Welcome and introductions

[[deleted user]]

Hello all, just thought I'd introduce myself - I'm David and live a quiet and leisurely retirement in Llandrindod where I was born and brought up but only returned to 10 years ago.

I regularly steward at the Hay Festival and at Brecon Jazz and generally spend my time reading, doing odd courses with the OU and bits of volunteering and charity work. I am a Welsh learner but a very poor one, in Powys there are no opportunities to practice and without practice language cannot become perfect.

Over the last couple of months, I've have been active in trying to revive another GoodReads group - Nobel Prizewinners - and would love to see this group up and running again. Anyone out there interested?

[Megan]

Hi, I'm Megan and just joined this group. I joined because I'm interested in the Welsh culture and learning more about my family history. My great-grandmother was Welsh and I want to learn more about the area she was from, Pontrhydyfen, which is by Port Talbot. If anyone can recommend any books about the area or any Welsh stories in general, I would appreciate it.

[Sam]

I would certainly recommended the Alexander Cordell books, I've only read This Proud and Savage Land so far but he captures the South Wales Valleys superbly. I also keep seeing a factual series on the South Wales Colieries by David Owen, which you should be able to get through your local Waterstones (you may need to order them in though)

I've got a few other Wales/Welsh books that I've read, here's the link to the relevent shelf if you want to have look:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

Hope this helps :-D

[Megan]

I just read the description of This Proud and Savage Land, and I will definitely be picking that up. Thanks for the advice. I know my ancestors worked in the mines, so I'm glad you showed me this book. Thanks for the link to your shelf, I am going to start browsing through it.

[Sam]

No problem Megan, they were recommended to me by one of the bookshop owners in Hay so I can't take alll the credit. It was a big part of life in this part of South Wales (I grew up in Cwmbran and now live in Cardiff) and it still is today with many pits now converted to tourist attractions (Big Pit being the most famous) and the legacy of the mines still being felt, both positively and negatively.

[[deleted user]]

You mentioned Alexander Cordell, I read one of his when I was a teenager, I think it was called 'Rape of the Fair Country'. However, when I was growing up Richard Llewellyn's 'How Green Was My Valley' was considered a better example of the genre. The Welsh literati seem to think that Lewis Jones' 'Cwmardy' and 'We Live' are even better having recently re-published them in one volume in the Library of Wales series.

[Sam]

I've got How Green Was My Valley on my to read pile at the moment, haven't had a chance to read it yet though but can't wait to get stuck into it. I'll have to keep a look out for those other two books though

[Tasha]

Hiya! My names Natasha and I'm from Wrexham, but currently studying literature and writing in Ormskirk. I would love to get more knowledge of welsh literature as allot of my own writing is set and influenced by my love of Wales :) x

[[deleted user]]

Hi Natasha, I didnt realise that Ormskirk was such a literary place, mind you I haven't been there for well over 40 years. A good introduction to 20th century Welsh Literature lies in the two volumes of short stories I've mentioned in the Debate thread.

[Shel]

Hi all, my name is Michelle and I'm Cardiff born and bred. I'm a Welsh speaker and interested in anything to do with language, culture and history as well as reading books set in Wales. Its nice to "meet" you all! :)

[[deleted user]]

Hello Michelle, and welcome to the group. I hope you won't be too disappointed by the relative inactivity of our members. We really do need a correspondent from the Cardiff area as so many more literary events take place in the south.

[Jonathanmorrigan]

Sam wrote: "I would certainly recommended the Alexander Cordell books, I've only read This Proud and Savage Land so far but he captures the South Wales Valleys superbly. I also keep seeing a fac..."

Loved Rape of the Fair Country when I was younger. Maybe should revisit it. Has anyone tried Cynan Jones's stuff - I reckon one of the most exciting new writers in Wales for years.

[[deleted user]]

Jonathanmorrigan wrote: "Sam wrote: "I would certainly recommended the Alexander Cordell books, I've only read This Proud and Savage Land so far but he captures the South Wales Valleys superbly. I also keep ..."

No, haven't tried anything by Cynan Jones. What do you particularly recommend?

[Madoc]

Hi All, my name is Madoc and I discovered America. (Only joking.)I'm not sure how much you are supposed to plug your books on this site so if this isn't welcome then I will stop, but this year I have had my first book published, so i am pretty excited. It is the true story of a Welsman who became the most important Nazi spy in Britain during WWII and his daughter became a famous Hollywood film star. The twist in the story is that he was actually a double agent working for Mi5.

It sounds too good to be true but I can assure you after six years research going through hundreds of secret Mi5 files and tracing his family this is all true.

I would love to share my experience of writing the book which can be pretty lonely, so don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested. I look forward to hearing all your thoughts on Welsh literature. Snow: The Double Life of a World War II Spy

[[deleted user]]

Madoc wrote: "Hi All, my name is Madoc and I discovered America. (Only joking.)I'm not sure how much you are supposed to plug your books on this site so if this isn't welcome then I will stop, but this year I ha..."

