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Today, 27 October sees the centenary of the birth of the poet, Dylan Marlais Thomas. Born on Cwmdonkin Drive, Swansea, and brought up in the genteel district of Uplands, Thomas’s childhood was suburban and orthodox — his father an aspirational but disappointed English teacher at the local grammar school.
Swansea would remain a place for home comforts. But from the mid-1930s, Thomas began a wandering life that took in London’s Fitzrovia — and in particular its pubs, the Fitzroy Tavern and the Wheatsheaf — and then (as a dysfunctionally married man) the New Forest, squalid rooms in wartime London, New Quay on Cardigan Bay, Italy, Laugharne in Carmarthenshire, and from 1950 the United States where he gained a popular student following and where he died in Manhattan, aged thirty-nine.
For all his wanderings, few of Thomas’s poems were written outside Wales. Indeed, half of the published poems for which he is known were written, in some form, while he was living at home in Swansea between 1930 and 1934. As Paul Ferris, his Oxford DNB biographer writes, “commonplace scenes and characters from childhood recur in his writing: the park that adjoins Cwmdonkin Drive; the bay and sands that were visible from the windows; a maternal aunt he visited” — the latter giving rise to one of Thomas’s best-known poems, “Fern Hill.” In literary London, and in numerous bar rooms thereafter, Thomas’s “drinking and clowning were indispensable to him, but they were only half the story; ‘I am as domestic as a slipper’ he once observed, with some truth.”
Dylan Thomas, “Was there a time” by Biccie. CC-BY-SA-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
On 27th October 1914 Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, South Wales. He is widely regarded as one the most significant Welsh writers of the 20th century.Thomas’s popular reputation has continued to grow after his death on 9th November, 1953, despite some critics describing his work as too ‘florid‘. He wrote prolifically throughout his lifetime but is arguably best known for his poetry. His poem The hand that signed the paper is taken from Jon Stallworthy’s edited collection The Oxford Book of War Poetry, and can be found below:
DYLAN THOMAS
1914–1953
The hand that signed the paper
The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Statue of Dylan Thomas, Maritime Quarter, Swansea, by Tony in Devon. CC-BY-2.5 via Wikimedia Commons.
The 90th annual conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales (commonly known as POLFED) starts today in Bournemouth. Running from 20-22 May, the event will see police officers from England, Wales, and further afield join with representatives from policing agencies, the legal profession, and the government to discuss pressing issues from the world of policing and within the Police Federation itself.
To mark the occasion, we’ve put together a list of 10 things you may not know about the Police Federation.
The Police Federation was founded as result of the Police Act 1919. Ninety years earlier, the Police Act 1829 allowed for the official foundation of the Metropolitan Police, followed by the formation of regional forces across England, Wales, and the rest of the UK.
The Federation was the first association officially created to protect the rights of police officers, providing a viable Government-supported alternative to the perceived threat of the growing trade union movement. Government officials were worried by continuing unrest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries relating to officers’ pay.
Fallen London Police, 17 May 1919 in Parliament Square. CC BY-SA Leonard Bentley via Flickr.
The Police Act 1919 also named the Home Secretary as responsible to Government for the police force, an appointment which continues today. As is tradition, current Home Secretary Theresa May will deliver a keynote speech to the annual Police Federation conference, an event which has previously proven controversial with the attendees.
Outside of England and Wales, there are equivalent organisations across the UK including the Scottish Police Federation and the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, as well as specialist branches for the British Transport Police and the Defence Police Federation for Ministry of Defence Police staff.
Before the Sexual Discrimination Act 1975, the police service ran separate establishments for men and women, allowing individual forces to control the number of women joining the police. Chief inspectors were responsible for designating appropriate roles for female officers.
After an apparent rise in assaults on police officers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the deaths of two officers, the Police Federation successfully supported a movement for revised safety equipment. As well as uniform changes, the campaign introduced longer, Americanised truncheons, new ‘Quik-kuffs’, and stab-proof vests.
