Calling All Bloggers

Are you a Poet, Short Story Writer or a Photographer?...then read on.... For the second year running the Left Coast Eisteddfod is being held in Portland Oregon. What is an Eisteddfod?   An Eisteddfod is essentially an arts competition and the Left Coast Eisteddfod is an online arts competition. It features four categories:- Poetry, Short Story, Photography and Video.  The first Eisteddfod was held in 1176 in Cardigan in Wales. The National Eisteddfod and Bala Eisteddfod are held in Wales every year and more all over the world, wherever Welsh people settled. The competition is open to both Americymru members and non-members and submissions need not have any Welsh relevance. Why should this be of interest to bloggers? Cash prizes of $150 dollars in all competition categories! Submissions judged by experts with international reputations! Winning submissions and other entries stay on a heavily trafficed page-rank 4, social network site for more than a year together with backlink! No registration fee! Two ways to submit your entry If you have an original poem,short story, photograph or video that you would like to enter you can either, Join the site. Americymru is an American Welsh social networking site on the Ning network BUT if you have no Welsh heritage fear not. You can simply check the Eisteddfod option when categorizing your profile or copy and paste the following ....'I am here to compete in the Eisteddfod', in the 'About Me' field. Registration only takes a minute or two. Please remember that in order to qualify your blog must have some literary, poetic or photographic content. If this is the case please feel free to include a link to your blog on your profile page. To join Americymru go here. If you prefer not to join but still wish to compete, email your submission to americymru@gmail.com. We will post it for you together with your backlink. You may request that your submission be removed at any time and we guarantee to respect your copyright. Your content will not appear on any other page than the submission page. The winners will be announced at the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland Oregon on Oct 6th 2010. Winners will be notified via email and checks mailed shortly after. Why are we doing this? Welsh culture is rich with artistic tradition in poetry, song and story.  Our mission is to promote art in the Welsh tradition in North America and to bring the Eisteddfod and the Welsh love of the arts and the art of the word to artists around the world. ( Submissions deemed to be of insufficient quality may be rejected by the Eisteddfod Organizing Committee.Please enter your best work. Blatant link-dropping will not be tolerated. ) To all our contestants both current and future we wish the very best of luck:)

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

A message from Lloyd Jones.....

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

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

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

I ended up with a shortlist of five, namely:

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

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

Congratulations Jennifer..

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

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

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

Interview With Lloyd Jones on Americymru

Review of "My First Colouring Book" on Americymru

Mr Vogel

Mr Cassini

Lloyd Jones on Wikipedia

My First Colouring Book

Mr. Vogel

Mr Cassini

The Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009 - Enter Online Competitions Here!

To visit the main Left Coast Eisteddfod page click HERE. To enter one of the competitions click on the group links below. PLEASE do not forget to read the relevant rules of submission before entering. ALL competitions are open to non-Americymru members but once again please read the rules before submitting your entry. They differ slightly for members and non-members. Winners will be announced at The Left Coast Eisteddfod on August 22nd 2009.
	Poetry Competition Group You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories.
	Student Essay Contest Group This essay competition is open to children between the ages of 8 and 16 years of age. The student chooses a person of Welsh birth or heritage who has made a significant contribution to world history.
	Visual Image Competition Croeso/Welcome to the Left Coast Eisteddfod Visual Image Competition. Here you can submit TWO photographs in the categories defined below and compete for a first place cash prize of $100 in each category.
	Short Story Submission Group Submit stories in the short story category here. Each story (and any links) must be added as a separate discussion in the group forum .
	Tom Jones Impersonators Group! Calling All Impersonators of His Royal Hotness, President of Wales, the Right Honorable Tom Jones - Give us Your Videos!
	Left Coast Eisteddfod - PIRATES Group! Show off your inner Pirate! Win $50 and acclaim! We're looking for Pirate Impersonators to send us photos in all their glory! Show us your John Callis, Howell Davis, Robert Edwards, John Evans, privateer Henry Morgan or Dread Pirate Bartholomew Roberts .
SPONSORS If you would like to sponsor the Eisteddfod or any of the individual online competitions please email americymru@gmail.com for details . Here is a list of our current sponsors.

New Left Coast ( Online ) Eisteddfod Poetry Competition!

