Do you ever wonder what happens when a person moves to a new country? Do they change? Does the way they sing stay with the old or blend with the new? And if they are creative types – what happens to their artistic output?”
Several voices tell their story, both real and imagined, in the book – the charismatic composer, Dr Joseph Parry from Merthyr who stages a Welsh opera in Danville, Pennsylvania; the steady but ground-breaking conductor, Dr Daniel Protheroe from Cwmgiedd who measures for a suit in Chicago; and the international concert pianist, Marie Novello from Maesteg wrapped in glamorous furs on the first-class deck of an ocean liner.
And there’s also the author’s own story, a girl from Llanelli who founded and conducts the North American Welsh Choir. Her narrative is a medley of reflections and observations in a Welsh-American context: “I wanted to recognise the richness, humanity, and cross-fertilisation of cultures and identities that built some of the America of today – the interconnection between immigration, identity, and creativity within a Welsh Trans-Atlantic context.
“ Braids of Song is a celebration of life in stories. The idea for the book began after the death of my father on 1 March 2015. A Welsh Nonconformist minister and a man of his people, he posed two questions of me during his final weeks: ‘When are you going to write my story?’ ‘Who are you?’ Braids of Song is my creative response to those two simple questions. The writing and research took my grief on a thrilling treasure hunt of discovery.
“My father’s bequest of a score and story of Arianwen begins Braids of Song , combined with my own experience as a Welsh musician who has lived in the United States of America for over twenty-five years, led me on an exploration of how immigration to a new country can alter a person, how the challenges and opportunities of the new are balanced with a sense of loss for the old, and how the creative output is affected in the process of assimilating to a new culture.”
Notes
Raised in the coastal town of Llanelli, musician and writer Mari Morgan was educated at the University of Wales, Cardiff; Trinity College of Music, London; and later at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. She holds degrees in both Music and Creative Writing. She emigrated to the United States in 1996. An acclaimed classical singer with many recordings to her name, she formed and conducts Côr Cymry Gogledd America. Now a naturalized American citizen residing along the banks of the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, Dr Morgan divides her time between the United States and Wales.
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Book News
THE MINERS STRIKE BACK – “AT ONCE HILARIOUS, AUTHENTIC, AND THOROUGHLY CHARMING”
By Ceri Shaw, 2023-09-11
The Miners Strike Back is a new satirical novel by ex-miner Kevin Dicks and published by Y Lolfa. It is his debut novel and has been described as ‘ Twin Town meets the Miners’ Strike”.
Kevin Dicks said:
“The idea for the novel came to me whilst digging in my garden I came across a few rogue lumps of coal. What if an ex-coal miner discovered a seam of coal and opened a small clandestine colliery? I saw comedy in the story and a quirkiness to the story that may appeal to readers. As an authentic voice, perhaps I could capture a little of the miners’ humour before it disappears for good.”
Dr Daryl Leeworthy of the South Wales Miners Library, Swansea University, calls it “A madcap valleys comedy with a serious message for our times. Dicks reads like the heir to Iain Banks, Gwyn Thomas, and Boyd Clack's Satellite City . At once hilarious, authentic, and thoroughly charming.”
Kevin Dicks mostly worked as a surveyor’s assistant at Deep Navigation Colliery, Treharris from 1974 until 1988. He has dedicated The Miners Strike Back ‘For the Miners’.
“The further I got into writing this story, the deeper a sense of injustice arose within me. I saw injustices toward the miners everywhere and they underpin the humour of the book. When Johnny the Cutter opens his secret coal mine, with good intentions to provide work for the local antisocial teens, he becomes an anti-hero you can root for. While seeing the world through a coal miner’s eyes, we want him to succeed and it becomes a battleground between employment and energy needs against climate needs.”
“This story is unique, as to my knowledge there are no working-class novels that examine the failure to economically regenerate mining communities post heavy industry. There is very little out there regarding novels on climate change or the energy crisis and certainly none from the perspective of an ex-coal miner.”
March 2024 sees the 40-year anniversary of when the Miners Strike began in the UK. The industrial action within the British coal industry was an attempt to prevent colliery closures by the Conservative government, and lasted until 1985.
The Miners Strike Back by Kevin Dicks (£9.99, Y Lolfa) is available now.
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Wales on This Day
Huw Rees and Sian Kilcoyne
20 October 2022
Hardback, £12.99, 200 pages
ISBN: 9781915279118, Calon
Did you know that the recipe of Tennessee's famous Jack Daniel's whiskey is rumoured to have originated in Llanelli?Or that the world's first radio play was set in a Welsh coal mine?
Why was a showing of the Jurassic Park film in Carmarthen so special?