Although officially politically neutral, the Police Federation took a firm stance prior to the 1979 General Election, placing open letters to candidates in national newspapers. These letters were a sharp critique on the way the previous Labour government had handled police pay, legislation, and crime – things that Margaret Thatcher’s, ultimately successful, Conservative manifesto promised to improve.
On 20 January 2014, the RSA published the Final Report of the Police Federation Independent Review. Led by Sir David Normington, the review panel assessed how the Police Federation could continue to “act as a credible voice for rank and file police officers.” The 36 recommendations outlined in the report will be discussed at the annual conference.
This year’s conference will be the last public event of the current Chairman Steve Williams and General Secretary Ian Rennie, who have both chosen to leave their posts, and their roles within the police service, at the end of May.
Blackstone’s will be tweeting from the Police Federation conference. Follow @bstonespolice for our updates and join the conversation using #pfewconf14.
Cheryl Carpinello’s Book Blog Tour 2013 The King’s Ransom .. .. Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom by Cheryl Carpinello Jodi Carpinello, illustrator MuseItUpYoung 5 Stars Back Cover: In medieval Wales, eleven-year-old Prince Gavin, thirteen-year-old orphan Philip, and fifteen-year-old blacksmith’s apprentice Bryan are brought together in friendship by one they call the …
It's time to get back on my hamster wheel and be a productive little critter for the next twelve months, or until Christmas. Christmas sounds good. Actually, Christmas sounds awful--cold and too much food and dark nights. If only it could be summer forever.
I've had a fantastic break from work, been to lovely and sunny places - I ♥ Wales - actually that statement isn't news as I've always loved Wales, but this year the sun shined and actually burnt. Burn is not good, especially when you're at an age were you should know better than to turn lobster red in the sun. Thankfully, the kids returned home pasty. My niece rubbed so much suntan lotion into her skin she was like a slippery eel. We played in the sea, someone got pooped on by a loose-bowelled seagull, I won a big fluffy chimpanzee and a slightly-less fluffy dog and lost a fair few pounds in the process (the jangling kind), I griped about the price of candy floss (cotton candy) - £2.50 - what!!!! But thankfully, the candy floss on this side of the border was cheaper so I did have a bag or two in almost as sunny England.
I read, read, and read some more. Nearly a hundred short stories (Interzone, Black Static, The Zombie Feed, Never Again, Spook City, BFS Journal, Postscripts), devoured a graphic novel (Anya's ghost) novellas (Unearthed, The Door to Lost Pages, No Traveller Returns) and novels (Water for Elephants, The Robe of Skulls), meaning I've made a dent in my to read pile. Albeit a tiny dent.
Writing-wise, I edited and edited and edited In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair, I completed a new short story Disregarding Rabbit Holes, started work on another short that is as yet untitled, and cut some words from the unfinished second draft of my novel The Ghosts of Folding Time and started layering in extra spookiness and removing a giant robot. And my story, His Name Carved on Empty Space, was accepted by Every Day Fiction (and will be published this Wednesday). There was Theatre and Nowhere Hall and Barbed Wire Hearts news, one of which involved the posting of signature sheets which I am eagerly awaiting delivery of.
If I owe you an email, I will get back to you very, very soon. My inbox is awash with goodness. Now to twitter... I mean, put my head down and write.
10 Comments on Sunbathing on Battlements, last added: 8/9/2011
Gosh, it sounds like a super-productive AND super-gorgeous vacation. I would SO love to visit Wales, it's very high on my list. And the list is long, oh yeah.
So much reading... I need a vacation. A READING VACATION.
The Silver Dress felt like it was a very different book when it ended than when it started, but both were books I like, so I don’t really feel like complaining.
I’m tempted to compare the first part of the book to Cinderella, or the Ugly Duckling, but Eve Martindale isn’t really either. She’s wealthy, attractive, and well-bred, and she lives with a much-loved elderly aunt. She’s thirty-five and unmarried, and she doesn’t know any men socially, but she hasn’t got a problem with that.
