Ten Questions with Author Jayne Joso

Author Jayne Joso's most recent novel is Perfect Architect, from Y Lolfa.

Wales Favourite Bad Boy Rediscovers His Welsh Roots - A Review of 'Two Dragons' by Howard Marks

This book opens dramatically with a description of a major cardiac incident resulting in hospitalization for the author. Thankfully the attack was survivable and we move on rapidly to a description of the rather stressful lifestyle which produced it.

For anyone who doesn't know who he is, Howard Marks a.k.a Mr Nice a.k.a Marco Polo , born in Kenfig Hill, South Wales is one of the world's most notorious and successful drug dealers. In a career which spanned the 1970's and 1980's he moved vast quantities of cannabis around the globe and became one of the most wanted international criminals in the USA. Eventually apprehended in 1988 he served seven years in the infamous Terre Haute Correctional Facility in Indiana. Upon his release Howard left dope-smuggling behind and rapidly transformed himself into a best selling author and media personality. Recently his first book 'Mr Nice' was made into a film starring Rhys Ifans in the title role. Would be viewers in the US will have to wait as it has, as yet, no US distributor. Howard Marks is now regarded as a folk hero by many in Wales and this book finds him exploring his Welsh roots with surprising and fascinating results.

Howard Marks genealogical researches reveal that his great great grandfather was Billy the Kid's brother. He also establishes that he is distantly related to the infamous Welsh smuggler William Owen whose previously unknown autobiography was discovered in 1982. Marks says of him that:- "...his chronicle of scams, acquittals and debauchery would put any modern day smuggler or playboy to shame." Additionally there is a Chicago mob connection. We learn that Howard is related to Willie Bevan Marks. At one point in the book his aunt Afon Wen informs him that:- "...., your great-grandfather Dafydd's brother, became a notorious Chicago gangster, He was Bugs Moran's first lieutenant. I wasn't a bit surprised when you became a famous smuggler. Not a bit"

The book has its more serious and reflective moments. Recalling a subsequently cancelled BBC project to produce a biopic based on his life the author observes that:- "...opinions vary when people consider whether criminals should benefit indirectly from their offensive behaviour." He goes on to point out that:- "I am still making money writing and talking about my past criminal adventures, and I am having a wonderful time." Wherever one stands on this issue I believe that Mr Marks deserves kudos for having raised it and for demonstrating an acute awareness of the moral dilemma which his post incarceration activities pose for many people.

The title 'Two Dragons' reflects the books true theme. The contrast between the Wales that Howard Marks hated as a child and couldn't wait to get away from and the modern Wales which he has returned to. Overall he takes an optimistic view:- "But now, the country is alive. One giant cauldron of musical talent, mysticism and enthusiasm" This view is balanced by a rather stoical, if defiant, observation made elsewhere in the book:-"No doubt the bad times will come again. But we are aware of that and we know ourselves. A few centuries of English force-feeding isn't going to change anything as going through slavery and imprisonment is an integral part of growing up."

In the final chapter we find Howard Marks returning to his former globe-trotting ways. But no longer to facilitate megaton shipments of cannabis. This time he is visiting the former haunts of his boyhood hero Henry Morgan, former buccaneer and Governor of Jamaica. The account of his visit to Henry's final home in Llanrumney, Jamaica is a delight to read . In particular it is fascinating to reflect that a labyrinthine series of caves underneath the site may contain vestiges of Captain Morgan's fabled treasure. Howard is pictured at the site standing next to a large stone inscription which reads simply - 'Cartref' ( home ).

All in all there is so much in this book, and so many further fruitful avenues to explore, that anyone with a love of Welsh history would be foolish to deny themselves the pleasure of reading it. There can be no hesitation in giving the book a five star rating and recommending it as the perfect christmas gift for anyone with a taste for lovable ( and not so lovable ) Welsh rogues.

Book Review: Patagonia, Matthew Rhys

Matthew Rhys, a native of Cardiff now living in Los Angeles, has appeared in more than 30 roles for film and television, including "The House of America," "The Edge of Love," and the television drama "Brothers and Sisters."

