AmeriCymru at Wordstock - Event Floorplan

We are very excited to announce that our stall at the prestigious Wordstock Literary Festival has been assigned. Please see the floor plan below for our precise location ( stall 302 ). This is a great opportunity to showcase Welsh writers and Welsh literature in the Pacific Northwest. Anyone, author, publisher,...who is interested in being featured at our stall should contact americymru@gmail.com asap.

News From Seren Books: "Seren Books: Well Chosen Words"

A Special Seren News!

Two Seren titles have been shortlisted for the Forward Prize, Best First Collection 2011.

The Forward Prize shortlist has been announced, and we here at Seren, are thrilled to see two of our poetry titles on the shortlist for ‘Best First Collection’ 2011. Both Sound Archive by Nerys Williams and Loudness by Judy Brown find themselves shortlisted along with another four poets. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 5th October, the eve of National Poetry Day, at a ceremony in Somerset House in London. Seren author, Hilary Menos, won this prize last year for her collection Berg.

Sound Archive is a strikingly original first collection of poems. Using formal strategies similar to modernist painting: abstraction, dislocation, surrealist juxtaposition, the poet conjures a complex music, intriguing narratives, and poems full of atmosphere that query identity, gender, and the dream of art as a vehicle for emotion and meaning.

Nerys Williams is originally from Pen-Y-Bont, Carmarthen in West Wales. A recent winner of the Ted McNulty Poetry Prize, she lectures in American Literature at University College, Dublin.

“Sound Archive is an innovative volume..”-- The Irish Times.

Judy Brown’s beautiful first collection Loudness, is a straightforward manner and a gift for ironic humour belie the artful complexities and the exacting observations evident in her work. Loudness will be available to buy at the end of September 2011.

Judy Brown was born in Cheshire and has lived in Northumbria, Cumbria and Hong Kong. She has studied English Literature at Cambridge and Newcastle-upon Tyne and now lives between London (where her ‘day job’ is working part-time as a lawyer) and Derbyshire. She has won the Poetry London and Manchester Festival Poetry prizes and she has placed in the Cardiff International Poetry Competition and others. She is also the author of a prize-winning pamphlet, Pillars of Salt.

The Forward Prize for Best First Collection shortlist:

Rachael Boast Sidereal

Judy Brown Loudness

Nancy Gaffield Tokaido Road

Ahren Warner Confer

John Whale Waterloo Teeth

Nerys Williams Sound Archive

New Titles from Seren Books - Out Now!

Evan Walters: Moments of Vision

Ed. Barry Plummer

The Last Hundred Days

by Patrick McGuinness

The Quality of Light

by Richard Collins

Real South Pembrokeshire

by Tony Curtis

Daniel's Beetles

by Tony Bianchi

The Captain's Tower

Eds. Phil Bowen, Damien Furniss

David Woolley

Forthcoming Titles

Jonah Jones: An Artist's Life

Peter Jones

Second Chance

Sian James

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Wales at Wordstock

The Venue

As part of this year's Left Coast Eisteddfod celebrations we are presenting a panel discussion at the prestigious Wordstock literary festival ( 7th-10th October 2010 ) entitled 'Welsh Identity in Literature: From Dylan Thomas to Dr Who'. Featured panel authors include Niall Griffiths, Harrison Solow and Chris Keil. We are pleased to announce that this will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning in the OEA Performance Area at the Oregon Convention Center ( pictured left ). In addition two of our authors will be presenting workshops at the event  ( see details below ). The AmeriCymru booth, where you will find  a  wide variety of Anglo-Welsh literature for sale and signing sessions by our featured authors ( including Peter Griffiths and Lorin Morgan-Richards), will be open throughout the event. See this floor plan for our location ( we are at booth 620 )

The Authors

Check the Wordstock blog here daily for posts by our featured authors. Find details of featured authors in the slideshow above .