Then her cousin Margaret Welwyn comes to London to make her debut in society, and Margaret’s mother and Aunt Caroline, with whom Eve lives, start trying to get her to go to some of the parties being thrown for Margaret. At one of these parties she meets Julian Armitage, who works in the Foreign Office — why is it always the Foreign Office? I like to imagine that all the fictional young men authors have assigned to the Foreign Office are there simultaneously — who is charmed by her unaffected manners and her cool demeanor, which is more a matter of appearance than reality. Julian is about thirty, good-looking, always correctly attired, and personable, if a little too serious. He falls pretty hard for Eve, but their relationship develops slowly. He’s a little awkward and inclined to take offense, while she takes things as they come and is inclined to forgive and forget. When he eventually proposes, it leads not to a happy ending, but to the beginning of a long and convoluted series of misunderstandings.
I’m generally the first to protest a series of misunderstandings that apparently exist for no purpose but to keep two characters apart for a couple of hundred pages. Situations like that are contrived, and feel contrived. But Mrs. George Norman makes it work. I’m not saying it’s not frustrating at times — it’s frustrating most of the time. And some bits — like Eve’s cousin Clemmy Dale — are clearly there just to prolong the conflict. But Clemmy isn’t the situation; she’s the device that sets the situation in motion. The cleverest thing about The Silver Dress is the way Norman gets you to see that Eve and Julian are both acting in ways that make sense — that, being who they are, they can’t act in any other way. These are consistent characters. What we know about them dictates what they do. And the prolonged misunderstandings, as well as lengthening the book, allow us to know Eve and Julian very well by the end of it.
I love it when books are internally consistent.
Other things I like include: the symmetry of Aunt Caroline and Julian’s uncle Charles Wynne-Hughes. The occasional feeling that I was reading a Cosmo Hamilton novel (mostly when Clemmy Dale was present). Eve’s completely ridiculous first kiss.
And yet, except for an incident where Eve almost murders someone, everything after the first few sections is somewhat plodding. It’s a contemplative book, which is fine — unless the author leads her readers to believe a little bit more is going to happen, and I think Norman does.
Also, Graham Clavers was almost completely unnecessary.
Friedrich Engels once dismissed the Welsh, amongst others, as a ‘non-historic’ people, destined to be absorbed into the grander story of the English nation-state. Much of the subsequent history of Wales has proven him wrong, at least on that point, but carving out a distinct niche for the written history has always been a challenge.
Welsh historians have traditionally hovered between either going their own way (we’ve had a respectable journal—The Welsh History Review—for more than half a century, and a monograph series—Studies in Welsh History—for over thirty years) and running the risk of ghettoization, or trying to gain an audience for their work in British or European contexts and occasionally being patronized as ‘parochial’.
Historical biography has presented similar difficulties. To many Welsh scholars the original, Victorian edition of the Dictionary of National Biography reeked of the English establishment, and given that most were either socialists or Welsh nationalists (or both) this was not something to be welcomed.
The rival Bywgraffiadur Cymreig/Dictionary of Welsh Biography (first published in 1953) was a never fully satisfactory alternative—only once being brought up to date (from 1940 to 1970, in 2001). Its great strengths were its entries on male preachers and littérateurs. Women, trade unionists, even businessmen, were few and far between. Aneurin Bevan is alleged to have stated that ‘biography is fiction’ and, allegedly or not, many agreed with him.
More recently, however, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has been offering biographers manqués opportunities to refine their craft, and has aimed to broaden the remit of the old DNB, not least through embracing the explosion of interest in social and gender history.
The latest Oxford DNB update looks to Wales with the addition of new entries on 45 men and women who’ve shaped modern Welsh history, and who join more than 3200 others already in the dictionary with a close association with Wales. As an advisory editor for this update I was excited to help frame the selection of these 45 individuals and fascinated to discuss, with ODNB staff and my fellow adviser Professor Gareth Williams (no relation—there are a lot of us Williamses) who should (or should not) go in to the new edition. It was a horizon-expanding experience—I guess a good dozen of those who have been included were people I was but dimly aware of, if at all.
