Old stories

Famous Welsh Tales

Famous Welsh Tales is a brand new book of five Welsh folk tales published by Y Lolfa this week. It is aimed at children aged 7-9 who are independent readers. Wales has always been immensely proud of its cultural heritage and these stories depict some of the country's best-loved folk heroes, such as Dic Penderyn's brave stand during the Merthyr Riots of the 1830s and includes one of the best-known tales of Wales – the drowning of the kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod in Cardigan Bay.

The author, Meinir Wyn Edwards, has 18 years' experience as a primary school teacher, but decided to give up education and turn to the publishing world. Having written books for children in her spare time, she now works as a Book Editor at Y Lolfa. She said,
“The objective was to create a colourful, handy-sized book, to appeal to a wide audience – anyone who is fascinated by the rich diversity that Welsh folk tales have to offer. I used to enjoy reading and discussing books and stories within the classroom, and I think it's very important that we bring these Welsh folk tales to a new generation of pupils. I have tried to appeal to children from all over Wales with stories set in Merthyr, Merionethshire, Ceredigion and Gwynedd, to boys and girls, and I hope that I've been successful by giving a different and fresh slant to each tale.”

The illustrator is Gini Wade. The 124-page volume contains full-colour, detailed illustrations that add to the atmosphere and enjoyment of the text.

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The Death of Justice

Michael O' Brien's new autobiography will be released on the 1st of September. It is a modern day tale of David and Goliath; of one man's quest to clear his name taking his fight to the highest courts in the land and creating legal history.

In his own words Michael O'Brien tells his moving story of how he was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit – the Cardiff Newsagent Murder during the 1980s. The book reveals the trauma and heartache he suffered whilst in prison and how he learnt to cope. During the eleven years he not only the lost his freedom and youth but also members of his family including the tragic death of his daughter and step-father.

Death of Justice uncovers the shocking story of how police incompetence and scapegoating result in three innocent men being convicted and the catalogue of mistreatment during their time in prison. It is also details how Michael O'Brien taught himself law and successfully took two Home Secretaries Michael Howard and Jack Straw to court, how he won his appeal and eventual release and the largest payout in legal history.

Michael O'Brien lives in Cardiff with his partner and family and continues to support people who face similar legal battles.

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New South Welsh

Ethne Jeffrey's book Welsh Australians may surprise readers by revealing the amount of influence that the Welsh have had on Australia. Since the beginning of white settlement two centuries ago, Welsh emigrants have played an integral role in the country's social, political and artistic development.

Despite their impact, author Ethne Jeffreys states that, “Little has been published about the contribution of Welsh people to Australian society. Now we are given a glimpse of some of them, from Francis Wilkinson on Captain James Cook's voyage of discovery, to Billy Hughes, the world's first Welsh-speaking prime minister. Today, Welsh descendents such as Rolf Harris and Kylie Minogue are household names.”

This well-researched and entertaining book includes short biographical sketches of some of the most influential of these intrepid Welshmen and women and their descendents. For example, there is the story of David Jones' department stores which are a favourite in Australia, but not so well-known is the fact that the founder of this billion-dollar retail empire was born to illiterate parents in a hamlet 12,000 miles away. Others, though they have not found fortune or fame, have contributed in an individual way to the development of the continent, such as Joseph Jenkins, the Welsh swagman, or Rachael Ann Webb. The author “hopes that these sketches will motivate readers to search out the stories of Welsh Australians for themselves.”

The book is a personal tribute by Ethne Jeffreys, who lived Down Under for nearly thirty years and visited every State. She was born and bred in Dunvant, Swansea, migrated to Australia in 1951 under the '£10 Pom scheme' and later qualified as a teacher of English and commercial subjects. The author dedicates the book both to Wales and to Australia, her “finishing school.”

Welsh Australians is available for £5.95 in bookshops throughout Wales and on Y Lolfa's website.

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How to Fit 80 Welsh Castles in Your Pocket?

Prolific historian Gerald Morgan's latest work, Castles In Wales, will be gratefully received by tourists, amateur historians and castle enthusiasts alike. Rather than producing yet another coffee-table-sized tome or in-depth academic study, Morgan has written a practical, pocket-sized, comprehensive guide designed to make sense of the bewildering array of castles Wales has on offer – from the impregnable edifices of the Welsh princes situated high on craggy hilltops to Edward I's 'iron ring' of magnificent fortresses designed to intimidate the rebels of Gwynedd.
The author has placed a strong emphasis on the guide's practicality: “My wish is to enthuse potential visitors, so I have spent more time on access than is usual, having visited every castle. I particularly hope to interest people in the lesser-known castles well worth seeing, many of which are open to the public without charge.”
Castles In Wales has a wide-ranging introduction, setting the castles in their historical, cultural, political and military context. The main guide comprises nearly 80 entries on medieval castles, including notes on access, grid references, history and the buildings themselves. Two appendices comprise a list of over 400 medieval castles and a shorter list of “possible, post-medieval and lost castles” in Wales. The book is fully illustrated with over 100 black and white photographs.