The Panel Discussion

Welsh Identity in Literature: From Dylan Thomas to Dr Who - 11 a.m. on Saturday morning ( 9th Oct ) in the OEA Performance Area at the Oregon Convention Center

What is Anglo-Welsh literature and why should anyone care?  As historian Gwyn Williams once famously said:- “The Welsh as a people have lived by making and remaking themselves in generation after generation, usually against the odds, usually within a British context.” For the Welsh speaking minority in Wales cultural identity is not a problem. The language defines it. For the English speaking majority, this question is not so easily answered. In Wales we see the same TV programs , read the same newspapers as our neighbours do a few miles away across the English 'border'. Wales is a popular vacation spot and in the summer months there are areas where you will be lucky to hear a Welsh accent let alone hear the native language spoken. And yet for centuries the Welsh have refused to be subsumed or absorbed by the Anglo-Saxon cultural Borg .  Welsh authors are rarely included in the English literary canon. Perhaps there is a reason for that? How does Welsh literature help to preserve Welsh identity? What lessons does this hold for others attempting to maintain an identity in the face of  cultural globalization.

From 'Mr Vogel' by Lloyd Jones - “When was Wales? Wales has never been, it has always been.” he rambled on to his next victim, Myrddin the schizophrenic, who fortunately) was asleep. “I’ll tell you something for nothing.” he said, “true Wales is never more than a field away, and true Wales is always a field away, like Rhiannons horse in the Mabinogi. Got it?” 

We asked our panelists to respond to the followowing question:- How do you think Welsh writers, writing in English, contribute to establishing a distinct Welsh cultural identitiy. Do you think there's anything unique about the Welsh experience or about Anglo-Welsh literature in this regard?  Here are their responses:-

Chris Keil - "What do you call it? Welsh writing in English? English-language writing in Wales? If youʼre not confused you donʼt understand the situation. The one constant is that cultural politics are always changing. In the last thirty or forty years the languages have inverted their relationship to each other, and Welsh is now the speech of the elite. This puts English- language writers in Wales in a new place. For me, the salient, abiding characteristic is a sort of estrangement - from England, but also from Wales; not so much embattled/romantic/heroic, as just not-signed-up: a failure (and I mean that in the most successfulsense of the word) to invest in any of the big-noting nationalisms that compete for our souls. Itʼs never a party-piece, either of dull fields and sullen rocks and angst, or of verbal tics and tricks and archness and cutesyness, boyo, look you. To invoke Mae West: “Indeed-to-goodness has nothing to do with it.”

Niall Griffiths - "Difficult to answer briefly .Let's just say that the less power London has, in every realm, the better for the UK and Europe and indeed humanity as a whole. Wales is bi-lingual, and gloriously so; being able to mediate the world through two languages is very beneficial and enriching."

Harrison Solow - "There is everything unique about the Welsh experience. I have said in various interviews about my writing about Wales that "no word equals its referent, and that the meaning of what is approximated in words lies in the shadow of them – in a different realm altogether." I believe  "there is a meaning in any experience described within a book, that cannot possibly be in the book." Nowhere have I seen this belief personified, indeed, living, except in Wales: “The Welsh have survived as a nation chiefly by cunning and reserve...they play for time, they fence, they scout out the situation, but they do not commit themselves. Those sweet smiles are sweet, but they are well under control. It is performance that greets you, polished and long practiced, played on a deceptively cosy stage set with brass pokers by the fire...” as Jan Morris says in her book A Matter of Wales. This is a mystical nation and the daily life of y Cymry remains a mystery to outsiders, some of it even to fellow Welshmen who do not speak Welsh and whose intrinsic and amorphous content is shaped by what is considered by some to be an alien form: English. My significant encounters in Wales have been with the Welsh speaking Welsh, whose intermittent appearance behind those smiles have both an I-Thou magnetism and a faint but discernable invitation; whose bland and wordless gazes bespeak the language of a somehow recognizable teulu (family) that sent me hypnotically to the Welsh Department of The University of Wales to embark on a journey of another kind: the lifelong acquisition of an ancient, bardic tongue.  But when I won the Pushcart Prize for Literature for writing about Wales, even those Welsh speakers celebrated the notion that it is possible to write about Wales in English. I'm not so sure that one can write Wales without Welsh. But one can write about it. Wales is a state of mind, or rather a state of heart. It is the scent of lanolin in the air – the hum of small cities in the loam beneath the oaks, the conviction of Celtic blood. It is an endless and sirenic song - as far from English sensibility as  it is from German or Cherokee. Sometimes I think that any story about Wales should be told outside the written word. It is only because I cannot sing or paint that I write and what I write is a word-performance. It is eisteddfod."