Today we are pleased to announce the details of yet another competition category in the Left Coast ( Online ) Eisteddfod! Details of the Poetry Competition can be found below. All submissions should be made in/ or linked from a separate group discussion in the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009 Poetry Competition Group ( see details below ) .

THE LEFT COAST (ONLINE) EISTEDDFOD COMPETITIONS

Read all about our Short Story competition HERE. Win $100!

Read all about our Poetry competition HERE. Win $100!

Read all about our Pirate Lookalike competition HERE. Win $50!

In the next day or so we will be announcing details of our photographic competition. Others to follow. Keep checking back for further details.

POETRY COMPETITION RULES FOR SUBMISSION

You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. Accompanying graphics are not permitted. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories. The final submission date is July 31st 2009 and the winners will be announced at the Eisteddfod ( August 2009 ). The judges have yet to be selected and a further announcement will be made soon. The judges decisions will, of course, be final. The winners will also be entitled to free admission to some Eisteddfod events. Runners-up prizes will be announced later.

All poetic styles and conventions are welcome ( limericks, however, will not be considered for a prize ) There is no upper or lower word limit. Entries need not reference Wales in any way , shape or form. You may submit up to three entries and work which has appeared elsewhere is acceptable provided you have not surrendered your copyright.

The winner and his/her work will also be featured on this site on what we hope will be a heavily trafficked page.

How To Submit Your Poem

Members

1. Simply join this Group and post your poem (and any links) as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" example below). If you wish to include a link to your website or blog please do so but remember you must link back to us.

2. Post your poem your website or blog and post a link to the relevant url as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" example below).. Once again you will need to link back to us.

Non Members

1. Post your submission on your blog and email us with the url ( americymru@gmail.com ). We will include it on the Group page. We would appreciate a link to this page or to the blog home page.

2. Email your submission to us and we will post it on the group page and credit you as author. ( in this case mutual linking is an option but not required )

The Fine Print

1. There is no entry or submission fee for this competition. The requirement to backlink if you are posting on your own blog and linking here ( or submitting a link to your blog on this page ) is obligatory and designed to be mutually beneficial.

2. Any materials submitted in this group will remain the sole property of the author. We guarantee not to display any story or any portion thereof on other pages or sites without the express permission of the author. Likewise materials submitted here or linked here can be removed or unlinked at any time by the author or at his/her request.

The Left Coast Eisteddfod ( Portland, Oregon 2009 ) Starts Here - Short Story Competition - Win $100!

Regular readers of this site will no doubt have heard about our ambitious plans for a "Left Coast Eisteddfod" in Portland Oregon next year ( 2009 ). Today we would like to announce that we are not waiting until next year to get the ball rolling. We are launching the first of the Eisteddfod competitions online! Others will follow.

The short story competition which starts today is basically a "write in response " exercise. Below you will see a series of photographs. Most of these shots were taken in Wales but they are not particularly iconic and your response need not make reference to Wales in any way, shape or form. You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. Basically you will need to write a short story between 1000 and 3000 in length words on any ONE of these photographs and submit it in accordance with the rules for site members or non-site members outlined below. Accompanying graphics are not permitted. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories. The final submission date is July 31st 2009 and the winners will be announced at the Eisteddfod ( August 2009 ). The judges have yet to be selected and a further announcement will be made soon. The judges decisions will, of course, be final. The winners will also be entitled to free admission to some Eisteddfod events. Runners-up prizes will be announced later.

The winner and his/her work will also be featured on this site on what we hope will be a heavily trafficked page.

How To Submit Your Story

Members

1. Simply join the Eisteddfod Short Story Group and post your story (and any links) as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" example on the page). If you wish to include a link to your website or blog please do so but remember you must link back to us.

2. Post your story on your website or blog and post a link to the relevant url as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" on the page). Once again you will need to link back to us.

Non Members

1. Post your submission on your blog and email us with the url ( americymru@gmail.com ). We will include it on the Group page. We would appreciate a link to this page or to the blog home page.

2. Email your submission to us and we will post it on the Group page and credit you as author. ( in this case mutual linking is an option but not required )

By Huw Davies of Hendy Productions



By Tam Ryan of Wales DVD



By Ian Price of Treorchy.net



By Ian Price of Treorchy.net



By Brian Y Tarw Llwyd of Americymru.

"My First Colouring Book" - A Review

My First Colouring
Book

Read our interview with Lloyd Jones HERE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

CS