The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

'The Black Cauldron' could have taken me by surprise. Why you ask, well our old friend Walt Disney made a version of this book. Therefore, if you have seen the movie like the Disney movie Tinker Bell its not. I found Book 2 to be full of wonder and excitement beyond anything Mickey Mouse could deliver. Perhaps one of the most inspiring of all five books, 'The Black Cauldron' tests the companions (Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, and Fflewddur). Not only was their courage tested, but also their true virtue, for Taran and his companions were, given more than once, the chance to become evil doers. In the end, as Alexander puts it, you cannot always judge good and evil 'unmixed,' sometimes you must remember people for what they once were, and others for what they became. This is a retelling of the Mabinogion’s ‘Cauldron of Rebirth’ bringing to the young at heart a vivid way to introduce the Mabinogi. Paperback: 208 pages Rating: 5 Stars Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks (May 16, 2006) Review by Bill Tillman

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

The tale of Taran, assistant pig keeper, has been entertaining young readers for generations. Set in the mythical land of Prydain (which bears a more than passing resemblance to Wales), Lloyd Alexander's book draws together the elements of the hero's journey from unformed boy to courageous young man. Taran grumbles with frustration at home in the hamlet Caer Dallben; he yearns to go into battle like his hero, Prince Gwydion. Before the story is over, he has met his hero and fought the evil leader who threatens the peace of Prydain: the Horned King. What brings the tale of Taran to life is Alexander's skillful use of humor, and the way he personalizes the mythology he has so clearly studied. Taran isn't a stick figure; in fact, the author makes a point of mocking him just at the moments when he's acting the most highhanded and heroic. When he and the young girl Eilonwy flee the castle of the wicked queen Achren, Taran emotes, "'Spiral Castle has brought me only grief; I have no wish to see it again.' 'What has it brought the rest of us?' Eilonway asked. 'You make it sound as though we were just sitting around having a splendid time while you moan and take on.'" By the end, Alexander has spun a rousing hero's tale and created a compelling coming-of-age story. Readers will sigh with relief when they realize The Book of Three is only the first of the chronicles of Prydain. Paperback: 190 pages Rating: 5 Stars Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks (May 16, 2006) Review by Bill Tillman

And The Winner Is.........( Short Story Competition / English Language )

A message from Lloyd Jones.....

Thank you for inviting me to judge the Americymru short story competition - I wish I hadn't agreed now because choosing a winner proved very difficult!

I'm afraid that I discounted the autobiographical stories because they didn't fit the short story criteria, but I urge the authors to carry on with their work and produce complete autobiographies beacuse their stories are interesting and well-written.

Some of the other stories I discounted because they were fragments, or tended towards the sentimental. The whole process is entirely subjective and one person's delicacy is another's poison, so please forgive me if you disagree with my choice - and for heaven's sake don't stop writing if your name isn't featured in the winning line-up: tastes vary enormously and another judge might choose a completely different line-up. That's right - it's a lottery!

I ended up with a shortlist of five, namely:

Care and Feeding of Clutter Blobs by Jennifer Brodeur
The Fortuneteller's Fate by Elizabeth Addie
A Touch of Class by Beryl Ensor-Smith
A Flurry in Time by Linda Lenehan
Coppers' Cash and Convenience by Ian Price.

I chose Care and Feeding of Clutter Blobs as the winner simply because it's the most entertaining.The Fortune-teller's Fate I picked as runner-up by a whisker from the others.Well done the lot of you - and do carry on writing!

Congratulations Jennifer..

Tales of an Aber Lad

A top television producer has described how he looked on in horror as a trapeze artist plunged helplessly to her death in the big top at an Aberystwyth circus. The tragedy is one of a collection of memories of David Lloyd’s childhood in the 1940s and ’50s in his autobiography Tales of an Aber Lad. David was a teenager in the Bertram Mills audience in May 1958 when 31-year-old Frances Duncan fell 25 feet, head first, after a defective rope became loose around her ankle. David says, “In my young life, I had never felt so frozen with shock and horror. I had seen her plummet and hit the ground and it was terrible. She lay there in the sawdust, her body shaking violently but the band struck up a tune and the clowns came on and distracted us as Frances was taken away to the North Road Hospital.”

