Night of the Living Bards

Night of the Living Bards

Thursday Oct 7th 5 p.m till Midnight The Left Coast Eisteddfod is a Welsh-American performing  arts festival in Portland, Oregon USA for 2010. In the many-centuries-old tradition of the eisteddfod in Wales, this includes an oral storytelling competition. In the Portland version, outrageous lies, artistic license and unbridled wild creation are very strongly encouraged and we cordially invite you to join us. ( 100 tickets are available from the 'Buy Ticket' links on this page. They are priced at $6 plus $1 dollar commission charged by EventBee. We are advising people to purchase early to avoid disappointment. )

The Venue

Home Menu Directions Bus Routes There is free parking available in the Buffalo Gap parking lot and in the streets around. There is also an office parking lot opposite which is available for the use of patrons free of charge after 5 p.m. If you are travelling by bus please take the number 35 and alight at SW Macadam & California.

Buy Tickets/Register to Compete

The 'Night of the Living Bards' will take place at the Buffalo Gap on Thurs October 7th between 5pm and Midnight. It will consist of a live narrative competition for which we will be looking to recruit 20 contestants. There will be no restrictions on narrative style or content although competitiors must tell a story of some kind. Each contestant will have 8 minutes at the mic and there will be a first prize of $250 and a second prize of $100. There will be no registration fee although all competitiors will be required to pay the standard $6 dollar admission fee. You need not be a member of Americymru to attend or compete. We may also include a movie and some musical entertainment on the program. Full program details will be announced shortly. The narrative competition will run between 6.30 and 10.30 ( approx ). The competition will be judged by authors Niall Griffiths and Chris Keil ( and others to be announced ). Highlights will be recorded for posterity and hosted on the Americymru website. Penderyn Welsh Whisky  available at the bar!

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..

Madoc ap Owain Gwynedd Discussion Group

New Americymru discussion group created by Beryl Richards on Prince Madoc:

The Madoc Enigma - an Introduction by Beryl Richards

"The mysterious legend of Prince Madoc Ap Owain Gwynnedd exists on both sides of the Atlantic which has yet to be taken seriously. The following article is only a taster of the adventure. Zella Armstrong of the Daughters of the American Revolution has written a detailed history published during the 1950's, and the Plaque unveiled at Mobile Bay stating that Prince Madoc had landed there was removed, and became the result of an international internet campaign to reinstate it Janice Gattis of the Alabahma Welsh Association was instrumental in running the campaign which was well supported both by American and Welsh ex pats and natives of Wales.

There is so much to discover. I have been on a fascinating journey into both my own Welsh history and the story which continued from Mobile into the American interior. Does anyone wish to share my fascination with this mysterious enigma. Join us on the journey!"

For further information please read "The Madoc Enigma" by Bee Richards HERE.

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.

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.