A series of short posts highlighting recent cultural and bookish chatter from Wales
This is the first post of D24 in which we look at literary and other cultural goings-on (Welsh speakers may prefer sgwrsio llenyddol Cymraeg) from the land of poetry and song.
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Wales Book of the Year 2024
Literature Wales, the organisation responsible for the development of our nation’s literature, has revealed the identity of the judges who will pick the winner in each category (plus the overall winner) of Wales Book of the Year Award 2024. Along with the location for the ceremony (Galeri in Caernarfon on Thursday 4th July), it has been divulged that the English-language panel will consist of Dylan Moore (writer, journalist and chair of Wales PEN Cymru); Patrice Lawrence (Royal Society of Literature Fellow and experienced mentor); Rachel Trezise (novelist, playwright and Dylan Thomas Prize winner) and Pascale Petit (poet, novelist and former Chair of the T.S. Eliot Prize). The shortlist will be announced on 13th May.
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Sweet and Sour Memories of Wales
Those of you who took part in Reading Wales ’22 may recall our official book choice for that year’s readathon was Sugar and Slate, a powerful memoir about growing up in North Wales during the 1960s by the Welsh African mixed-race author Charlotte Williams. First published by Planet in 2002, it was reissued late last year by Penguin as part of its Black Britain: Writing Back Series, which greatly pleased me because it had long been out of print and was devilishly difficult to get hold of a copy (I picked mine up second-hand from Blackwell’s especially for the event). Around the time it was republished, a splendid article written by Williams (I didn’t fit in Wales, but found my sense of place by understanding its historyand my own) appeared in The Guardian, so I filed it away to share with you when the time was right (i.e. the next Dewithon to come along). You can see what I had to say about this title in my own original post, however, since it is now so easily obtainable, I strongly recommend you read the book yourselves if you haven’t already done so.
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Open Your Ears to Wales
For those who prefer to rest their eyes and take an audible tour of Wales while being thoroughly entertained into the bargain, I can recommend Pod of Wales – a series produced by Little Wander and presented by Welsh comedians Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Esyllt Sears. Over the course of eight episodes, they travel north to south sampling regional delicacies, exploring well-known landmarks and chatting to local characters. All episodes are freely available on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Castro and Overcast.