In 1885, a group of Welsh settlers in Chubut, Argentina set out to explore the Andes and found and settled Cwm Hyfryd, "Pleasant Valley". They were members of the largest Welsh settlement in South America, founded twenty years earlier by the passengers of the Mimosa.

Actor and author Matthew Rhys joined a group of the descendants of the original Cwm Hyfryd expedition to recreate their accomplishment, on horseback as they did themselves. Rhys has published a beautiful book of his photographs and commentary on this experience: Patagonia: Croesi'r Paith/Crossing the Plain, a photographic memoir of this journey by horse through the Patagonian landscape and some of its Welsh history.

Although formatted as a beautiful coffee-table style book, Patagonia is about equal parts text and photographs, mainly black and white. It's presented in English and Welsh, including an introduction in those languages and Spanish. Rhys has included some background history of Welsh immigration to Argentina and the story of the original journey, including a few wonderful historic photos of those early settlers and the Argentina of their time. Instead of a linear description of the trip, chapters focus on Rhys' companions and elements of his experience, with titles like "Lunch," about the routine of easting, resting and riding and "Knives," which gives some insight into the arrangement of the trip. Rhys describes the following encounter:

"A number of farmers, and their wives and children, came out to greet us. One old gentleman gestured toward me inviting me to slow down. He ventured something in Spanish, and I gave him my customary response:

"'Perdon, no hablo catellano, señor.'

"'Wyt ti'n siarad Cymraeg, fachgen?' ('Do you speak Welsh?') was his answer."

The photographs are excellent. Sometimes humorous, sometimes heroically panoramic. Sometimes warm and small and precise little narratives themselves of people and things.

Patagonia was a comfortable pleasure to read. Picture and narrative together subtly built a sense of place and people, of Rhys' experience, the things he saw and the men who accompanied him, the marks on the land the original settlers left and the effect all this had at the end of the trail. The people, the landscape and customs are brought vividly and splendidly to life and conjure the desire to enjoy an asado in the Andes with these wonderful people, in this beautiful place.

Patagonia is published by Gomer Press and is available through Amazon.com

Felicity And Barbara Pym - Harrison Solow. Review & Competition

This book is a delight to read though perhaps somewhat harder to review since It defies easy classification. The work is epistolary in form, though the epistles in this case are digital since we are presented with a series of emails written by an advisor to her student. The student has an assignment on English writer Barbara Pym to complete and she is not entirely happy about it. She complains that 'nothing happens' in Pym's novels, a common charge brought against a wide range of authors by novice literature students. I have heard this complaint advanced against Jane Austen, M.R. James and a host of others in my own classroom experience, indeed against anyone who does not include the Hollywood triptych of 'bonk, car chase and gunfight' in their narratives. In the course of explaining what does happen in Barbara Pym's novels her tutor, Mallory Cooper illuminates an entire era of British social history and references a wealth of literary sources and resources which cumulatively bring the author , her world and her novels vividly into focus. If Barbara Pym was not formerly on my 'to read' list then she is now. Of course the book is much more than an explication of Barbara Pym. It attempts to answer the question:- "Why read literature?" and offers conclusions which are the fruits of Ms Solow's (soon to be Dr. Solow) many decades of literary study and experience as a practicing writer. All in all this is a book for anyone who cares about literature and wants to advance their knowledge of it. It provides , perhaps surprisingly for a work which is so very scholarly in tone and content, a thoroughly engaging and engrossing reading experience. An unreservedly recommended title from a masterful writer.   Buy 'Felicity And Barbara Pym' HERE Read our interview with Harrison Solow HERE Win A Signed Copy of 'Felicity And Barbara Pym' Here at Americymru we like to give things away! This month we are offering an autographed copy of ''Felicity And Barbara Pym' . All you have to do is answer the three following questions and email your answers to :- americymrucontest@gmail.com The deadline for entries is July 1st 2010 and the lucky winner will be announced on the site on July 2nd. Please remember that we will only accept one entry per email address and duplicate submissions will be disqualified. So........fire up the Wikipedia and answer these questions to win the prize:- 1. In which English town was Barbara Pym born? 2. In which international Institute in London did Pym work for several years? 3. Barbara Pym's first novel in 1950 was titled 'Some Tame ......." ( Fill in the blank )? Pob lwc/Best of luck:) Comment on Harrison's AmeriCymru page HERE. Review by Ceri Shaw Email