I wrote two entries myself, on the cartoonist J. M. Staniforth (1863-1921) and on the military hero, landowner, and politician Godfrey Charles Morgan, Viscount Tredegar (1831-1913). In the process I discovered a connection between the two—Staniforth had illustrated a volume on The Wit and Wisdom of Lord Tredegar (the Encyclopedia of Wales suggests, rather unfairly, that this proved Tredegar ‘was not over-endowed with either’).
But much of my role consisted of reading and reviewing the entries supplied by others. In doing that it became evident that the picture of Welsh society being prosopographically generated was much more varied than the conventional stereotypes of politicians, Nonconformists, and rugby heroes.
Politicians there are, of course, but the archetypal career trajectory of Ness Edwards (1897-1968: miner, trade union leader, Labour MP, and minister under Clement Attlee) can be counterbalanced
0 Comments on Wales and the Oxford DNB: writing the biography of a ‘non-historic’ nation as of 1/1/1900
There was fire and rain that year. The last big religious revival in Wales ran from the autumn of 1904 until the summer of 1905. On the 10th November, 1904, the Western Mail, a newspaper that circulated mainly in the south of Wales, reported:
One night so great was the enthusiasm invoked by the young revivalist that after a sermon lasting two hours the vast congregation remained praying and singing until half-past two o’clock next morning. Shopkeepers are closing earlier in order to get a place in the chapel, and tin and steel workers throng the place in their working clothes. The only theme of conversation among all classes and sects is “Evan Roberts.” Even the taprooms of the public-houses are given over to discussion on the origin of the powers possessed by him.
Evan Roberts was the ‘revivalist’ whose preaching triggered off intense religious reaction. In the pubs and factories mysterious powers are attributed to him.
By the end of the year, even the London papers were curious. The Times dispatches a reporter to find out what is going on. Attending one of the meetings he files an eye-witness account:
Presently a young man pushed his way through the crowd and, kneeling in the rostrum, began a fervent prayer of penitence and for pardon. Once again, in the midst of his prayer, the whole congregation break forth into a hymn, repeated with amazing fervour and vigour eight times.
The crowded meeting is silenced by a young’s man prayer. When he has finished, as a kind of collective endorsement, the congregation sings a hymn (which they must know by heart) again and again.
A man in the gallery raises his voice to speak. The people listen, and meanwhile Mr Roberts has resumed his seat and watches all with a steady and unimpassioned gaze. The man confesses his past – he has been a drunkard, he has been a Sabbath-breaker, he had known nothing of a Saviour, but now something has entered his heart and he feels this new power within him compelling him to speak. While he is speaking the people give vent to their feelings in a hymn of thanksgiving, repeated as before again and again. Thus the hours creep on.
The pattern is repeated as the man in the gallery confesses to drinking heavily and breaking the Sabbath. The confession demonstrates the weight of expectation placed on the male population: beer money is money taken from the family budget; Sunday should be occupied with rest and chapel-going.
It is long past midnight. Now here, now there, someone rises to make his confession and lays bare his record before the people or falls upon his knees where he is and in loud and fervent tones prays for forgiveness. (The Times, Jan 3rd, 1905)
This spontaneous form of Christianity results in church services with three characteristics: anyone can take part, anything can happen, and congregational singing expresses collective emotion. The professional clergy find themselves displaced. Even Mr Roberts simply watches for most of the time. The hidden springs of events well up in the troubled hearts of men who feel impelled to public penitence. And, once they have done this, they feel joyful relief. About 100,000 people made their confessions and their commitments to Christ in this way. Historically, the Welsh crime statistics show a fall in these months while, in the mines, industrial unrest was quelled.
When the Welsh revival had run its course the churches were, for a while, fuller. But there were also institutional and organizational consequences. This was most obvious in another religious revival that was linked with Wales and which broke out in the burgeoning city of Los Angeles the following year and ran till about 1
There certainly seems to be a theme running through my work at the moment. The drawing, above, was another that I really enjoyed doing. I love having so many different textures to tackle, and each of the dolls had a texture and character of it's own. I'm leaving them there, for now, though. I'm all dolled out.