PDF of Castles in Wales

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The People’s Story – Welsh History through the eyes of the Workers

My People's Pilgrimage is the fascinating record of a Welsh family, traced from the 19th century to the present day. The story is a microcosm of the dramatic transformation of society which occurred throughout Wales, as seen through the eyes of Diana Williams and her ancestors. The family experienced both the rural poverty and hardships of the pre-industrial agricultural labourer, and the harsh conditions of the iron and coal industries, in their struggle to survive.

The author gives a revealing account of Welsh social history, progressing from a life of few possessions and material comforts, to a time when life is unimaginable without cars, televisions, computers, mobile phones, fridges and freezers, washing-machines, central heating, instant hot water and flush toilets.

However, Williams contends that our present-day consumer society often leads to restlessness and does not bring lasting happiness. We live in an increasingly secularised society but there is a great yearning for spirituality. She believes we should learn from our ancestors by recognising and respecting their struggles, values and principles – and salvage some of their strengths, thus enriching our own lives.

My People's Pilgrimage is a personal account based on fact, memory, intuition and imagination. Here we see brave, extraordinary people – family members unimportant in the eyes of the world – but made larger than life through the author's revealing portraits.

Diana Gruffydd Williams was born in Aberdare in 1944 but brought up in Essex. She went to Trinity College, Carmarthen where she trained to be teacher. Several of her short stories have been published and two were broadcast on Radio 4's 'Morning Story'. She retired early from teaching because of ill-health but now works on a voluntary basis as a Counsellor and Spiritual Director.

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En Route to the Island of Twenty Thousand Saints

Enid Robert's book Bardsey Bound will be published by Y Lolfa on Saturday, 21 June, to coincide with a modern-day pilgrimage to the island, one of the Catholic Church's holiest destinations during the Middle Ages. The island, situated at the end of Wales's Llyn peninsula, was known to mediaeval people as Ynys y Saint – Island of the Saints – since it was believed twenty thousand saints had been buried there.

This Saturday, the Right Revd Anthony Crockett, Bishop of Bangor, will be leading the first pilgrimage to Bardsey in almost 20 years. It will start from Rhoshirwaun at 11.00, the pilgrims then walking to Aberdaron where a communion service will be held at 3.00. Some will then venture to Bardsey itself.

Bishop Anthony is a keen pilgrim, having previously walked the thousand miles from Le Puy in south-central France, to Santiago Compostela in north-western Spain. He says of the author, “I can think of no one more able to introduce this subject than Dr Enid. She is a scholar who has devoted her life to the study of the mediaeval Welsh poets… She also has the knack of wearing her scholarship lightly, so that we lesser mortals can gain access to their world.”

Bardsey Bound is the English translation of A'u bryd ar Ynys Enlli, originally published in 1993. It helps explain what could inspire a man or woman in the Middle Ages to leave behind the security of a familiar community, to face the dire peril which a pilgrimage to the island could entail. The author successfully interweaves history, religion, myth and legend into an engrossing and highly readable volume.

Enid Roberts was born in Llangadfan in the old Montgomeryshire. She was educated at Llangadfan Church School, Llanfair Caereinion County School and the University College of North Wales, Bangor. After five years in secondary schools, upon the invitation of Sir Ifor Williams, she returned to Bangor to join the Welsh department.

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“Shwmae Butt” Gets Its Own Dictionary Definition

This week, Monday 2 June, in the company of humourist David Jandrell, author of such bestselling local titles as Welsh Valleys Humour, a packed audience listened to homely examples of the Valleys dialect being elevated to dictionary definition. English terms familiar to us all, like “bopa”, “cwtch”, “butt”, “jiw!” and “come by 'ere” are included in a new book by Cardiff author Robert Lewis: Wenglish, The Dialect of the South Wales Valleys. Published by Y Lolfa in dictionary-format, this title combines the practical qualities of a reference book – alphabetical glossary, dialogue examples, grammar, exercises and all – with a general introduction to the social and geographical context of how we speak across the south Wales Valleys. And it's not just those familiar terms that are explored here. Alongside oddities like “icelider” for a “custard slice” are loans from Welsh like “dirân” for “past its best”, and geographically-isolated strange pronunciations such as “hool” for “whole”. Fans of writer Rachel Trezise's literary codifications of Valleys' underlife speech will also be happy to discover her coining of “gorrw”, “gerrin!” and “egsackly” have been approved by linguistic specialists.