Other recollections include a quack German ‘doctor’ who made patients bathe naked beneath Constitution Hill and an outbreak of typhoid fever, caused by local ice cream, which threatened to wreck the resort’s post-war tourist trade. The author, now living in semi-retirement in Aberystwyth, remembers the glory days of the old Coliseum Cinema, presided over by its formidable owner Mrs Gale, the “Grand Dame of picture palaces.” David says, “If there was romance on the Coliseum screen it was nothing compared to the passion in the back row of the stalls.” The ‘activities’ there are said to have been “so intense that the entire row from Seat 1 to Seat 25 had developed a treacherous lean.”

Reminiscences include news of the first television signal, picked up from a Midlands transmitter in 1950. The reception was said to have been better at night, “when there was less traffic on Trefechan Bridge.” Similarly early wireless (radio) signals were believed to have been affected by “bad weather around Pen Dinas.” A world that has long since disappeared was enlivened by the (Air Raid) Wardens Dramatic Society with producer Wilf Jones, the popular seasonal pantomimes of Peggy Royston and Shirley Twiddy, and “dainty teas” at DW Teviotdale in North Parade. David turns back the clock to remember the ‘big freeze’ of 1947, sweets becoming ration coupon free in 1953 and the terrors of the gas machine at the Portland Street dentists’. He remembers the November Fair with Ronnie Taylor’s Boxing Booth and the town girls who were “thrown around on the waltzer, hiding their stockings and suspenders from blasts of cold air.” Milk poured into jugs from churns carried by horse and cart was supplemented by doorstep deliveries from the likes of Mister Lister the green grocer and the eagerly awaited Corona man. Bread, coal, meat and fish were also delivered direct in those days, while itinerants brought candles and clothes pegs. Then there were visits to the traditional shops of Hodges, Bradleys, Daniel Thomas and Albert Davies. The Gwalia Motor Company boasted that it provided “a reliable motor car that could cover any distance.”

David recalls the launch of the Eagle comic, the wonders of the first radiograms, rides on Crosville buses, houses with no central heating, beatings in school and being ordered to inhale fumes from the Gas Works as a cure for whooping cough. Aber is said to have been “awash with tea rooms, coal merchants, iron mongers, dressmakers and tailors.” Personalities abounded, including businessman John Potts who wore his trilby like an American gangster. Seilo Chapel’s organist Charles Clements was described by no less than Sir Henry Wood as “the finest accompanist in Europe.”

Born in the Caradoc Road maternity home in 1940, David Lloyd is the son of the late Gilbert Lloyd, manager of the old David Roberts Brewery in Trefechan. For many years David was producer/director of award-winning programmes for HTV Wales in Cardiff, where he became Head of Features and Head of Community Programmes. Another distinguished ‘Aber Lad’, the acclaimed author Herbert Williams, says in his foreword that David’s tales are “told with humour, dexterity and lightness of touch that makes for easy and rewarding reading. They are accompanied by a diversity of photographs which will surprise and even astonish readers.”

"Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum" - Lloyd Robson

Lloyd Robson is a writer and broadcaster from Cardiff. As a poet he has performed and been published on five continents."Oh Dad! A Search For Robert Mitchum" ( reviewed below ) was first published by Parthian Books in 2008.

I dont normally read biographies because they always end the same way. But Lloyd Robson has solved this problem. His "biography" of Mitchum is as much about the author as it is about its subject. Fortunately for the reader both are fascinating characters.

For the hardcore Mitchum fan there is a wealth of biographical information. For instance we are told that at the time of his marriage ( aged 16 ) to Dorothy Spence:- " Mitchum was already a drinker - since he was eight - and Mary-Jane smoker; had already hobo'ed up and down the eastern seaboard; had already served time in jail. She was a good girl and younger. He was sixteen, she was fourteen - the age when according to Mitchum, 'A girl falls for derelicts'."

The book is peppered throughout with amusing and revealing quotes. Here is Mitchum discussing his 'range':- " I have two acting styles: with and without a horse." We are also told that:- "Famously when asked if he followed the Stanislavski method he replied, 'I follow the Smirnoff method'."

