DEWITHON PLANNER 2022

Dewithon is an opportunity for book bloggers and readers in general to discover Welsh writers and their works (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, in fact anything written in English or Welsh with links to the nation of Wales).

We will begin our usual 31 days of celebration on Tuesday 1st March 2022 (St. David’s Day), with an official page appearing on which your Dewithon-related posts will feature. In the meantime, you can find plenty of useful links and reading suggestions in the freshly updated DHQ (Dewithon Headquarters) post and in our Reading Wales Library, but please do not hesitate to ask for help if you are struggling to get started. You are encouraged to read and share your thoughts on any book or literary subject with a Welsh connection, so please prepare to dechrau darllen (start reading)! 

No regimented readathon

As mentioned in WUTW #205, I will be up to my brows moving house in March, so cannot commit to posting a weekly analysis of a specific work this year. In all other respects, however, Dewithon will continue as usual.

I personally intend to focus on something a bit different and would be delighted if you joined me in reading Sugar and Slate by Charlotte Williams – past winner of the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year. Published by Planet in 2002, it is an autobiographical story of a Welsh-African mixed-race woman, daughter of a white Welsh-speaking mother and a black father from Guyana, growing up in North Wales. It has been on my TBR list for goodness knows how long and it struck me that it may be the ideal title to select in the current climate – especially as the author has recently been appointed by the Welsh Government to head a new working group to advise on and improve the teaching of themes relating to Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and experiences across all parts of the school curriculum.

In his review for The Guardian, Gary Younge said of this book: “It is Williams’s Welshness that makes her examination of her mixed-race identity distinctive; but it is the humour, candour and facility of her style that makes it exceptional.”

I would love to know what you think of this year’s choice. Is it of interest to you? Perhaps you’ve read it. If so, did you post a review? Please do share your thoughts.

The devil is in the detail

Interior of Salem Chapel in Cefncymerau, with its central figure of Siân Owen, dressed in traditional Welsh costume.

The main Reading Wales banner (at the top of this page) shows a Small Tortoiseshell basking in the sunshine – not a specifically Welsh species, of course, but native to Wales, and generally on the wing throughout the spring, summer and early autumn months. Sad to say, due to a range of environmental issues (including loss of habitat) this butterfly isn’t anywhere near as common as it was during my childhood – a far from unusual development in the 21^st century. The picture was taken by my brilliant mum, Eve Parry (remember her fabulous goat shot from D21?), in the Great Orme Country Park and Nature Reserve. I went with this image because it makes me feel cheerful and optimistic, and I suspect we could all do with a splash of colour to brighten our days after everything that has happened over the last couple of years.

As for the current generic logo – which you will see on the right-hand side of every Book Jotter page – I have appropriated what is arguably the most famous Welsh image of all time.

Salem was painted in 1908 by Cornish artist Sydney Curnow Vosper and depicts a scene inside Capel Salem, a Baptist Chapel in the village of Pentre Gwynfryn, located in Ardudwy, only a short distance from our lodge. This iconic watercolour shows a pious congregation in traditional Welsh garb, at a time when chapel was at the heart of Welsh life. It is also somewhat notorious because it is believed the devil’s face is visible if you know where to look.

The central figure in the painting is Siân Owen (1837-1927), a 71-year-old widow who lived in an isolated farmhouse in Llanbedr. If you look closely at the intricate details of her shawl, you may be able to make out the devil’s menacing features on her left arm – the paisley pattern forming a horn, the folds his eye and nose and the trim his beard. Vosper always denied this was his intention, but it has become the work’s main talking point over the years. He did, however, admit to there being a ghostly visage in the verdurous window scene.

Get Dewithoning!

Please do let me know if you write anything at all about Reading Wales, though I’m especially keen to highlight your reviews and features. To do this, simply drop me a line or leave a link to your piece in the comments section below – and should you refer to the event on Twitter, I would appreciate you using the hashtag #dewithon22. Thank you and good luck (diolch a phob lwc)!

Categories: Reading Wales

Tags: #Dewithon22, Charlotte Williams, Dewithon, Llanbedr, Reading Wales, Salem Chapel, Sydney Curnow Vosper, Wales Readathon 2022, Welsh Writers