The Effect of Nazi Persecution on a Family with Welsh Connections

This week sees the publication of a book that tells the shocking story of one family during the rise of Nazism in the 1930s and the Second World War. Yr Erlid is relevant to Wales as one member of that family, Kate Bosse-Griffiths, fled to Wales and became a Welsh litterateur. Heini Gruffudd, her son, is the author of the book.

Kate Bosse-Griffiths succeeded in fleeing from Germany to the Britain in 1937. She fell in love, married, began writing in Wales and established Cylch Cadwgan whilst the Nazis made life in Germany and Europe hell on Earth. Her family was persecuted. A few tried to become a part of the system, others struggled in spite of the system, and some self-sacrifed in opposition to the system.

The story would have been lost forever if it wasn’t for the thousand and more pages that have been kept by the family; letters, diaries and documents. They give an account of the attacks during Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), life under the insane regime, details of prison camps, fleeing to Shanghai, suicide, imprisonment and killing. Here is a story of love and hatred, protection and persecution, yearning and terror during the most destructive period in European history. Kate Bosse-Griffiths’ mother was murdered, her aunt committed suicide and the family was persecuted and forced to flee to the four corners of the earth.

After fleeing to Britain, Kate married J Gwyn Griffiths and moved to Wales to live in the Rhondda, Bala and Swansea. She became well-known for her novels and stories, as well as for her interest in archaeology and Egyptology, and for bringing up two sons who would become staunchly patriotic Welshmen. Some of the history was discussed in the documentary programme Y Trên i Ravensbruck, which won two BAFTA Cymru prizes.

Heini Gruffudd is a prolific author of books, a campaigner for Welsh language education and is an authority on the sociology of language. His brother, Robat, established Y Lolfa.

 
Erlid dan law’r Natsïaid a’r Effaith ar un Teulu gyda Chysylltiadau Cymreig
 

Yr wythnos hon cyhoeddir cyfrol sy’n adrodd hanes ysgytwol un teulu yng nghyfnod twf Natsïaeth yn Nhridegau’r ganrif ddiwethaf a chyfnod yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Mae Yr Erlid yn berthnasol i Gymru gan i un o’r teulu sef Kate Bosse-Griffiths ffoi i Gymru a dod yn llenor Cymraeg. Heini Gruffudd, ei mab, yw awdur y gyfrol.

Llwyddodd Kate-Bosse-Griffiths i ffoi o’r Almaen i wledydd Prydain yn 1937. Caru, priodi, cychwyn llenydda yng Nghymru a sefydlu Cylch Cadwgan yn y Rhondda oedd ei hanes pan droes y Natsïaid fywyd pobl yr Almaen ac Ewrop yn uffern. Cafodd ei theulu ei erlid. Ceisiodd rhai fod yn rhan o’r system, roedd eraill yn ymdrechu i fyw er gwaetha’r system, ac eraill yn ei gwrthwynebu’n hunanaberthol.

Ni fyddai’r stori yn bosib ei hadrodd oni bai am y mil a mwy o ddalennau a gadwyd ym meddiant y teulu, yn llythyrau a dyddiaduron, yn ysgrifau a dogfennau. Soniant am ymosodiadau Kristallnacht, bywyd o dan y drefn wallgof, manylion gwersylloedd carchar, ffoi i Shanghai, hunanladdiad, carcharu a lladd. Mae yma hanes o garu a chasáu, gwarchod ac erlid, dyheu a dychryn yn y cyfnod mwyaf dinistriol a welodd Ewrop. Ceir hanes llofruddiaeth mam Kate Bosse-Griffiths, hunanladdiad ei modryb ac erlid y teulu i bob cwr o’r byd.

Ar ôl ffoi i Brydain i fyw, priododd Kate J Gwyn Griffiths a symud i Gymru gan fyw yn y Rhondda, y Bala ac Abertawe. Daeth yn adnabyddus am ei nofelau a’i storïau, yn ogystal ag am ei diddordeb mewn archaeoleg ac Eifftoleg, a magodd ddau o blant yn Gymry pybyr. Trafodwyd peth o’r  hanes yn y rhaglen ddogfen, Y Trên i Ravensbruck a enillodd ddwy o wobrau BAFTA Cymru. 

Mae Heini Gruffudd yn awdur toreth o lyfrau, yn ymgyrchydd dros addysg Gymraeg ac yn awdurdod ar gymdeithaseg iaith. Ei frawd yw Robat Gruffudd, sefydlydd Y Lolfa.