The plot of every movie, both major and minor, that Mitchum appeared in is referenced at some point in the narrative, usually in the context of some random encounter on the author's travels through the thirteen states that he visited in order to research this book. And what a strange and wonderful book it is. It works on so many levels. It is a meticulously researched account of the life, times and career of one of Hollywood's greatest actors but it is also a travelogue written from a perspective which should prove particularly interesting to members and readers of this site.

Anyone who has emigrated to these shores from the other side of the Atlantic will recall the many minor 'culture shocks' which they experienced when first they arrived and the many ways in which things seemed 'oddly familiar'. There are many instances of this in the book and it works well as a travelogue. Scattered throughout its 500 pages there are occasional reflections on Wales' image in modern America and on notions of 'Welshness' . At one point Robson reflects on an article in a Bridgeport newspaper about a visit by David Lloyd George which describes him as 'a little Welshman':- " Still at least it proves the American press knew he was not English, and therefore they recognized there was a difference between being Welsh or English. So what's happened since to America's awareness of Wales? It struggles within the swamp of more assertive cultures."

Later in the book he encounters a Southerner who informs him that the "real" South is confined to Georgia and the Carolina's and that other parts of the former Confederacy have changed beyond all recognition. This leads to the following rather interesting reflection ( with apologies for the length of the quote ):- "So many Welsh people consider the major urban spread of Cardiff as not 'really' Welsh, nor the lowlands of Gwent, nor border towns like Chepstow and Monmouth, nor the north-east corner which comes under the influence of Merseyside. So what does this leave us with? Shrinkage. Geographically, culturally and emotionally. A different type of Wales - just as with a different type of the South - is viewed as a change too far. It's like saying, 'There is only one Wales, only one South - and you're not it, whatever you believe yourself to be.' And so we get smaller and weaker. It reeks of the modern age being judged as robbing now-urban areas of their rightful heritage. Well, change happens - we either accept and develop or get very, very lonely in an ever-reducing club, sat all on our lonesome in our chilly tai bach. And that's where we'll stay for as long as the question remains: are you as Welsh, are you as Southern as I am?"

The book is liberally spiced with accounts of bar room encounters and sexual adventures along the way. Indeed at times it is more autobiography than biography. This is not surprising since the author's main concern is to examine the notion of masculinity in the modern age. If Robert Mitchum is the paradigm ( and certainly Robson's father seems to have thought so ), how does he measure up? Together with the standard accounts of boozing, womanizing and fist-fights, there is a determined effort to track down Mitchum's sensitive side. He wrote and self-published his own poetry as a child. What we are left with is an engrossing account of an intellectual and emotional quest which reveals a great deal about both the author and his subject.

All in all this is a first rate read. I'd give it six stars if I could but unfortunately our graphics department was out tonight and she didn't have time to make me a six star jpeg.

Review by Ceri Shaw Email

The Dragon Has Landed!

We apologise for the cheesy title but we are naturally very pleased and excited to be able to announce that plans for the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland this August are now beginning to firm up. This week we secured the location for the event in Portland, Oregon: it will take place at the Crystal Ballroom on Saturday, 22 August 2009.

Below is a shot of the view of the ballroom from the stage. The Crystal Ballroom has been a Portland nightlife destination for many decades, glamorously famous for its dance floor: a wooden floor on a ball-bearing base, below a balcony of fixed seating, with two bars - one in the balcony and one at the back of the ballroom itself. The ballroom overlooks downtown West Burnside Street, a main boulevard which bisects the north and south halves of the city and just blocks from Powell's Books, the largest independent bookstore in the United States, probably in the western hemisphere.

The ballroom is on the third floor and in addition to that floor, we have the second floor, which is another bar and dance floor - photograph of that bar, intrepidly claimed for Wales by AmeriCymru member, Hugh Roberts, at the bottom of this post, below.

