NEWS
Jayne Joso's Soothing Music for Stray Cats
was shortlisted as one of six finalists for The People's Book Prize. The People's Book Prize is a new competition voted by ordinary readers online, from a selection of titles published by independent publishers. Patrons include Beryl Bainbridge and Paul Blezard. Congratulations, Jayne!
Tony Bianchi's Bumping
has been selected for June's fiction choice in the People's Book Prize. Voting is during June and July: please show your support! Vote hereTony Bianchi was in conversation about his first novel in English, Bumping, with Alcemi editor Gwen Davies at the Hay Festival Culture Cymru stand on Saturday 29 May. Tony talked about how Bumping's apparently most fantastical scenes, such as those on ladybird mining, are in fact totally grounded in reality. He spoke about why, although it is his home patch, Tyneside's role in his work is as a source of themes on displacement and globalisation. Turning to discussion on writing in a language other than your mother tongue, Tony explained that for him a learnt language can provide a creative mask which makes that crucial first leap into a persona other than yourself. Finishing the discussion by talking about translation, Tony explained that it can be harder in English to record dialect in a readable way, while in Welsh the border between formal and informal registers is much more porous. Tony is currently working concurrently on several writing projects including adapting his prize-winning Welsh novel Pryfeta into Welsh (Seren: Bugging), writing Welsh short stories set on Tyneside (Gomer: 2010) and a new English novel about an eighty year-old football referee.
Gwen and Tony worked together in the Literature Department of the Arts Council of Wales in the early Nineties, and both are literary translators from Welsh to English.
Faith, Hope and Love by Llwyd Owen was published on 13 May 2010 at a launch party at Gwdihw Bar Guildford Crescent, Cardiff. With a happy, warm audience full of young men, a reading by Llwyd with a FANTASTIC Cardiff accent, free badges, free beer, lots of books sold and two beautiful songs by Gareth Bonello of The Gentle Good, it was a perfect night. The Gentle Good is performing at Glastonbury and The Green Man among other summer festivals. Diolch i Llwyd a'i deulu a phob lwc pan ddaw'r babi newydd!
Twenty Thousand Saints by Fflur Dafydd has been selected as one of six English titles for Wrexham Reading Communities library readers promotion Vote for Twenty Thousand Saints here. Her new Welsh-language novel Y Llyfrgell is also on the Welsh shortlist if you want to support her "all the way"!
Jeb Loy Nichols Nominee in Rhys Davies Short Story Competition
Alcemi author Jeb Loy Nichols is a nominee in the 2010 short story competition run by Academi. The winner was announced at a ceremony in February: it was Sian Preece of Cardiff for a story about a graffiti artist. The winning story and two others were broadcast in March on Radio Wales, while the stories of all ten winners, including Jeb's will be published in an anthology.
Archive News
Penny Simpson in Best European Fiction anthology
Fflur Dafydd Scoops Top Welsh Fiction Prize, Aug 09
Fflur Dafydd Selected for Prestigious Iowa Residency, Sept 09
Fflur Dafydd Oxfam Hay Emerging Writer of the Year, May 09
Alan Bilton at Edinburgh, August 09
Gee Williams shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year, June 09
Essential Writers Interview with Editor Gwen Davies
Back to Homepage