 Y Lolfa Cyf., Talybont, Ceredigion, Cymru SY24 5HE
ffôn 01970 831 902

www.ylolfa.com
c y h o e d d w y r  a c  a r g r a f f w y r

An Interview With Welsh Writer Lloyd Jones - Electric Sheep And A Small Mouse

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Centenary of a Welsh great’s birth celebrated with two new books - Pennar Davies

  

November 12, 2011 marks the the centenary of the birth of one of the great figures in twentieth-century Wales. Pennar Davies was a coal miner’s son, who was born into sheer poverty in Mountain Ash. Educated there, he later obtained a double First Class Honours degree at University College, Cardiff before attending Balliol College, Oxford, where he gained a B.Litt. He spent the next three years at Yale University in the United States which awarded him a Ph.D. After another year at Cardiff he returned to Oxford, this time to Mansfield College. He was ordained into the Christian ministry at Minster Road Congregational Church, Cardiff in 1942.

In 1946 Pennar was appointed Professor of Church History at Bala-Bangor College before undertaking a similar post at the Congregational Memorial College, Brecon, in 1950. He served as college’s principal until his retirement. Pennar Davies, who learned Welsh as a teenager, became a leading figure in the literary life of Wales as a poet, novelist and writer.

To mark this centenary, Y Lolfa is publishing two books by former students of Pennar Davies: Saintly Enigma, a biography of Pennar Davies in the English language by the Rev. Ivor Thomas Rees of Sketty, and Diary of a Soul, a translation of Pennar Davies’ great spiritual classic Cudd fy Meiau [Hide my sins], by the Rev. Herbert D Hughes, a former lecturer at Trinity College, Carmarthen. A foreword to this volume has been written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. The two volumes will be launched at Christwell United Reformed Church, Manselton, Swansea on Saturday, 1 October at 10.30 a.m. Sadly, Rev. Hughes passed away at his Brecon home a few months ago.

The main speakers at the launch will be Professor D Densil Morgan, Professor of Theology at the University of Wales, Trinity St David’s and author of Pennar Davies’s Welsh-language biography, and Professor M Wynn Thomas, Professor of Welsh Writing in English at the University of Swansea.

New Book Celebrating 130 years of Welsh Rugby Internationals

The man recognised as Wales’s “foremost rugby statistician and historian” is publishing a new book about every game Wales have ever played to celebrate the 130  anniversary of Welsh international rugby. Howard Evans, regularly writing in newspapers and WRU programmes is a renowned statistician, but his real talent is the way he brings alive the facts and figures, and in his new book called Welsh International Matches he tells the story of every match Wales have ever played, from the first game at Blackheath in 1881 to the Six Nations in 2011.

John Griffiths, one of the greatest-ever rugby statisticians, said: “Howard Evans, who has succeeded John Billot as Wales’s foremost rugby statistician and historian, has the rare gift of bringing alive the facts and figures of our national game in a book which I commend to all followers of the game.”

Welsh International Matches runs chronologically and includes the story and statistics of every game Wales have ever played, including World Cups and Non Championship matches – it’s certain to settle the odd disagreement about who did what in Welsh international rugby. It includes the details of every player, date, venue, scorers and referee at each match. The introduction is by James Hook and he’s excited to be included in 52 out of the total of 621 Welsh games: “It’s wonderful to be able to go back in time and read of the great Welsh players of the 1800s and 1900s and when we did beat New Zealand! A book such as this has a great place in Welsh sporting history and I hope that young boys starting out today will be just as enthralled to read of today’s players as well as those from earlier eras.”

Howard Evans said: “It is a big thrill to be able to continue the wonderful work started by the late John Billot and I must thank Y Lolfa wholeheartedly for given me that opportunity. Rugby, and Welsh Rugby in particular, has played a big part in my life from my early childhood onwards and the thrill I get at reading the pre-war years is just as great now as it was over 60 years ago."

Some facts from Welsh International Matches:

Did you know?... During the last twelve years, since the 1999 World Cup:

Wales won the 6-Nations, Triple Crown and Grand Slam TWICE.

 

Gareth Thomas (and now Stephen Jones) were the only players to make 100 appearances.

 

Gareth Thomas reached 40 tries but Shane Williams then reached 50.

 

Neil Jenkins became top points-scorer and later passed 1,000 points.