Author Robert Lewis is an impressive linguist, fluent in a dozen languages and dialects, including Afrikaans, Breton and Urdu. He said,

“I was born and raised in the Swansea Valley and grew up hearing western forms of Wenglish and Gwenhwyseg, the south-eastern dialect of Welsh. Writing this book has let me combine my personal background with an academic interest in how people speak. Wenglish has a lot of playful touches that the audience certainly enjoyed at the launch, including a Wenglish version of Goldilocks!”

Robert studied Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge, where he became particularly interested in dialects. He worked most recently as Head of Research at Visit Wales.

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Gwynfor Booklaunch on the big stage in Hay

2006 Welsh Book of the Year winner Rhys Evans has just launched the English translation of his masterly biography of Gwynfor Evans at the Hay festival. The launch was chaired by newly appointed Director of Communications to Boris Johnson, Guto Harri. During the event at the Sky Movie stage Rhys was questioned on Gwynfor Evans and his vast contribution to Welsh politics.

Comparisons were made between the pressure Gordon Brown is presently under to what Gwynfor Evans suffered on numerous periods during his career. But Rhys Evans explained that Gwynfor just kept on going through thick and thin to become one of the main Welsh political figures of the 20th century. Rhys Evans said: “For Gwynfor to be preseident of a nationalist party for 36 is unsurpassed anywhere in Europe as far as I know, except maybe for Tito in the old Yugoslavia!”

Regarding his contribution, Rhys Evans said: “Wales and Wales's position within a devolved UK would be unrecognisable were it not for the labours of Gwynfor Evans over four decades. The central argument of this book is that Gwynfor Evans should be critically regarded as one of the three Welsh architects of post-war Wales. Whilst the lives of the other two key figures, Aneurin Bevan and Lloyd George, have been dispassionately chronicled, this is the first attempt to tell the complex and often tortured story of Gwynfor Evans."

Author Rhys Evans was born in Carmarthen and raised in Aberystwyth. He graduated at Hertford College, Oxford where he studied Modern History. He's been a journalist in Cardiff for more than a decade and is currently BBC Wales' Deputy Head of News and Current Affairs.

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Culture Clashes addressed by Welsh/English author

New author Jane Blank should be an expert on the clash of cultures. She was born and bred in England but has moved back to her family roots in Wales and learnt the Welsh language. She's also teaching at a Welsh language secondary school near the English border and has just published her first English novel, The Geometry of Love, which deals with clashes of culture in pre-9/11 Britain.

As well as dealing with the anxiety of being a Welsh outsider in Sheffield in the 1980s, The Geometry of Love also deals with the fascination the West has with eastern culture and the Muslim religion. The influence a Muslim friend has on two young girls in their quest for the good things in life is revealing and is based on some true experiences.

Jane Blank said: “When a child I was described as the 'English cousin' by some relatives, although both my parents were Welsh. My father couldn't speak Welsh, but my mother did, but she was advised by 'experts' not to speak Welsh to her daughter. But I was given a strong Welsh identity, and I then made a pledge as a child to learn Welsh. I also came across eastern culture during my time in Sheffield, and some of the events in the novel are based on a friend's experiences in that period.”

Jane is now a Fluent Welsh speaker, and makes sure her son's mother tongue will be Welsh. She also teaches English and drama at a Welsh language secondary School.

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Alcemi Brings Out Third Novel

Alcemi's third novel is a debut for Cardiff author Penny Simpson. Her novel The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum will be published on 22 May 2008. Only three months ago Penny was announced as the winner of the 2007 Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, pocketing a handy £1000 for one short story.

The Banquet of Esther Rosenbaum is set in 1920s Weimar Berlin and is a novel about exile, told by a Jewish chef who uses extraordinary recipes as a subversive form of storytelling. Poised on the eve of world war, it brings together the burlesque and the tragic, drawing on historical characters such as Greta Garbo and kabarett legend Klabund, in addition to the atmosphere and cultural innovations of 1920s Berlin. Esther Rosenbaum could give Nigella Lawson a run for her money: she is the creator of chocolate hearts stuffed with saffron pen nibs, jugged hares served in toy drums and an edible Cuckoo Clock, filled with marzipan birds that hide a terrible secret. All is served up at a very special banquet in an inflation-hungry city edging towards disaster. Reviewing the novel in the Jewish Chronicle this month, Amanda Hopkinson states of Esther, “Working for the most famous chefs and bakers of her days, she expresses both political and personal yearnings through her increasingly preposterous recipes, served to Jews and Gestapo alike in Schorn's Restaurant... Simpson vividly conveys how the optimistic creator of 'Kiss-of-Hope biscuits' hides, denies and finally regains her larger-than-life identity.”

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