And how is Rupert Bear connected to Snowdonia?
Delve in to discover the stories that most history books leave out.
A fun collection of fascinating stories, facts and figures from the small country that definitely punches above its weight. Wales on This Day is a joyful insight into Wales’s national history, the major events and people that have made it the country it is today.
Huw Rees and Sian Kilcoyne run 'The History of Wales' Facebook page, now with over 170,000 followers. They are a brother and sister team, dedicated to improving their knowledge of their country and sharing it with a wider audience. Their aim is to provide objective and (hopefully!) interesting information, to help them and their readers better understand who we are as a nation, highlighting major past events, items of interest and the famous Welsh people that have shaped us into what we are today. Huw is a Welsh expat living in Wexford, Ireland. Sian lives in Caerphilly, Wales
https://www.facebook.com/TheHistoryOfWales/
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Guest Articles
Potential Welsh writers: Some dismal observations and some encouragement - Ambrose Conway / David Hughes
By AmeriCymru, 2018-09-05
...
I have often been exasperated by the way booksellers classify my books. They tend to work to set parameters and the Reso can easily fit into several categories, so in some book listings it appears as fiction, young adult, in others as general fiction. I've even seen it in a section on social issues, young people!
In truth, all of these are technically correct. Others would be equally appropriate such as : fiction: Wales, fiction: historical (it is disconcerting to realise that what appears to you as your short life to date, is now generally considered as an historical timespan!) fiction:the sixties.
Unfortunately the way a book is classified can also have an impact on sales because readers tend to concentrate on the sections they know and will never find books in other sections, unless by recommendations. This is what makes recommendations so powerful and valuable. Thank you so much to all those people who took the trouble to write something on a website about how they enjoyed the books, it is biggest compliment you can pay to an author and keeps me positive and writing.
A back handed compliment which really frustrates me is the reader who tells me that they enjoyed the book immensely, and that they have passed it round the family and everyone enjoyed it immensely as well! I'm not looking to make my fortune from writing, so few people do, but I would like some recompense for the hundreds of hours spent researching, writing, re-drafting and publishing the books. If you love a book, any book, try and encourage the author a little more by buying a couple of copies for birthday or Christmas presents.
Regarding making my fortune from writing, a few statistics will soon disabuse that notion. If you take all the fiction books published in the UK in a single year it amounts to almost a million. The average number of copies sold per book is 18! That means from JK Rowling, who sells millions, down to me who sells a few less, 18 is the number of copies that the average book sells.
There are few fortunes to be made in publishing your writing - so it is best to write because you enjoy doing so or because you think you have something important to say about humanity. I am in the first camp.
The top selling books tend to come from established writers with agents, big publishing houses and massive marketing budgets. There are also the best sellers from 'celebrities' ghost written for them to give them another income stream and promoted shamelessly on television chat shows. Not that I'm bitter!
For the rest of us, it is rather like the lottery... you have to be in it to win it, but the chance of making a living, let alone a fortune from writing, is very remote indeed. I console myself with the thought that when I die, something will live on beyond me and will consistently fail to provide an income stream for the beneficiaries of my Will.
Having originally gone through a publisher to have a professional endorsement of my writing, I made the decision to self-publish through a company called Lightning Source, part of the Ingram Group. This allowed me to cut costs and to take out the publisher from the trough. Even so, I receive about 1.40 in pounds sterling for every book I sell, the rest is accounted for from set up and production costs.
There is a line of reasoning that suggests you should set the book cost level as low as possible so as to maximise sales. 5 pounds is often seen as a critical price point for fiction books, which is why so many retail at 4.99. However, this assumes that you have a budget to promote your book so that it can compete in the crowded 4.99 market. I don't have a marketing budget. I am in the Catch 22 situation of knowing that to maximise book sales I need to market the book but I can't market the book until I have generated enough sales to justify a marketing budget, which I can't do until... round and round it goes!
That leaves this blog and sites such as Linked In on which to promote the books. The secret here is to segment the market by exploiting the different categories a book will appear in. My books are timebound to the sixties, the seventies and the eighties respectively so I would do well to find niche markets for such writing. Similarly my books have a Welsh setting and there are active Welsh communities overseas to which my writing is recounting their youth, or making a wider cultural connection.
In this context, no-one has been more helpful than Ceri Shaw and the team at Americymru and Eto magazine for bringing my work to a large expatriate community in the United States and Canada. The Welsh appear to be great networkers so that the Americymru connection has led to Australian, New Zealand and South African sales - just leaving the Patagonian market to crack!