 

Ryan Jones caught Ieuan Evans as the most games as captain of Wales.

 

No Welshman was red-carded, but three opponents were, all in Cardiff.

 

The Quinnell family provided the first instance of a father and TWO sons being capped.

 

13 players scored debut tries, but Tom Shanklin and George North scored two each.

 

Wales had nine coaches in 11 years, though four were caretakers.

 

Warren Gatland overtook Alan Davies as coach of most games for Wales.

2000 - Scott Quinnell (v Italy) scored the 1st Welsh try for 205 minutes.

 

2000 - James Griffiths (v Samoa) was yellow-carded after just 21 seconds on the field.

 

2001 - Foot and Mouth postponed the Ireland match.

 

2001 - In Wales's 500th match (v Japan), Tom Shanklin scored four tries.

 

2002 - Michael Owen (v South Africa) became the 1,000th Wales cap.

 

2003 - Colin Charvis was voted ahead of Saddam Hussein and 2nd only to Osama bin  Laden as the most-hated man in Wales.

 

2004 - The 98-0 win over Japan at Cardiff was the highest-ever in a Wales home match.

 

2005 - The first Wales Grand Slam for 27 years.

 

2006 - The Wales captain (Gareth Thomas) burst a blood vessel in his neck after a television debate.

 

2007 - Colin Charvis became the first Wales forward to score 20 tries.

 

2009 - The 600^th Wales test was played in Chicago.

 

2010 - Tom Prydie became the youngest Wales cap at 18 yrs 27 days. He beat the 1888 record of Cecil Biggs by 23 days. 

New Book Explores Pride In Welsh Identity And Language

Welsh journalist, Roger Lewis, whilst reviewing Jasper Rees’s recent book in the Daily Mail, used the opportunity to declare his own, personal hatred of all things Welsh. But Peter Daniels, author of a new book, In Search of Welshness combats these bigoted opinions by highlighting in his book the views of London Welsh exiles from all sorts of backgrounds who have been motivated to learn Welsh and rediscover their Welsh identity. 
 

Roger Lewis, in his Daily Mail review, claimed that ‘Not many people in full possession of their faculties would find it appealing or necessary to try to turn themselves into a ‘real Welshman’‘. Nothing escaped his wrath: ‘the moribund, monkey language’, Welsh television and radio channels, Welsh road signs, the Eisteddfod, coal mines, Offa’s Dyke, even the sheep. Peter Daniels wonders ‘What is left in the vacuum that is Mr Lewis’s Wales?’
 

And this emptiness is a problem. Peter Daniels also highlights in his book the challenge faced by Welsh people to preserve their identity in an everyday environment dominated by an English media which chooses to ignore the very existence of Wales. He writes that ‘It is quite appropriate that Mr Lewis’s appallingly ignorant diatribe features in a London tabloid which failed to provide even a single column inch on the result of the recent Welsh Referendum.’
 

Peter Daniels is grateful that few ‘real’ Welsh people are of the same opinion as Mr Lewis. In his book he goes In Search of Welshness through his own life story as a Llanelli exile, through the thoughts of many of Wales’s talented writers and historians, but most of all through the eyes and minds of the London Welsh: London Welsh rugby supporters at Old Deer Park and fellow Welsh learners at the London Welsh Centre. These learners, motivated to learn Welsh to connect with their roots, include the children of non Welsh-speaking parents, first generation Welsh exiles and even foreigners who are sufficiently in love with Wales to become conversant in its language.
 

Their varied backgrounds range from industrial south Wales to rural north Wales. Their ancestors were involved in the miners’ strikes of the 1920s, and forced to look to London for work in the depression of the 1930s. They all share one thing in common – a burning desire to preserve their Welsh ancestry.  
 

In Search of Welshness by Peter Daniels is published by Y Lolfa, priced £9.95
 

Peter Daniels was born in Gorseinon in 1943 to Llanelli parents, read Economics and International Politics at UCW Aberystwyth, before taking up a career in market research, marketing and advertising planning. This incorporated marketing and research management positions at Lever, RHM Foods and HJHeinz, 6 years as a senior advertising planner with 2 major London agencies, and a Directorship of global market research company, Millward Brown International. He spent the last 15 years of his working life as a freelance marketing research consultant.
 

He has lived for the last 48 years in north London and Hertfordshire, now residing in Radlett, Herts, with his second wife, Gill. He has 2 children and 4 grandchildren from his first marriage, plus 3 stepchildren and 8 step grandchildren.
 