The Workshops

The Writing Life: A Serious Pursuit of Self Definition - Harrison Solow ( OCC room B118 Saturday 9th Oct 9-10.15 am )

In this seminar, we will address writing under a variety of conditions, about  a variety of subjects, under the guise of ourselves and alter egos, in company and in isolation.

Writing Dialogue in the Novel - Chris Keil  ( OCC room B119 Sunday 10th Oct 1.30- 2.45 )

The workshop contains lecture, discussion, examples and participation in writing, on technical characteristics of dialogue in order to intensify mood, compress/express social/emotional connections etc

STOP PRESS:  Author Lorin Morgan Richards will be joining us at our booth at Wordstock where he will be selling and autographing copies of his works throughout Saturday and Sunday.

It’s Carmarthen – but not as we know it!

A new humorous and whimsical novel published this week, The Carmarthen Underground, explores the possibility of an ‘alternative Carmarthen’ filled with secret agents, spies and thugs. Beneath the town’s busy streets lies the hub of a sophisticated organisation whose officers are dedicated to the protection of Wales and its people from ruthless predators who are determined to undermine the country, its language and its culture. But is there an enemy within? The agents of Carmarthen Intelligence must find out or risk all they and the veterans of the Battle for Wales have strived for.Author Gaynor Madoc Leonard was inspired by a quote in William Knox's book The Pan-Celtic Phrasebook (also published by Y Lolfa) which asks: “Is there an underground train in Carmarthen?” “The ‘underground’ in the title doesn’t just apply to the train but to the organisation, Carmarthen Intelligence,” she explains, “which happens to be situated underground at Guildhall Square.” “One day I just sat down at my computer and started typing. I had no idea what the story would be at the point, but I was talking to an author who repeated that well-known rule: ‘Write about what you know.’ I know Carmarthen! As the first chapter progressed, I realised that this would be an ‘alternative’ Carmarthen. On the face of it, everything would be familiar to anyone who knew the town but it would be Carmarthen with a twist. “I wanted it to be amusing and not only to the inhabitants of the town or Welsh people in general. I hope that they will see that the book is written with affection for both Carmarthen and Wales. Perhaps it will make people look at the town with a new eye.” Gaynor was born and brought up in Carmarthenshire, in a Welsh-speaking family. Despite spending most of her life in England, where she worked for some years in the City of London, she visits her home country regularly and has a particular love for the Towy Valley.

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? - A Summary

One of the Americymru Book Club's selections for November is "Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?" See the full list here. David Thomas has kindly pointed out that a summary of the main points in the book is available on the books website here:-

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?

This article, which is a fascinating read, originally appeared in the Western Mail. Buy the book here:-

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? - David Thomas

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

“Welsh Dan Brown” sets thriller in West Wales

Cardiff author Peter Luther has just launched his second novel, The Mourning Vessels. It is loosely located in his favourite town of Tenby. The fast paced supernatural thriller is based on the machinations of a Satanic coven –The Divine Sentiment and the story follows the main character Ellen’s quest to unriddle their sinister operations and free the souls of her dead parents.

Peter Luther’s first novel Dark Covenant has already been reprinted twice by Ceredigion based publishers Y Lolfa, and earned him the tag of the “Welsh Dan Brown”. It was described as a “word of mouth sensation” in the Times and other reviewers have described his work as “macabre and compelling”, “a real page turner with a twist of Oscar Wild”, “genre hopping rollercoaster ride” with many tipping him for bigger things.

Although he is a new face, he has built a loyal band of underground followers, as testified by the response to his first book on his website www.peterluther.co.uk. His fans will be pleased to hear that Peter revealed at the launch of Mourning Vessels, in Waterstone’s Cardiff , that he has already written his third novel Precious Cargo and hopes to see it published next year.

Peter Luther, a successful solicitor and an accomplished musician, admits that his fictional work is influenced by his personal experiences, his latest born from the tragic loss of both his parents and his next relates to his wife’s experiences of receiving IVF treatment. He will be touring bookshops throughout Britain in November and December.

The Mourning Vessels in available in bookshops and www.ylolfa.com priced at £7.95.