10 Comments on say hello wave goodbye, last added: 10/22/2010
They're gorgeous Andrea and I really like the matrix effect.
I'm guessing that drawing small dolls might also be financially worthwhile??? I can think of some small girls who would love drawings like this - and their mums too!
Welcome to the Summer Reading Club & Book Blog Tour of Edith Pargeter's The Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet. We begin withSunrise in the West: Book One of The Brothers of Gwyneddby Edith Pargeter. Organized by Danielle at Sourcebooks, the Summer Reading Club & Blog Tour covers the novels Sunrise in the West, The Dragon at Noonday, The Hounds of Sunset, and Afterglow and Nightfall over a period of four months.
The opening lines: "My name is Samson. I tell what I know, what I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears. And if it should come to pass that I must tell it so certainly that I tell it as though I had been present. And I say now that there is no man living has a better right to be my lord's chronicler, for there is none ever knew him better than I, and God He knows there is none, man or woman, ever loved him better."
The blurb: Lleweln, prince of Gwynedd, dreams of a Wales united against the English. But first he must combat enemies nearer home. His brothers vie with him for power among themselves, and their infighting threatens the very soil of their fathers. David, brought up in the English court of King Henry III and torn between two loyalties, may be Llewelyn's most dangerous foe -- especially since Llewelyn has no sons. Simon de Monfort promises his daughter to Llewelyn, but the quest to give Wales an heir may not be enough to prevent tragedy for the country and its prince.
Acclaimed novelist Edith Pargeter spins an absorbing tale of tragedy, traitors, and triumph of the heart.
Review:
1 Comments on Book Blog Tour of Sunrise in the West: Book One of The Brothers of Gwynedd by Edith Pargeter, last added: 5/22/2010
I spent a lovely week in Wales with the wondrous @snazzydee, where we traipsed around, went swimming in the OCEAN, ate many tasty foods and drank many tasty wines. Here were the highlights, and my recommendations should you ever happen to find yourself in the Land of No Vowels But Very High Scrabble Scores.
1. Hay on Wye, the town with more bookshops than streets. Eat at The Old Black Lion (try the house ale) and stay at The Bear (make sure you have the bacon with breakfast).
Tenby: One of the absolute highlights of my UK trip. Tenby is a beautiful old walled seaside town. I know that Australians get pretty cocky about our beaches and it's true - our beaches are pretty awesome. But we generally don't have ruined castles on our beaches:
Here is were Snazzy and I went swimming in beautiful clear water that was SO COLD I THOUGHT I MIGHT DIE.
But my very favourite thing about Tenby is the CRAZY TIDES. Here is a photo of low tide, followed by a photo of the exact same place, two hours later.
I am bursting to set a novel there.
Eat at the Plantagenet. Amazing. Try the mussels.
Aberaeron: Lovely little Aberaeron is a fishing village in Southwest Wales. It also has crazy tides. Stay at the Harbour Master for both food and sleeping. Make sure you try the laver bread with your full cooked breakfast (confusingly not bread at all - it's a sort of seaweed and oat rissole that is much, much tastier than it sounds).
I cannot particularly recommend Brecon (sorry, Brecon), but about 10 minutes outside town (towards Hay) is the Felin Fach Griffin, a lovely old inn that has fabulous food, amazing wine lists and a dessert called a Chocolate Nemesis that might kill you, but it'll be worth it.
Other things that were strange and wonderful in Wales:
1. Snazzy's satnav took us on some very random roads, one of which had some spectacular views and a giant standing stone.
2. We did a hasty U-turn and backtracked in order to see this decrepit old playground.
3. This isn't actually in Wales, it's in Much Wenlock near Shrewsbury. Much Wenlock is the home of the modern Olympic Games (yep, it really is), because they used to hold the Much Wenlock Games (based on the Ancient Olympics). And some American came by one day and went "Golly, that's a good idea. What if we did this, but bigger?". It's a very cute town with a ruined abbey and streets with names like:
...which contain cute little stone houses with names like:
Hmm. Snazzy and I stared at this for about two minutes before we were convinced it was real.