He is a rugby, racquet sports and golf fanatic. And, in retirement, he has become a Welsh Learner and active member of the London Welsh Centre in London’s Kings Cross.    

 

 

Church in Wales Priest puts his Poems on Paper

This week Y Lolfa will release Penmon Point, a collection of poems which touch on mortality, doubt and the Celtic roots of Christian spirituality in Wales. Some of the author, Rev. Peter Walker’s, poems cover his day-to-day life as a vicar and his fondness for the sea. There are poems about his church experiences and spiritual reflection, that follow in the tradition of R S Thomas.  Others are witty: one poem is entitled, ‘The Vicar’s got Tourette’s’. There is also a freely adapted translation of Duw (God) by Gwenallt.

The author said, “I have always been inspired by the landscape of Wales and the way its history and religious past are ever present. In spiritual terms, Wales is very much a ‘thin place’ where heaven and earth come close together and where the presence of God can be discerned.”

Peter Walker is an Anglican priest working in the Church in Wales. Originally from the West Midlands, he taught Modern Languages for many years. He worked for a time in a parish in Telford, Shropshire but now lives and works on the Welsh coast in the diocese of St Asaph. He is married with a daughter and an agoraphobic cat!

Atlas of Nations Aspiring for Independence and Recognition

At the end of August Y Lolfa publishers will be releasing a new atlas featuring the stateless nations of Europe. In Europe there are roughly thirty stateless nations many of whom are aspiring for more autonomy – often groups of minority people who have lost or never acquired their sovereignty. This unique atlas isn’t confined to borders, but instead maps the linguistic characters of Europe’s stateless nations, as well as tracing their history, present politics and the possible changes in their futures. The book emphasises that Europe isn’t a static continent, and it should embrace its diversity with peoples in many unrecognised nations desperate for change. It appears that nations such as Scotland, Wales, Catalonia and the Basque country are following in the footsteps of Kosovo and Montenegro on the road to independence.

Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe

The original book was written in French by Breton Mikael Bodlore-Penlaez, an author who played an important part in establishing the Organization for European Minorities. He founded the www.eurominority.eu website, devoted to the European stateless nations, and regularly collaborates in producing bodies of work and geographical charts on the subject.

Garmon Gruffudd of Y Lolfa said,

“As relevant for the student as for the activist, this atlas depicts the marvellous mosaic that is Europe today, and paints a picture of a future Europe of flourishing small nations: peaceful, self-supporting and lively.”

The cultural comentator Siôn Jobbins added,

“A fascinating easy-read for all those who want to learn more about the hidden Europe and the next countires which will become independent.”

The Atlas of Stateless Nations in Europe (£14.95 – Y Lolfa) will be officially released on the 24th of August 2011.

Bringing Welsh Folk Stories to a New Audience

Welsh Folk Stories - Meinir Wyn Edwards

We never tire of hearing the old stories, passed down from generation to generation. And although some stories do seem a little far-fetched to us these days, it’s important that children and adults alike learn and appreciate the tales of old which entertained their forefathers.

And Wales, in particular, is a country full of myths and legends. This new collection of five famous folk stories includes: Twm Siôn Cati, the legendary 16th-century highwayman who loved to play tricks; Branwen and Bendigeidfran, the giant who managed to walk across the sea from Wales to Ireland (and whose head is kept at the Tower of London, incidentally); Macsen, the young Emperor of Rome who travelled the world in search of his Welsh bride; Nel, the lady who literally lived in a lake, and married a young shepherd boy and became the mother of some very famous Welsh physicians of Myddfai and finally, Rebecca’s Daughters, a riotous band of men who travelled the land destroying tollgates by night.

The book contains over 60 pages of illustrations to accompany the text and is a sequel to the well-received Famous Welsh Tales. Children from the age of seven upwards would enjoy the stories.

The author, Meinir Wyn Edwards, has extensive experience teaching primary age children, but now works as a book editor. She has written and adapted a number of books for all ages and enjoys bringing Welsh folk stories to a new audience. Originally from north Pembrokeshire, she now lives in Llandre, Ceredigion.

The illustrator, Morgan Tomos, comes from Caernarfon originally but now lives in Talybont, Ceredigion. He was trained as an animator, and he is the author of several children’s books in Welsh and the English-language horror story for children, Mrs GwraK.