So far confirmed to attend are:- Chris Needs, Bruce Anderson, Niall Griffiths, Oceans ApartDavid Western. Other announcements will follow. There is every chance, should our funding situation continue to improve, that we will book a second and possibly a third day It was our original intention to stage a three day event and we are exploring various sponsorship options with interested parties at the moment. and

The program for the event is in the beginning planning stages but so far we're looking at a Welsh market/tradeshow with vendor spaces during the day and seminars/appearances by lovespoon carver David Western and author Niall Griffiths on the ballroom stage and performers appearing in the ballroom in the evening.

The winners of all our online Eisteddfod competitions will be announced at the event. The Short Story Competition is being judged by Lloyd Jones and Peter Thabit Jones is judging the Poetry Competition. Judges for the other competitions have yet to be announced. David Western will announce the winner of the Left Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon he is creating and auctioning for the event.

We're working out additional presentations and possibly appearances and events at other locations near the Crystal Ballroom: book signings and other events. We'd really love to hear from anyone about events they'd like to see at this, any ideas anyone to make it even bigger and better.

We want to thank all our members and contributors for helping us get to this point and giving us an opportunity to promote Wales and modern Welsh culture in the western USA. We really hope we see a lot of you here and plan a special event for AmeriCymru members.

Left Coast Eisteddfod Short Story Competition Will be Judged by Lloyd Jones!

We are immensely proud and pleased to announce that author Lloyd Jones will judge the entries in the Left Coast Eisteddfod Short Story competition. First prize in this competition wiil be $100 (65GBP approx ). Second and third place prizes to be announced soon. The final submission date for entries is July 31st 2009. To submit your entry please go to this page and read the rules carefully before entering:- Left Coast Eisteddfod Short Story Competition Submission Group. The competition is open to non-Americymru members but the submission procedure is slightly different.

Lloyd will need no introduction to most of our readers but just in case here are a few links:-

Interview With Lloyd Jones on Americymru

Review of "My First Colouring Book" on Americymru

Mr Vogel

Mr Cassini

Lloyd Jones on Wikipedia

My First Colouring Book

Mr. Vogel

Mr Cassini

"My First Colouring Book" - A Review

My First Colouring
Book

Read our interview with Lloyd Jones HERE.

Speaking as a hard-core short story fanatic, I can honestly say that Lloyd Jones' "My First Colouring Book" has been the high point of my literary year so far. It's great to see a Welsh author who has so far mastered this genre as to be worthy of mention alongside Carver, Cheever, Maupassant, Mansfield and, dare one even suggest it, Chekhov himself.

Lloyd Jones is fond of referring to his writing as "scribblings". In this collection he has elected to "scribble" in a dazzling variety of colors, all of which are intensely evocative.

There are many fine things in this anthology. There is "Blood," which warns of the potentially cataclysmic dangers of "exotic blood transfusions". There is "Post Office Red," which asserts the critical importance of preserving a sense of mystery and wonder. The closing sentence of this story reveals the "moral" of the tale with the same blinding clarity achieved by Mansfield in "The Doll's House". In "Black," an intellectual atheist meets a lady friend at a lake near the oldest church in Wales. It is close to the festive season and they are invited to join the Christmas service. The protagonist spends his time in the church indulging sexual fantasies about old girlfriends and the female occupant of the burial plot in the pew beneath his feet. On the drive back home they pass a dark and sinister stranger on the road and he has perhaps the closest thing to a religious experience that he will ever know. "Wine" is a heart-warming "feelgood" tale about a devout christian who performs a charitable act in order to fill a gap in the "O" section of his address book. It contains elements of high farce and compares favorably with the best of O Henry.

Also not to be missed are the four short essays at the end of the book which describe walks in North, South, East and West Wales. As a South-Walian and a keen hill-walker back in the day, I deeply appreciated his account of a sojourn in the Black Mountains and his visits to Cwmyoy and Partrishow churches. Both are magical places and evoked masterfully.

Lest anything I have so far said gives the impression that this is a light-hearted collection, please allow me to observe that these stories contain some of the most profound and poignant meditations on life, love and death in 21st century literature. In a recent interview with Americymru, Lloyd Jones was asked about his future literary plans. He replied, "Maybe some more short stories?". We sincerely hope so.