Peter Luther will be signing copies of Mourning Vessels at the following shops in November

November 1 November
Waterstones, 9-11 Regent Street Wrexham at 11:00am – 1:00pm
Waterstones, 14 Eastgate Row, Chester at 2:30pm – 4:30pm
8 November
Waterstones Nottingham, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham at 11:00am – 1:00pm
15 November
Waterstones, 4a High Street, Abergavenny at 11:00am – 1:00pm
Borders, New Park Shopping Centre, Llantrisant at 2:30pm – 4:30pm
22 November
Borders, 14 The Hayes, Cardiff at 1:30pm – 3:30pm
29 November
Waterstones Chiswick, 220-226 Chiswick High Road, Chiswick at 11:30am – 1:30pm



December and January dates to be confirmed

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas?

Fatal Neglect: Who Killed Dylan Thomas? is published by Seren on November 9 2008, the 55th anniversary of the death. £9.99, ISBN 978-1-85411-480-8. It is now available from local bookstores, internet book suppliers or direct from www.seren-books.com. It will be many months before it appears in the US and other countries, so the internet and the Seren website are your best bets.

From the Back Cover:-

Dylan Thomas went to New York in October 1953 to perform in Under Milk Wood. Three weeks later, he was dead. This fascinating book confronts painful facts about why he died.

Neglect was central to the death. John Brinnin, Dylan’s agent, had a playboy lifestyle to fund. Desperate for his fees, he turned a blind eye to the poet’s failing health.

Liz Reitell, Brinnin’s zealous deputy, also knew Dylan was ill but she worked him to collapse. Did she put her own career before his well-being? Brinnin’s intimate papers show how greed, ambition and sexual intrigue fed into a chain of events that sent Dylan to an early grave.

Dylan suffered from a treatable illness but his fashionable New York doctor ignored the warning signs. David Thomas examines hospital data and the post-mortem report – included in the book – and shows that medical negligence was a factor.

Fatal Neglect also investigates the conspiracy to protect those responsible. Friends and doctors took part in a cover-up, as did two of Dylan’s American biographers.

David Thomas’ previous books on Dylan Thomas have required us to rethink the poet’s life. Fatal Neglect is a fundamental reappraisal of his death.

David Thomas was brought up in Pontarddulais and Port Talbot. After Oxford and the LSE, he worked in London as a senior lecturer and chief executive. Since returning to Wales, he has written widely about Dylan Thomas, including The Dylan Thomas Murders, The Dylan Thomas Trail, Dylan Remembered and A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow, now a major film, The Edge of Love, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Rhys.

"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.

Review: 'Sea Holly' by Robert Minhinnick

Porthcawl is a traditional British seaside resort on the South Wales coast about half way between Cardiff and Swansea. It has an esplanade with a row of hotels encamped along the seafront, a funfair called Coney Island and one of the largest caravan and camping parks in Europe. There are several beaches including Rest Bay and Trecco Bay both of which have been awarded the coveted Blue Flag status for adherence to water quality standards. Altogether an interesting and lively place and a perfect setting for a novel which explores the related themes of transience and permanence.

Life is seasonal in Porthcawl, or at least it is for the migrant workers who come to work at the funfair and for the human flotsam and jetsam that live on its margins. Robert Minhinnick has assembled a lively cast of marginal characters many of whom assume the role of narrator as the story unfolds. There is "The Fish" whose diminutive size, withered arm and love of alcohol have condemned him to work collecting fares for a ride aptly named "The Kingdom of The Damned". He spends the last night of the season sitting on a pedestal in "The Kingdom" drinking absinthe and toasting "absinthe friends". There is Donal, ex Special Boat Service, a veteran of the "troubles" in Northern Ireland. A man infected with wanderlust and a love of the sea. He has returned to Porthcawl after a failed Spanish business venture. His bar in Spain was called "El Zorro". Named after a freak wave that would snatch people off the beach and wash them out to sea. At one point he reflects ruefully whilst swimming off the 'Caib':-

"And yeah, that wave, El Zorro, that people warned their children about? Well I was the one it swallowed, wasn't I? I was the one it snatched off the beach. Funny really. You might even call it ironic.How that bastard wiped me out."

Many other colorful characters stalk these pages including Lol ,the geography teacher who sees a vision and goes native, camping in the dunes for years and communing with nature. There is also Hal the local Napoleon who owns much of the fair and many other things besides including a beer mat signed by Richard Burton, his hero, which is amongst his prized possessions.