Welsh Folk Stories is published by Y Lolfa, priced £4.95 and is available in July 2011.

An Interview With Dr. Jonathan Hicks Author of 'The Dead of Mametz'

Dr Jonathan Hicks is the Headteacher of St Cyres Comprehensive School in Penarth. He began his career as an English teacher and has taught in four secondary schools. Married with three sons, one of whom is also a teacher, he is a longstanding supporter of Cardiff City F.C. He is the author of four books on military history: ‘A Solemn Mockery’ on the myths of the Anglo-Zulu War, which in 2006 won the Victorian Military Society’s top award; ‘Strange Hells’ which told the story of his great uncle’s service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the Great War. He has also written on his hometown’s military past in the 2007 book ‘Barry and the Great War’ – an illustrated account of the part that Barrians played in that conflict, a lecture on which won the Western Front Association Shield in 2010. In 2008 he wrote an illustrated account on the role Barrians played in WW2 - ‘Barry and the Second World War’. AmeriCymru spoke to Jonathan about his first novel 'The Dead of Mametz'

American Psycho meets the Wasp Factory - 'Dovetail' by Welsh Author Jeremy Hughes

Review

'Dovetail' by Jeremy Hughes

 




This book is a must for anyone with a taste for the bizarre and grotesque. Tim is emasculated in the course of an extreme school bullying incident. He spends the rest of his life acquiring the skills necessary for an aesthetically beautiful revenge. Set in Spain and Risca this novel is at once a psychological thriller, a reflection on the nature of obsession and a good guide to advanced woodworking practice.

The unbalanced state of Tim's mind is explored with cold, clinical precision as he apprentices himself to his Spanish mentor and perfects his skills with devoted and obsessive diligence. The love interest is provided by Elena, his childhood sweat heart but to dwell on that would be to give away too much of the plot.
.

Practical woodworking tips abound as this macabre tale unfolds accentuating the obsessive nature of Tim's mission and perhaps providing a useful supplementary primer for students of the craft :) A mysterious, imaginary character called 'The Conductor' also makes frequent appearances. His conflicted relationship with Tim is related in the form of an ongoing interior dialogue fraught with ominous overtones. 'The Conductor' is based upon a character in a 1946 movie called 'A Matter of Life And Death' starring David Niven.

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Aberystwyth Sex Scandal and Language Protests - Setting for new Novel

Love Child

Love Child by Herbert Williams

Aberystwyth in the 1960s. A sex scandal involving a college principal. Vigorous Welsh-language protests. Welcome to the world of Herbert Williams’s latest novel.

When Fleet Street reporter Steve Lewis goes to cover a sex scandal involving a university principal and a film star, his world turns upside down. Back in his native Glanaber (a fictionalised Aberystwyth), his past comes back to haunt him in the shape of his former girlfriend Annette, by whom he sired a baby that died in infancy – the ‘love child’ of the title. How will his wife Jocelyn react when his secrets are laid bare? And how can his career survive the decision by his bosses to locate him permanently in this ‘journalistic backwater’? Set against a background of the spirited Welsh language campaigns of the Sixties, this fast-moving novel provides an unforgettable picture of small-town life, with all its intrigues and jealousies.

Aberystwyth born Herbert Williams explains why he wrote the novel, “I wanted to know what had happened to Steve and Annette. They were central figures in an earlier novel The Woman in the Back Row. So the only way to find out was to write this new story about them. Love Child stands as a self-sufficient novel in its own right or as a sequel.”

The youngest of six children, Herbert Willimas went to Ardwyn Grammar School, Aberystwyth but had his education disrupted by the onset of TB – then still a major killer disease in Wales – in his teens. After two years in an old-style sanatorium – ‘windows open day and night, come rain or shine’ he recalls – he joined the Cambrian News as a reporter. He worked for a succession of papers before becoming a BBC radio producer, leaving the staff after seven years to concentrate on his own writing. An established poet since the 1960s, he is an author of unusual range, writing fiction and nonfiction as well as TV and radio plays and documentaries.

Proving that age is no barrier to creativity, Herbert Williams – now in his 70s –  has brought out seven books in the last decade, including the prize-winning novella The Marionettes.  He is also the subject of a biography by Phil Carradice in the prestigious Writers of Wales series.

           

A founder member and fellow of the Welsh Academy, Herbert Williams lives in Cardiff with his wife Dorothy.