If you happen to find yourself in Much Wenloch, stay and eat at The Raven.
Port Meirion, in North Wales, is one of my most favourite places ever. If you get the chance to visit then do so. I can't recommend it enough. It's such a surreal and unexpected place. Seeing it for the first time is just amazing. A bit like driving down into Tobermory and seeing the main street for the first time. But, hey, that's another drawing.
Port Meirion was the dream and vision of Clough Williams Ellis. A fabulously eccentric architect. If you should ever visit be sure to take the whole day there. Because, not only is there the spectacular village to see, but there's also the surrounding woodland, which is full of little surprises including follies and a Victorian pet cemetery.
Like Elvis, Marilyn, Lennon, John Peel and Bob Ross, Clough Williams Ellis is one of those people I'd love to have known. Apart from dreaming up this amazing place, and then making it a reality, his architectural drawings are just too stunning to be true. I have them on print, postcards, and even on a fridge magnet.
Now, this isn't my greatest drawing. I don't like it much at all, but it does make me smile. Amongst the postcards I've bought, at Port Meirion, there is one of the man himself. When I attempted to draw it, though, I thought 'it doesn't even look remotely like CWE'. Then I realised what had happened. I drew it whilst watching Curb Your Enthusiasm, and somehow I drew Larry David instead!
Haha. Now that makes me smile.
8 Comments on come up and see me, last added: 6/8/2009
I'm so glad you shared this picture - how funny that what you were watching affected your drawing! Right, that is now on the list of places to visit. We were going to go to The Isle of Mull for our honeymoon but it never happened :o( Looking forward to seeing your drawing of that street though! Is it my imagination or have you been drawing LOADS recently? It's great!
Oh Andrea-the Larry David part made me laugh. Curb Your Enthusiasm is a great show. And this is a great drawing. I will bookmark this location for future travel!
PaperTigers supports the cause of literacy for children all over the world. The story of Mary Jones, a poor young Welsh girl, whose desire to possess a Bible she could read for herself is a literacy story. Mary was born in 1784 to a family of weavers who lived at the foot of Cader Idris in Wales. Her parents were Methodists — Protestant Christians who believed strongly in Biblical teaching. However, like many around her, Mary was illiterate. It was only through the arrival of the Methodists with their schools that the opportunity was given to girls to learn to read. Once ten year old Mary could read, she wanted a Bible. Bibles, however, were rare, especially Welsh ones. It took six years of scrimping and saving for Mary to earn enough money to purchase one. Expense, however, was not the only obstacle. Bibles were available only in town — Bala, being the closest — twenty six miles away from Cader Idris. So Mary set out one fine day barefoot to Bala on a journey that would become legendary. Mary received her long sought after Bible from Rev. Thomas Charles. Charles was so inspired by Mary’s faith and fortitude that he decided to form the British and Foreign Bible Society, today known simply as the Bible Society, whose mandate it is to make Bibles readily accessible to all.
Mary’s story is told for children in the Bible Society-published Mary Jones: Over Hill and Dale as well as in the book Mary Jones and Her Bible by Mary Ropes. Mary’s walk continues to be commemorated by the Bible Society in the Mary Jones Walk that retraces the steps of Mary’s journey through the picturesque countryside of Wales. How a little girl’s desire to own the book she so deeply loved to read is a truly inspiring tale of devotion fitting for Easter.
0 Comments on Literacy and the Bible: The Story of Mary Jones as of 4/10/2009 3:25:00 AM
We are all familiar with the US version of the Valentine’s Celebration – but how do other cultures celebrate the Holiday?
In the UK a character called 'Jack' Valentine knocks on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children.
In Wales many people celebrate St Dwynwen's Day on 25 January instead of, or as well as, St Valentine's Day. The day commemorates St Dwynwen, the patron saint of Welsh lovers.