It falls to the lot of these characters to narrate the tale of John Vine, a fifty year old English teacher who has left his job and family behind to live in a caravan on the Caib and pursue a new 'career' as a bingo caller at the fair. This crisis in his affairs was precipitated by an involvement with a young female student who subsequently disappeared.

The action takes place over a seven day period and during the course of the week we are offered many fascinating insights into the characters of both John Vine and the many narrators. Of course the disappearance of John Vine's former pupil, Rachel is central to the plot but we are also presented with a vivid portrait and masterful evocation of life on the 'Caib'. Indeed so much so that the novel was nominated for the 2008 Ondaatje Prize, a literary award that is given for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which powerfully evokes the "spirit of a place".

This is a novel for anyone with an appreciation of the transience of mans life and works and of the futility of resistance to time and tide. It is Robert Minhinnick's first novel and hopefully the first of many.

First rate....highly recommended! A bigraphy of Robert Minhinnick can be found here.

Trecco Bay Wikimedia Commons

Gee Williams wins 'Pure Gold'

Anglo Welsh literature has produced a number of exciting new talents in recent years. Prominent amongst these is Gee Williams whose debut novel 'Salvage' recently won one of the Aur Pur/Pure Gold prizes for 2008. The novel is a 'literary thriller' set in Wales and Chester and though there is a body ( and body parts ) this is not a work of crime fiction. Indeed the crime is almost incidental to the plot. What we are offered instead is a haunting and realistic drama, narrated skilfully from five different perspectives, in which themes of timeless significance are explored. This novel has a great deal to say about human relationships in the 21st century; emotional constancy, marital infidelity and the consequences of each. It also treats of ambition, betrayal and lust. Couple that with a first rate plot and a keen sense of pace and you have all the ingredients necessary for a stunning debut novel.

Fans of Gee Williams do not have to wait long for her next offering. Indeed a collection of short stories entitled 'Blood' has recently been published and can be purchased HERE

Aur Pur/Pure Gold 2008

Readers in libraries across north Wales have voted for books by two local authors to win the Aur Pur/Pure Gold prizes for 2008. The winning books are Hogan Horni by Menna Medi and Salvage by Gee Williams. Both fought off competition from books which have won, or been shortlisted for, major literary prizes.

Two lucky readers who cast their votes have also won hampers of books from Wales. Miss G Edwards, a member of Llangollen Library, said that “The books are relevant to today – and it was also almost impossible to put them down once I’d started!”. Ms S Dummler, a member of Llangefni Library said her choice of books “have a strong sense of place, and reflect unique aspects of Welsh culture”.

Libraries across North Wales ran the reading promotion called Aur Pur/Pure Gold to introduce readers to the good reads available at local libraries. Librarians from Estyn Allan y Gogledd, the reader development network, chose twelve books, all set in Wales but which take the reader to many different places, and readers were invited to read the books, then vote for their three favourites. Reading groups in libraries across North Wales also read and discussed the books.


The 12 books in the Aur Pur/Pure Gold promotion were:

Don’t Cry for Me Aberystwyth Malcom Pryce

Salvage Gee Williams

Resistance Owen Sheers

Dial M for Merthyr Rachel Trezise

The Master Bedroom Tessa Hadley

The Welsh Girl Peter Ho Davies

Fy Mrawd a Minnau Alun Jones

Hogan Horni Menna Medi

Sibrydion o Andromeda Emyr Wyn Roberts

Y Gemydd Caryl Lewis

Pryfeta Tony Bianchi

Gwylliaid Glyndwr Daniel Davies

What is Anglo-Welsh Literature and why Should Anyone Care?

( This article was originally contributed to Manuel Marino's Arts Weblog. Reviews of some of the authors and works mentioned in the article can be found on the Americymru Book Reviews pages.)

As a Welsh ex-pat currently residing in the USA I have noticed a profound disparity between the notion of Wales that many Americans of Welsh descent entertain and the reality that I left behind seven years ago. Nowhere is this more evident than in the literary field. The triumphs of yesteryear are rightly held in high regard but modern literary trends and authors are sadly neglected. The legacy of Dylan and R.S. Thomas is , of course, sacred to us all, but Wales has moved on and a new genertaion of writers reflect that fact.In recent decades we have witnessed a flowering of literary culture in Wales and stereotypical Welsh writing so famously satirized by Harri Webb in his poem "Synopsis of the Great Welsh Novel" has been left far behind. We have seen the emergence of Welsh noir ( Niall Griffiths, Malcolm Pryce, John Williams ) which continues to be popular and other major talents such as Lloyd jones, Rachel Trezise, Trezza Azzopardi, Rhys Hughes, Gee Williams and Owen Sheers have made their presence felt.