In short, this book is a treat for short-story fans, lovers of literature and lovers of Wales. If you fall into all three categories, then it is simply a "must read". If you are buying a gift for Christmas, either as a gift to yourself or for someone else, you couldn't do better than "My First Colouring Book."

CS

Americymru Welsh Books Club - November Selections

My First Colouring Book - Lloyd Jones	Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? - David Thomas .	The Mourning Vessels - Peter Luther

This month the Americymru Welsh Books of the Month Club has three selections. Further details can be found in the blogposts listed below. Full reviews will hopefully follow soon.


“Welsh Dan Brown” sets thriller in West Wales

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?

"My First Colouring Book" - Lloyd Jones

"My First Colouring Book" - Lloyd Jones

Prize-winning Welsh author Lloyd Jones celebrates the launch of his first collection of short stories next week. The work entitled "My First Colouring Book" will be available from Nov 5th. Lloyd Jones is the award winning author of "Mr Vogel" and "Mr Cassini", two of the most refreshing and challenging novels to come out of Wales in recent decades. His new book will be reviewed on this site in due course, meanwhile you can pre-order a copy from Amazon.com here:- My First Colouring Book

Read reviews HERE.

An Interview With Carwyn Lloyd Edwards

Carwyn will need no introduction to most of the readers of this blog. He is the editor of the enormously popular and successful "News From Wales and the World". He is also a member of the Welsh League of Arizona. Carwyn kindly agreed to be interviewed by Americymru

1. Everybody who is anybody reads your newsletter "News from Wales and the World". How would you describe the central vision and purpose of the newsletter?

The original idea 4 years ago was to encourage people all over the world to spend just 5 minutes a week within their busy lives to catch up with what is going in Wales. Even though the newsletter has evolved during this time that basic concept still is the core idea!!

2. Do you think Wales' image is well represented in the American media? If not, what should we be doing to improve it?

I rarely see Canada represented in the US media don't talk about Wales.

They are many ways to approach this complex question. You can throw $$$$$ at the problem, something the Irish Tourist Board are happily doing at the moment. But the Welsh government has not budgeted to follow that approach (I don't believe we don't have the money to do so, their are monies available for all kinds of projects these days!). The political will isn't there yet!

I feel we don't use our Hollywood stars enough Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones, Ioan Gruffudd and the rest ...to promote Wales. But that also costs $$$$$!!! Therefore each and single one of us can do our bit and become a Welsh ambassador in our community!

3. What would you say to those who want to make St Davids Day as big a deal here in the States as St Patricks ay is at the moment? Whats the best way of going about it?

Well all of 1.7 million registered Welsh Americans and their friends need to be more active and hands on doing their bit!!!From bumper stickers to starting Welsh groups in your area!!!They are all kinds of simple things you can do! Just be creative!!!


4. What role should the language play in any Welsh cultural revival? Should it be more emphasised or is the current emphasis about right?


You cannot separate the two! Welsh cultural revival is due to the growth in the number of Welsh speakers/learners in Wales and around the world. You cannot support Welsh cultural and be against the Welsh language. I don't expect everyone to go on and learn it but at least to be supportive towards the "Fam iaith".


5. How would you rate the welsh Parliaments performance in its first decade? How important a role do they have in preserving Wales' unique cultural identity?


Mediocre/slow/uninspiring! But looking at the bigger picture the Senedd does have one hand tied behind it's back with very little law making powers and no tax varying ability. Therefore the challenge is to obtain these powers We are in the process of building institutions in Wales I just hope all of them doesn't land in Cardiff Bay.


6. Who would get your vote for the role of Owain Glyndwr if Hollywood ever gets around to making a biopic?

You have to remember that Owain Glyndwr was a middle age man when the whole war for independence started. He had semi retired as one of the wealthiest men in North Wales. But how would Hollywood deal with the subject who knows!!I believe Brave heart captured the spirit of the story but factually had a lot creative freedom!! We have plenty of Welsh actors around these days from Anthony Hopkins, Christian Bale, Mathew Rhys, Michael Sheen, Ioan Gruffudd and list goes on!

I personally hope the film if ever made would be a global hit!