In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name says, this day is more about remembering your friends than your loved ones.
In Slovenia, a proverb says that "St Valentine brings the keys of roots," so on February 14, plants and flowers start to grow. Another proverb says "Valentin - prvi spomladin" ("Valentine — first saint of spring"), as in some places, Saint Valentine marks the beginning of spring.
To put a unique spin on Valentine’s Day try incorporating some of the other special traditions practiced by cultures around the world.
Leave a present for your child on the doorstep from Jack Valentine.
Spend time with your friends and encourage your children to do the same. Focus on fellowship more than the feelings of love.
Plant flowers, trees or bushes in celebration of the coming of Spring.
Valentine’s Day can be a fun and memorable day for children, families, parents and singles alike if we look at the Holiday through a different pair of eyes.
Lisa Smith has a BA in psychology, & is the Owner of Regionz Kidz http://www.regionzkidz.com a multi-cultural infant and toddler clothing line with ethnically diverse characters and designs. She publishes a blog on the Regionz Kidz website that features articles about cultural diversity and children & she is a guest blogger on several other websites and blogs relating to parenting and children’s issues. She is also a monthly contributor to Educated Mommy Magazine.
By the time you read this post I will be off on holiday for a few days of rest and relaxation. One of the books I’m intending to pick up during my time off is Sioned Davies’s translation of The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh medieval tales, which OUP published last year. With this in mind, I thought I would today bring you a short extract from Davies’s introduction to the text. Here, she talks about The Mabinogion in relation to the oral tradition of story-telling.
Emlyn’s Moon is the sequel to The Snow Spider which I haven’t read but that was no problem as Emlyn’s Moon is a stand alone story. It gives just enough background to let you know what was going on in The Snow Spider and then moves quickly into this magical and kind of dark story.
Young magician Gywn and his friend Nia have been warned to stay away from Emlyn Llewelyn, the strange boy who claims his mother lives on the moon.Nia’s curiousity gets the better of her and she wanders into his home and becomes enchanted by the fantastic paintings his father has done. Emlyn and Nia become fast friends and learn that a deep mystery and a mysterious magic have something to do with his mother who disappeared many years ago.
I loved this book!It’s not your typical fantasy, but rather a dark scary one set in modern day Wales. Magic runs in family lines and mystical and alien frost children come visiting the earth. There’s mystery, magic, art and nature in abundance.The book is also very realistic in the way the children interact and the emotions that they have. Nia is stressed out about moving into their new home and leaving the farm that she loves, she doesn’t understand the secrets of the grown ups and why she isn’t supposed to visit Emlyn and his father who she thinks are wonderful.There’s a lot going on in a short book and it begs re-reading. I think this is a book for anyone who loves children’s literature and highly recommend it. I can’t wait to read the first book in the series now!
0 Comments on Emlyn's Moon as of 3/14/2007 12:26:00 AM
2 Comments on The Silver Dress, last added: 7/17/2011.jpg?picon=572)
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...which contain cute little stone houses with names like:
Goodness... all that reading, writing, etc.
I thought you were on vacation. Good show, Cate.
Good on you, Cate. Nice to have you back. ;-)
Awesome pic, Cate! Glad you had a nice break!
I think we all know that reading and writing are essential ingredients for ensuring a holiday is fun, Aaron :D
Good to be back, Simon. I missed the internet so much.
Thanks, Lee.
Wowza! That sounds like a relaxing, exciting, *and* productive holiday. Glad you had a good time. :-)
It was. Although, now I need another holiday :D
It sounds like you had a wonderful time! I've never been to Wales. I didn't know it got sunny there. I always picture it as misty all the time.
Good to have you back, Cate.
Usually it rains, Kate.
I believe you went somewhere slightly more exotic, Deborah.
Gosh, it sounds like a super-productive AND super-gorgeous vacation. I would SO love to visit Wales, it's very high on my list. And the list is long, oh yeah.
So much reading... I need a vacation. A READING VACATION.