Love Child is published by Y Lolfa in May, priced £8.95. Herbert will be signing copies of the book in Waterstone’s Aberystwyth on Saturday 25 June, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

www.ylolfa.com

A Lifetime spent breaking new ground - Margaret Maund 'Decades of Discovery'

Margaret Maund

Margaret Maund Decades of Discovery

This week, at Tonyrefail library, Y Lolfa published the autobiography of Margaret Maund. Her twenties was spent deep in the jungle of central Africa; then she became one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in Wales and also the proud owner of several brightly-coloured Robin Reliants!

Margaret Maund has had quite an extraordinary life. Born in the south Wales valleys, she trained as a nurse and midwife and spent three years working in war-torn central Africa in the late 1960s. Many years later she became an Anglican priest, being amongst the first group of women to be ordained in Wales. Now retired from nursing and the ministry, Margaret Maund’s fascinating working life has spawned a third career as a writer and broadcaster. Her autobiography charts the highs and lows of a life spent breaking new ground.

Margaret says, “Friends and colleagues in work and church often say to me ‘tell us a story’, thoroughly enjoying the many situations which have made up my life. Most stories are a constant source of fun, and right across the age range we have laughed together. Perhaps there is something in what the researchers say about the power of laughter to keep us healthy. I trust that you will enjoy these stories from my life.”

The book was launched at Tonyrefail Library on Monday 6 June, 5–7 p.m. The book is published by Y Lolfa, price £9.95.

Margaret will be in Llantrisant Parish Church on the 19^th of June and the Tonyrefail Arts Festival on the 27^thof June. Up and coming author events here

www.ylolfa.com

Margaret Maund and Robin Reliant

‘The Dead of Mametz’ by Jonathan Hicks. Published by Y Lolfa.

The Dead of Mametz is a crime novel with an unusual setting, set as it is against the backdrop of the famous battle of Mametz Wood during the Great War in the summer of 1916. Several events also take place in Barry and Swansea. The central character, Thomas Oscendale, is a captain in the Military Police who is charged with investigating the murder of two soldiers of the Welsh Regiment and, subsequently, that of a local Frenchwoman.

Overview

It is early July 1916, the third year of the First World War. The soldiers of the Welsh Division are poised to begin their assault on the German-held Mametz Wood. But there is a murderer in their ranks.Captain Thomas Oscendale of the Military Police is in a race against time to apprehend the murderer and to find what lies buried in Mametz Wood. He is not alone. Sinister forces on both sides have taken an interest in his investigation and are closing in.
 

Reviews

Members of the Western Front Association have described it as:

‘... need-to-read tension and riveting detail.’

‘... recommended to all those interested in WW1 or who love a great mystery’.

‘... a great mix of an intriguing storyline and superb historical detail.’

A Reader for the Welsh Books Council described it as ‘outstanding’.

The Author

Dr Jonathan Hicks is the Headteacher of St Cyres Comprehensive School in Penarth. He began his career as an English teacher and has taught in four secondary schools. Married with three sons, one of whom is also a teacher, he is a longstanding supporter of Cardiff City F.C.

He is the author of four books on military history: ‘A Solemn Mockery’ on the myths of the Anglo-Zulu War, which in 2006 won the Victorian Military Society’s top award; ‘Strange Hells’ which told the story of his great uncle’s service at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the Great War. He has also written on his hometown’s military past in the 2007 book ‘Barry and the Great War’ – an illustrated account of the part that Barrians played in that conflict, a lecture on which won the Western Front Association Shield in 2010. In 2008 he wrote an illustrated account on the role Barrians played in WW2 - ‘Barry and the Second World War’.

His work has been published in the magazines ‘Soldiers of the Queen’, ‘Stand To’, ‘The Great War’ and ‘Britain at War’. He writes regular articles for the local press and twice a month gives lectures on military history throughout south Wales.

In this, his first novel, he has created a character about whom readers will surely demand to read more.

Dr Hicks says, “What makes my book different from others currently on the market is its time period and its central character. Oscendale is a thoughtful detective who fights against the brutality he sees all around him to bring a killer to justice and to solve the mystery surrounding the reason for the murders.

“There has been a burgeoning of interest in the Great War and I truly believe that a novel focused around a central character set in this time period will attract widespread interest.”
 