But what is Anglo-Welsh literature and why should anyone care? I would argue that at its best it provides a unique perspective (in the English speaking world at least) on modern ideas of national, cultural and personal identity. As Gwyn Williams once famously said:- "The Welsh as a people have lived by making and remaking themselves in generation after generation, usually against the odds, usually within a British context." Both Welsh-language and Anglo-Welsh literature have played a prominent role in that process. It is not a literature of rage. At the risk of offending a portion of my audience I will say that English colonial rule has for the most part been far too benign to produce a majority violent reaction but it is a literature of self-assertion and defiance, albeit sometimes confused and unfocused.

These themes are explored in a number of fascinating works by contemporary Welsh writers. Owen Sheers' magnificent debut novel 'Resistance' is set in an alternate universe in which the Nazis invade and conquer Britain during World war II. It focuses in large part on the struggle to reinvent oneself, adapt and survive in the face of extreme adversity. The book ends with both protagonists facing a stark choice which is really no choice at all. In order to survive they must turn their backs on everything they have known and attempt to find personal salvation in a future that is as uncertain as it is dangerous.The novel hints at the special relationship which the Welsh people have with their landscape. The hills of Wales are indeed magnificent but they pale into insignificance, at least in topographical terms, when compared with the European Alps or the North American Cascades. Their special gravity and power lies in the fact that every nook and cranny, every fold and crevice, is invested with some human significance. The sum of history and legend which the landscape reveals is almost an externalization of Welsh identity itself. It is against this backdrop that Sarah, the heroine of this novel, must strive to uproot herself and accept the evolutionary challenge.

A far more extreme adaptation and 'remaking' (or failure to adapt) can be found in the pages of 'Niall Griffiths' stark and brutal novel.."Sheepshagger". Here we see what happens when ancient tribal resentments, personal greivance and drug-addled inarticulacy combine to prevent 'personal growth'. The desperate and bestial acts of violence committed by the novels anti-hero are the products of a sense of loss and a seething resentment directed against those who have deprived him. He is unable to articulate his impotent rage by any other means. He asserts himself as a serial-killer. It should be pointed out that this exploration of the darker side of the Welsh 'psyche', whilst magnificent, also contains passages of graphic violence which would make Brett Easton Ellis blush.

The fact that the Welsh are a naturally restless people and constantly searching for a lost identity or fashioning a new one is perhaps more happily exemplified in Lloyd Jones extraordinary "Mr Vogel". This novel which is by turns baffling and inspiring recounts an epic journey around Wales made by a delusional alcoholic. To say that the narrative is not straightforward would be an understatement but what this novel lacks in simplicity it makes up for in many other ways. We are never quite sure what the nature of the quest is but the journey is perhaps its own justification. Toward the end of the book, when his epic perambulation is almost complete, Mr. Vogel finds himself in a mental hospital where he offers the following observation to one of his fellow patients:-

"When was Wales? Wales has never been, it has always been." he rambled on to his next victim, Myrddin the schizophrenic, who fortunately) was asleep. "I'll tell you something for nothing." he said, "true Wales is never more than a field away, and true Wales is always a field away, like Rhiannons horse in the Mabinogi. Got it?"

Jones' work is a tribute to the transformative and redemptive power of the imagination and its ability to refashion national, cultural and personal identity.

None of the above should be taken to suggest that Anglo-Welsh literature concerns itself solely with these themes or that other literary traditions neglect them. I would contend however that owing to Wales unique history,a history in which its cultural identity has constantly been threatened with absorption by that of its much more powerful neighbour,they are much more acutely focused in the Anglo-Welsh literary tradition.

Books Referenced in the Text:-

“When Was Wales” Gwyn Williams Penguin Books 1985

“Resistance” Owen Sheers Faber and Faber 2007

“Sheepshagger” Niall Griffiths Vintage 2002

“Mr. Vogel” Lloyd Jones Seren 2004