'The Carmarthen Underground' by Gaynor Madoc Leonard

Gaynor Madoc Leonards first novel, 'The Carmarthen Underground' was recently published by Y Lolfa. On this page we are pleased to present both a review of the book and a short interview with the author. Additionally we would like to invite our readers to take the opportuniy to win an autographed copy of the novel by participating in our giveaway competition. (see bottom of the page)

Review of 'The Carmarthen Underground'

Gaynor Madoc Leonards first novel is an entertaining and occasionally thought provoking spy-thriller set in an alternate Carmarthen after the 'Battle for Wales' has secured Welsh Independence. Although we are told little about that historic struggle it is evident that Wales' security is still under threat 43 years after the event. The action is largely set in Carmarthen and Myddfai although there are international ramifications and rumblings are heard as far away as Eastern Europe as the perfidious Anglo Saxon plot to undermine the Welsh body politic unravels. The 'unravelling' is effected by agents of Carmarthen Intelligence and the WBI ( Welsh Bureau of Investigation ) with occasional help from WARF (Welsh Assault & Rescue Force ).The labyrinthine plot unfolds over 288 pages steering the reader on a roller coaster ride of conspiracy and intrigue.

The whole affair ends with a spectacular international embarassment for the English parliament which is described in the following terms:-

'The President of the United States and his aides were watching the proceedings from the White House with amazement; in Paris, the French President sat on his wife's knee nuzzling her neck and giggling wildly at the antics of Les Rosbifs. In Rome, the Italian President ( actually there were two that day but the first one had got back into power by the end of the TV broadcast ) threw up his hands and declared a holiday so that everyone could have a laugh at the British Prime Minister.'

There are many humorous touches scatered throughout the book. Special agent Wyndham contacts HQ on his 'Blackcurrant' mobile phone. There is a thriving green tea plantation in Beddgelert and we discover that much of south west Wales is criss-crossed by a secret underground railway network the existence of which is known only to agents of the WBI.

The book is a must for all Cymruphiles with a taste for the whimsical and bizarre.

An Interview With Gaynor Madoc Leonard

Americymru: What is the significance of the title? Why Carmarthen?

Gaynor: I had a plan to go to Cork in Ireland and I thought it might be fun (and polite) to try and learn a few words of Erse. I came across a book (also published by Y Lolfa) called The Pan Celtic Phrasebook. As I was flicking through it, I came across the Welsh section where there was a phrase "Is there an underground train in Carmarthen?". This struck me as very funny and a friend said it would make a good book title. Some time later, still not having made it to Cork, I sat down at my PC and started typing. I knew I had to have a first line or paragraph that would hold people's attention, but, at that point, I had really no idea of what the story would be.

Americymru: How would you describe the book to a potential reader?

Gaynor: It's a light-hearted (and warm-hearted) mystery or thriller with, I hope, the potential to amuse, divert and inform to some degree. Beneath the humour, there lies a message that Wales is a separate nation with a rich history and we should not be ignored.

Americymru: The book is set in an alternative universe and talks about The Battle for Wales in its pages. Do you have any plans to write about that in future novels?

Gaynor: There will be certainly be more about The Battle for Wales in the sequel (which answers another of your questions!). I have a sequel more or less completed and a third novel is well under way. In the second book, I shall be elaborating on the Battle and its effect on Rhian Jenkins and her late husband, Meirion Jenkins. I want readers to understand that while The Battle for Wales is fictional, the fight for recognition of Wales's language and culture has been very real for a very long time. Yes, it is an alternative Wales, an alternative Carmarthen, but all the towns and villages mentioned in the book(s) are real and so are the problems that the Welsh have been dealing with for some 1500 years and even before that, during the Roman occupation.

Americymru: Which writers influence you? Who do you read for pleasure?