Theme of the Novel

The strength of this novel is the storyline; it is pacey, exciting and historically accurate, with strong characterisation. One of the themes is the contrast between the lives of men on the Western Front and those of the workers in the industries of South Wales. The wood provides the backdrop to the roles and actions of the characters, showing the contrast, and sometimes conflict, between Nature and Man. It is also a reflection on the greed of men and women, even in a time of war.
 

Audience

Although it is an historical crime novel, it will appeal to anyone who loves a good story with a fresh, new character in the form of the main protagonist. To transfer detection skills into the sometimes-maligned Military Police of the First World War is unusual, and Oscendale has a number of possibilities for future cases and settings. There are also some pointers in this novel to Oscendale’s past, and these will be explained and explored in subsequent novels.
 

Publication Date

15 May 2011

ISBN: 978-1847713155 Publisher: Y Lolfa

‘Celebrate “a real Welsh Prince” and ignore the Royal Wedding’

People in Wales are urged to celebrate a “real, forgotten Welsh Prince” rather than the wedding of an English royal later this month. Y Lolfa publishers will not publish a souvenir book celebrating William and Kate’s wedding, but instead are publishing a book celebrating the life of Dafydd ap Llywelyn, a seemingly forgotten royal sovereign of Wales whose brief, but kaleidoscopic life heralded fraternal strife, ambitious politics and bloody conflict.

Y Lolfa have decided to publish the book at the same time as the royal wedding, urging the Welsh to make the most of their own heritage and princes and to ignore the wedding of a future English king.

Lefi Gruffudd said: “I can’t see any point in celebrating this wedding – it has no relevance to us in Wales. We should make the most of our own royal families – including the Gwynedd dynasty, and especially Dafydd ap Llywelyn, who was the first prince to proclaim himself “Prince of Wales”.

Dafydd was the favourite son of legendary Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great and although Dafydd’s life was cruelly cut short, he succeeded in cementing a respected legacy that has thankfully survived eight centuries. His life, during the first half of the 13th century, is vividly portrayed in this refreshing account.

Dafydd was born around 1215 at a Welsh royal court called Castell Hen Blas which was situated in the medieval manor of Coleshill, near Flint. Dafydd ruled as Prince of Gwynedd and Wales between the years 1240–46 and he became the first Welsh prince to officially use the prestigious title of Prince of Wales. During the period of his brief reign he fought two wars of defence against the kingdom of England.

As the author states, “Dafydd ap Llywelyn deserves to be placed alongside those other great Welsh rulers of the Mediaeval age, including Hywel Dda, Rhodri Mawr, the two Llywelyns and Owain Glyndŵr and this account shall hopefully encourage such a defining prospect, aiding the campaign for his seemingly obscure name to be finally included within the realm of the modern-day Welsh psyche.”

Steve Griffiths, who lives in Flintshire, is a tireless pioneer for the cause of Welsh history. He played a prominent role in the successful implementation of commemorative plaques recounting the history of Ewloe and Bagillt. He has recently staged a month long exhibition at Buckley Library entitled ‘A Chronicle of Welsh Princes’.

The book which contains over 60 photographs of sites important in the life of Dafydd ap Llywelyn, and has been reviewed and commentated upon by local Welsh Assembly Member Carl Sargeant, Minsiter for Social Justice and Local Government.

The book is published by Y Lolfa in April and retails at £5.95.

The People’s Story – Welsh History through the eyes of the Workers

My People’s Pilgrimage is the fascinating record of a Welsh family, traced from the 19th century to the present day. The story is a microcosm of the dramatic transformation of society which occurred throughout Wales, as seen through the eyes of Diana Williams and her ancestors. The family experienced both the rural poverty and hardships of the pre-industrial agricultural labourer, and the harsh conditions of the iron and coal industries, in their struggle to survive.


The author gives a revealing account of Welsh social history, progressing from a life of few possessions and material comforts, to a time when life is unimaginable without cars, televisions, computers, mobile phones, fridges and freezers, washing-machines, central heating, instant hot water and flush toilets.


However, Williams contends that our present-day consumer society often leads to restlessness and does not bring lasting happiness. We live in an increasingly secularised society but there is a great yearning for spirituality. She believes we should learn from our ancestors by recognising and respecting their struggles, values and principles – and salvage some of their strengths, thus enriching our own lives.


My People’s Pilgrimage is a personal account based on fact, memory, intuition and imagination. Here we see brave, extraordinary people – family members unimportant in the eyes of the world – but made larger than life through the author’s revealing portraits.