There is support for Welsh writers in the form of bursaries and writing camps under the auspices of Literature Wales, but these, quite rightly, focus on writers writing in Wales and debut authors. I wish I had known that when starting out on my debut book!
For the most part this has been a dismal article of trials and tribulations, so I feel I muse end on a positive note. Nothing quite prepares you to have people share their memories with you and tell you that you brought back to life things half-remembered or forgotten.
My favourite reader comment was from a Principal of a Welsh primary school. He could not have pleased me more when he said, 'I see a lot of young Dylan Thomas in your writing.' I assumed he was referring to stylistic qualities and not plagiarism!
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Hi all, Beryl Richards here.. As you know I live in South Wales, in the heavily industrialised town of Port Talbot. I have long been interested in Welsh history, but the early Bronze and Iron age, I sort of dismissed as being a 'long way off' and probably not relevant to me or where I live. I had seen pictures of iron a forts or enclosures but in no way were they associated in my mind with smokey ol' Port Talbot. Which in a roundabout way brings me to the subject of my new novel which has a working title of 'The Mountain', and the thought process which led to writing it.
I picked up in a second hand bookstall a copy of a slim volume entitled “Antiquities of Margam Mountain” which immediately aroused my attention. It is written by a gentleman called Bill Howells and sponsored by the Llynfi Valley Historial Society. It is a very interesting book illustrated with some airial photos of the mountain and some taken by the author. There are illustrations of prehistoric tracks burial mounds ancient farms and forts all over the mountain. The realisation suddenly dawned on me that outside my own front door were the vestiges of an advanced urban society. Further research led me to another book written in the thirties by Cyril and Ailen Fox entitled “Forts and Farms of Margam Mountain' documenting the same information that Bill Howells so graphically highlighted with new technology.
A frail little book called Tir Iarll (The Earls Land) which I again found in a thrift store seems to have been published as a child's textbook on local customs also gave some account of the site of Margam Mountain, I wrote to the Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Trust on various statements in this book but some of it was discredited as Iolo Morgannwg's (a self styled Bard of Glamorgan) rantings. Apart from the old Ordnance Survey maps which confirm a lot of the evidence I have found for Iron age inhabitation on Margam, this is about the only written evidence I have been able to find on this subject. But the actual site speaks for itself.
There is no direct evidence of the Roman influence on Margam Mountain. The Glamorgan and Gwent Archaeological Society give no credence to this. As the site has not been excavated there is according to them no direct evidence that the Romans trod Margam Mountain. However other sources state that the Romans had a presence there and some indications of this can be found in the old place names such as Mynydd Ty Talwyn, and further west at Rhyd Blaen y Cwm. One of the locations is named Cwm Lladfa, Valley of the Slaughter where it is claimed that the last battle between the Romans and the Silurians was fought locally.
There is physical evidence of a Roman Fort at Neath (Nidum) and remnants of what is known as marching camps is strewn across the uplands. The Old Ordnance Survey Maps indicate some of these geographical features as scenes of battle fought between the local tribesmen and the Romans. As there is not yet archaeological evidence of any of this we can only wait until the whole mountain is excavated properly. Its all shrouded in Celtic mist!!!!
The Silurian tribes or familial groupings range from Eastern Wales down as far as Loughor in the West. A well organised rural/urban system stretched across these hills. It was thought by many early historians, that the iron age celts did not have the ability to build such a complex system of roads/tracks settlements on the mountain tops and the thinking was that they were Roman. But archaeological excavation has proven that these were Bronze/iron age sites built and engineered by the indigenous population, who also had codes of religion law making and customs particularly their own. The term 'forts' is a label for the many enclosures found scattered across the West Walian hills and also throughout the British Isles. Many of these enclosures were of obvious strategic importance and could also have been used as enclosures for cattle and people in times of strife.
Much emphasis was placed on the oral memory of history and of healing techniques by the Druids, who had a great influence over Celtic Society. They were priests, law givers, healers and were often used to negotiate in times of war between two or more rival clans. The Celts loved to fight and argue, today this takes place on the Rugby field. Celtic myth propagated by the Victorians portrays them as blood thirsty human sacrifice fiends. Human sacrifice,was practiced but to a much lesser degree than the popular celtic hocus pocus will have us believe. Although they used the innards sometimes of animals for divination (ugh!!!)
Celtic dress was flamboyant and colourful. Men would wear homespun trousers, a simple tunic and sometimes a cloak held by an ornamental pin, the more decorative indicated a higher social status. Women wore a long robe which was also homespun and dresses were secured with a sort of a celtic safety pin, very often beautifully decorated. They loved jewellery and ornaments. The ruling classes often wore huge intricately decorated gold torques and arm rings. They loved colour, bangles rings and much of what has been internationally excavated such as the golden cauldrons found at various locations place them in the realms of high art, and not the ignorant savage portrayed by the Romans. (Early racism??). Tribal chieftains and kings were often elected by the clan. Often there was a familial line from which they were elected.