HI Madoc, I see you are plugging your book extensively on GoodReads, nothing wrong with that I only wonder how much energy you'll be able to devote to this small, but delicately-formed group. I'll get back to you as soon as I've consulted my fellow moderator.

[[deleted user]]

Madoc wrote: "Hi All, my name is Madoc and I discovered America. (Only joking.)I'm not sure how much you are supposed to plug your books on this site so if this isn't welcome then I will stop, but this year I ha..."

I haven't heard from my fellow moderator so I guess it'll be OK for you to share with us your experiences of writing(or is it co-writing) your recent book I'll set up a dedicated thread for it.

[Anne]

Hello, I'm living in Cardiff at the moment too. I'm a trainee journalist at the university. I've been impressed by how strong the Welsh literary scene is, in Cardiff there are so many events to go to.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Anne and welcome to the group. Hope you enjoy 'Resistance', it is an interesting speculation on what might have happened and Sheers clearly knows the area well. Do post to our discussions, debates, whathaveyou. I hope you're not training for print journalism, every other feature piece I read these days seems to be about the imminent demise of print journalism.

[Anne]

Hi David, thank you it's good to find other people interested in the same thing. Yes I am training for print journalism, I do get a lot of people comment on the demise of print. But I'm hoping that newspapers will always exist in some form, whether that's in print or online...

[Evy]

Hello!
I am a Welsh fan :) I have a degree in medieval linguistics to include a study of welsh. I am also a 12th century reenactor of a Welsh persona. I look forward to talking with people who are also interested in things Welsh
Evy

[[deleted user]]

Evy wrote: "Hello!
I am a Welsh fan :) I have a degree in medieval linguistics to include a study of welsh. I am also a 12th century reenactor of a Welsh persona. I look forward to talking with people who..."

Hi Evy, Welcome to the group. You just have to tell us your experiences as a 12C re-enactor of a Welsh persona. Is that like being a member of the Sealed Knot? or is it something a lot more exotic?

[Evy]

Hello,
Similar to the Sealed Knot but on a smaller scale, we are beginning to get it going. We do a household of a Lord that is traveling. My husband is a carpenter/bowyer and each of us focus on a trade or activity.

[Linda]

Hi my name is Linda. I live in Tallahassee Fl. My grandmother was Welsh and so is my Mum. I want to learn more about the Welsh culture. She was from Mountain Ash

[[deleted user]]

Linda wrote: "Hi my name is Linda. I live in Tallahassee Fl. My grandmother was Welsh and so is my Mum. I want to learn more about the Welsh culture. She was from Mountain Ash"

Hello Linda and welcome to the group. We look forward to reading your comments on our activities.

[Jess]

Hi all! I'm Jess, a 23 year old Australian law student. No Welsh in my family background, however I've been learning Welsh for a couple of years now & love it. I'm particularly interested in Welsh-language literature & I hope to tackle William Owen Roberts and Mihangel Morgan by the end of the year :) I look forward to participating in the group!

[[deleted user]]

Hi Jess and welcome to the group. Unfortunately we have become rather moribund over recent months. I think there is another GR group with Welsh interests that has become more popular of late. You might be well advised to have a look at the other Welsh interest groups.

[Frances]

Hi all
My name is Frances and i'm interested in finding books in welsh. I have been learning for some time, so can read reasonably well (with a dictionary!), but i'm having difficulty finding books i like. I'm interested in historical novels, sci fi and fantasy. I enjoyed Dyn Pob Un and Teulu Lord Bach (although that was heavy going). I find a lot of Welsh novels depressing and miserable - anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks

[Paul]

Hello everyone.

We are The Cardiff Pen, a new community for writers in Cardiff.
Have a look at our website here: https://thecardiffpen.wordpress.com/

Don't forget to like us on Facebook too! www.facebook.com/thecardiffpen

[Tracey]

Hi everyone. I am a Brit now residing in Canada. My Great-Grandmother was Welsh and I love to learn more about this side of my heritage. How Green was my Valley is one of my favourite books and The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet by Edith Pargeter. I have The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies. Is anyone interested in doing a monthly book read as a group?
Hwyl am nawr
Tracey

[Ray]

by Ray Noyes.
This is my first of a series of four books comprising The Abertwp Chronicles. Quixotic goings-on of an amateur communist and all round nutter who drives the local ash cart. Based on a real character (my wife's uncle), Horatio ap Llewelyn Evans smiles through the dust of his disastrous attempts to bring communism to the sleepy Swansea Valley town of Abertwp. His DIY disasters feature in this first book, giving him the confidence (blindness?) to create the soviet socialist republic of Abertwp.

[Dai]

Hello everyone,

I currently reside in Colorado, but was born and brought up in North Wales, though I also lived and worked in Southern Africa.

In the last few years I was bitten by the writing bug, and am in the process of finishing my fifth novel (the second in a series of time-travel stories set in North Wales)

Cheers

Dai