Gaynor: My favourite writers are probably Graham Greene, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell and E M Delafield. If I could write even fractionally as well as they did, I would be very happy indeed. It's really only in the past 3 years or so that I've started reading the thriller or mystery genre. I started with Chandler and, rummaging in secondhand bookstores, found contemporary writers like Lindsey Davis, whose Falco stories set in Vespasian's Rome are enormous fun. I've also discovered Donna Leon and Barbara Nadel, whose books (respectively) are set in Venice and Istanbul and very well-written. And I've become addicted to Alexander McCall Smith, particularly his Scotland Street and Isabel Dalhousie series. There's also a wonderful little publishing house here in London, called Persephone Books, which has some marvellous titles.

I think that if I were to suggest a book or books which would fire the imagination about Wales and its history, I would point people toward Mary Stewart's wonderful Merlin trilogy. I've had these books on my shelf since childhood. In the non-fiction department, Jan Morris would be a good person to read and Terry Jones (historian and former Python) did a very good TV series with an accompanying book called "Barbarians".

Americymru: Any final message for the members and readers of Americymru?

Gaynor: I would like to thank those people who so kindly sent messages to me when I first joined your site. I'm still getting to grips with it! And I would like to thank you for your interest in my book.

I have scores of relatives in the USA (on my mother's side), many of whom had no idea of their Welsh heritage until fairly recently. In 1999, a large group came over to Wales and several of them are now building family trees.

I don't pretend that my light-hearted little book can make much of a difference to Wales's place in the world but, obviously, the more people who read about Wales and understand that it's a place with its own identity, the better.

Win A Signed Copy of 'The Carmarthen Underground'

Here at Americymru we like to give things away! This month we are offering an autographed copy of 'The Carmarthen Underground' together with a congratulatory card from the author. All you have to do is answer the three following questions and email your answers to :-

americymrucontest@gmail.com

The deadline for entries is april 3rd 2010 and the lucky winner will be announced on the site on april 4th. Please remember that we will only accept one entry per email address and duplicate submissions will be disqualified. So...fire up the Wikipedia and answer these questions to win the prize:-

1. In Roman times Carmarthen was the civitas capital of which Celtic tribe?

2. In which years did Carmarthen host the National Eisteddfod?

3. Carmarthen Railway Station is situated on which Welsh railway line?

Pob lwc/Best of luck:) Comment on Gaynor's americymru page HERE.

Interview by Ceri Shaw Email

Welsh Australians - New South Welsh

Ethne Jeffrey’s book Welsh Australians may surprise readers by revealing the amount of influence that the Welsh have had on Australia. Since the beginning of white settlement two centuries ago, Welsh emigrants have played an integral role in the country’s social, political and artistic development.

Despite their impact, author Ethne Jeffreys states that, “Little has been published about the contribution of Welsh people to Australian society. Now we are given a glimpse of some of them, from Francis Wilkinson on Captain James Cook’s voyage of discovery, to Billy Hughes, the world’s first Welsh-speaking prime minister. Today, Welsh descendents such as Rolf Harris and Kylie Minogue are household names.”



This well-researched and entertaining book includes short biographical sketches of some of the most influential of these intrepid Welshmen and women and their descendents. For example, there is the story of David Jones’ department stores which are a favourite in Australia, but not so well-known is the fact that the founder of this billion-dollar retail empire was born to illiterate parents in a hamlet 12,000 miles away. Others, though they have not found fortune or fame, have contributed in an individual way to the development of the continent, such as Joseph Jenkins, the Welsh swagman, or Rachael Ann Webb. The author “hopes that these sketches will motivate readers to search out the stories of Welsh Australians for themselves.”



The book is a personal tribute by Ethne Jeffreys, who lived Down Under for nearly thirty years and visited every State. She was born and bred in Dunvant, Swansea, migrated to Australia in 1951 under the ‘£10 Pom scheme’ and later qualified as a teacher of English and commercial subjects. The author dedicates the book both to Wales and to Australia, her “finishing school.”



Welsh Australians is available for £5.95 in bookshops throughout Wales and on www.ylolfa.com.

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

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