There were many festivals held at the quarters of the year, which also acted as an agricultural calender were used to foretell the advent of winter, summer, autumn. Festivals such as midscummer and the advent of winter played a huge part not only in the gathering of crops but fertility rites, the drinking of wine of which they were very fond and the really spooky time when it was said that the veil between the dead and the living was the tiniest, today celebrated as Halloween.
The Silures were a tribe which lived in familial and village groupings in South Wales and fought off Roman occupation for some 25 years longer than in other parts of Britain. The Romans recognised them as worthy opponents. Their method of guerilla warfare locally continued until early medeavil times as was documented in the annals of Kenfig Castle, now covered by sand, but thats another story!
I am trying to answer the question of the underestimation of the Silurians. They seems to have had a quite sophisticated urban society with laws and customs which did not die easily with the onslaught of roman occupation. The remains on Margam Mountain which as I have mentioned contained the traditional enclosures or hill forts at strategic points along the hilltops, have not been archaeologically excavated but further east there are many sites which have yielded a definite identity, which did not seem to have been undermined by Romanisation. The end seems to have come unfortunately with the advent of Christianity when the Celtic identity was melded into what we now recognise as the Celtic Church with numerous monasteries, and hermitages being established along the South Wales coast and also inland.
I like to think that the spirit of the Celts remains in the gritty character of Port Talbot as it exists today. The realisation that such a society existed here has prompted me to write another novel which is a work in progress.
Every so often I get fascinated by something I read, or an aspect of local history of which I was not aware (which are many) prompted me to write a novel entitled 'Golconda' which is in part based on the facts about the early copper industry based in Castell Nedd (Neath) West Glamorgan. The story concerns a young American woman named Holly Darby who attempts to find her Welsh roots. I created a real stinker of a villain named Edward Hawksworth who seduced, cheated and plotted his way to achieve wealth. Holly and her friend (with benefits) trace the story from Castell to the states of her Welsh heritage. I have endeavoured to draw on a number of historical facts and blend them in to this story, in order for Holly to find closure in what can sometimes be quite a fast paced but rather sad story.
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Book of the Month
Book of the Month for January 2022 is The Feast by Matthew G. Rees
Read our interview with Matthew G. Rees here
Not to be confused with the recent, wildly acclaimed Welsh language horror movie of the same name ( Y Gwledd ), this is Matthew G. Rees' third published anthology of short stories. You will find reviews of his other works here The Keyhole and here Smoke House & Other Stories
We have expressed the opinion that Matthew G. Rees is a major new talent elsewhere and this new collection confirms our estimation. The Feast is a deliciously dark and frequently amusing collection that leaves one in no doubt that Rees is a writer at the top of his game and destined for popularity and acclaim.
In so far as this collection has a theme, the author outlines it in his brief introductory note:-
" This collection of stories created itself over the course of two years in which I found that I seemed to be writing short fiction that possessed a connective tissue ."
The nature of this 'connective tissue' becomes clearer when we consider the accompanying quotation from Shakespeare:-
" Things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. " William Shakespeare Richard II
Indeed there is an element of - be careful what you wish for - in most of these tales. In 'The Twilight Maiden' we are introduced to Guiseppe Dellucci, an Italian restaurateur in search of a delicious legendary variety of tomato which only grows in the vicinity of the remote village of Collina Rossa. The atmosphere of suspense and thinly veiled threat are skilfully crafted until Guiseppe is finally inducted into the mystery of the fabled tomato plant.
These stories are set in a variety of locations and in 'Stone Cold' we meet Candice Canyons, an exotic dancer at The Southern Peaches Go-Go Club, somewhere in the American south. She dreams of a better life and opportunity presents itself in the form of Seymour Thrayle, an aged wealthy landowner who frequents the Club. His obsession with, and desire for, peach tarts leads to a grim and humorous denouement.
In 'Fungal' the protagonist is distracted by a store front sign which reads:-
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Enquire within
Having nearly exhausted a fortune he had inherited from his family he decided that there would be no harm in inquiring. Needless to say his life is changed forever in the most unexpected of ways.
If you are not acquainted with the work of Matthew G' Rees this collection provides an excellent introduction. His tales have the capacity to simultaneously delight and disturb and always stay in your thoughts for some time after reading. The Feast by Matthew G' Rees is AmeriCymru's selection for Book of the Month January 2022.
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