Diana Gruffydd Williams was born in Aberdare in 1944 but brought up in Essex. She went to Trinity College, Carmarthen where she trained to be teacher. Several of her short stories have been published and two were broadcast on Radio 4’s ‘Morning Story’. She retired early from teaching because of ill-health but now works on a voluntary basis as a Counsellor and Spiritual Director.


My People’s Pilgrimage was launched by Y Lolfa at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Publication Date 7.16.18

"Shwmae Butt" Gets Its Own Dictionary Definition

This week, Monday 2 June, in the company of humourist David Jandrell, author of such bestselling local titles as Welsh Valleys Humour, a packed audience listened to homely examples of the Valleys dialect being elevated to dictionary definition. English terms familiar to us all, like “bopa”, “cwtch”, “butt”, “jiw!” and “come by ‘ere” are included in a new book by Cardiff author Robert Lewis: Wenglish, The Dialect of the South Wales Valleys. Published by Y Lolfa in dictionary-format, this title combines the practical qualities of a reference book – alphabetical glossary, dialogue examples, grammar, exercises and all – with a general introduction to the social and geographical context of how we speak across the south Wales Valleys. And it’s not just those familiar terms that are explored here. Alongside oddities like “icelider” for a “custard slice” are loans from Welsh like “dirân” for “past its best”, and geographically-isolated strange pronunciations such as “hool” for “whole”. Fans of writer Rachel Trezise’s literary codifications of Valleys’ underlife speech will also be happy to discover her coining of “gorrw”, “gerrin!” and “egsackly” have been approved by linguistic specialists.

Biography of the ‘Welsh Gandhi’

(English Translation from the original Welsh launched at the Hay Festival this week) "2006 Welsh Book of the Year winner Rhys Evans has just launched the biography of Gwynfor Evans, hailed by many as the ‘Welsh Gandhi’, at the Hay festival. The launch was chaired by newly appointed Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, Guto Harri. During the event at the Sky Movie stage Rhys was questioned on Gwynfor Evans and his vast contribution to Welsh politics." 2006 Welsh Book of the Year winner Rhys Evans has just launched the biography of Gwynfor Evans, hailed by many as the ‘Welsh Gandhi’, at the Hay festival. The launch was chaired by newly appointed Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, Guto Harri. During the event at the Sky Movie stage Rhys was questioned on Gwynfor Evans and his vast contribution to Welsh politics.

Comparisons were made between the pressure Gordon Brown is presently under to what Gwynfor Evans suffered on numerous periods during his career. But Rhys Evans explained that Gwynfor just kept on going through thick and thin to become one of the main Welsh political figures of the 20th century. Rhys Evans said: “For Gwynfor to be preseident of a nationalist party for 36 is unsurpassed anywhere in Europe as far as I know, except maybe for Tito in the old Yugoslavia!”

Regarding his contribution, Rhys Evans said: “Wales and Wales's position within a devolved UK would be unrecognisable were it not for the labours of Gwynfor Evans over four decades. The central argument of this book is that Gwynfor Evans should be critically regarded as one of the three Welsh architects of post-war Wales. Whilst the lives of the other two key figures, Aneurin Bevan and Lloyd George, have been dispassionately chronicled, this is the first attempt to tell the complex and often tortured story of Gwynfor Evans."

Gwynfor Evans propelled Welsh politics onto the UK stage. He was one of the rare politicians to have forced Margaret Thatcher to make a U-turn, when he threatened a hunger strike to campaign for a Welsh-language TV channel, and was the winner of one of the most famous by-elections when he became Wales’ first nationalist MP. His leadership of the Welsh resistance against the flooding of Welsh valleys gained Plaid Cymru UK-wide publicity, and he is credited with paving the way for our post-devolution UK-politics.

The 500 page hardback book, Gwynfor Evans: Portrait of a Patriot is published by Y Lolfa. The original Welsh version won Welsh Book of the Year award in 2006 and Hywel Williams in The Guardian described Rhys Evans’s “sumptuous new biography” as a “major event”. It has also been described as a “masterpiece, both comprehensive and extremely interesting” by International Politics lecture Dr Richard Wyn Jones.

Author Rhys Evans was born in Carmarthen and raised in Aberystwyth. He graduated at Hertford College, Oxford where he studied Modern History. He’s been a journalist in Cardiff for more than a decade and is currently BBC Wales’ Deputy Head of News and Current Affairs.

Martin Kettle's remarks in the Guardian

Buy the book here