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Tag: Gwrando

Dwi Ar Gau – Lleucu Non

Official music video for ‘Dwi Ar Gau’ (I’m closed off). Combination of animation and film by Lleucu Non, including footage from Sion Roberts personal archive.


Funded by Lŵp x PYST Music Video Grant

Booktober: The Journey – Maggie Ogunbanwo

Want to read more but don’t know where to start? Join the Booktober Challenge!

The challenge is to read one Quick Reads book a week during October.

This special series of short books by well-known authors offers the perfect way to delve into a book. Priced at £1, and at around 100 pages each, the books are perfect for a train trip to work, a lunchtime read or ten minutes with a cuppa. New titles are published each year to add to the series.

Maggie Ogunbanwo’s journey has taken her from Lagos in Nigeria to Penygroes in north Wales., with family and food inspiring her at each step of the way. Here Maggie shares her story of raising a family in the UK, building successful businesses, learning the Welsh language, and publishing award-winning cookbooks, accompanied by favourite recipes to give you a flavour of her experiences. 

Pennod 50 – Bardd Mewn Dau Fyd:Richard Hughes, Cefnllanfair

A Poet in Two Worlds: Richard Hughes of Cefnllanfair

As we record our 50th episode, we celebrate the milestone by discussing one of the most interesting poets of the early modern period, Richard Hughes of Cefnllanfair in Llŷn.

We note that he was one of several Welsh poets who spent a great deal of time in London in the age of Elizabeth I. Richard Hughes was a footman who served the queen herself, but in addition to spending time in the court in London he also visited his old home frequently, as his poetry demonstrates.

Indeed, his work is wonderfully varied, including poetry in both free and strict metres and, as far as themes are concenred, including: courtly love poetry and poems which treat sex in an extremely bawdy manner; poems about life in London and ones about Pen Llŷn (including a lively englyn to the Bardsey Island boat); poems which pay tribute to individuals and ones which satirize other people. And, yes, discussing the poetry of Richard Hughes enabled Richard Wyn Jones to learn an old Welsh word for toilet – cachdy (shit-house)!

Her yr Hydref: Deffro’r Ddraig – Rygbi Cymru 1995 – 2024 gan Seimon Williams

Mae Her yr Hydref yn eich annog i ddarllen un llyfr o gyfres Stori Sydyn bob wythnos yn ystod mis Hydref.

Mae’r gyfres arbennig hon o lyfrau gan awduron poblogaidd yn cynnig cyfle gwych i bori mewn llyfr. Gyda’r llyfrau yn ddim ond £1 yr un, ac yn rhyw 100 o dudalennau o hyd, maen nhw’n berffaith ar gyfer taith trên i’r gwaith, darllen dros amser cinio neu ddeg munud gyda phaned.

Llyfr am rygbi Cymru yn yr oes broffesiynol yw Deffro’r Ddraig gan Seimon Williams.

Mae’r gyfrol yn edrych ar y gemau mawr, y prif gymeriadau a rhai o’r prif straeon sydd wedi lliwio’r gamp ers i’r gem droi’n broffesiynol bron dri deg mlynedd yn ôl. Daw’r stori i ben drwy edrych ar y garfan ifanc a thaith yr haf i Awstralia yn 2024.

Darllenwch y bennod gyntaf AM DDIM yma!

Ar gael o’ch siop lyfrau leol nawr.

Booktober: Piebald by Nicola Davies

Want to read more but don’t know where to start? Join the Booktober Challenge!

The challenge is to read one Quick Reads book a week during October.

This special series of short books by well-known authors offers the perfect way to delve into a book. Priced at £1, and at around 100 pages each, the books are perfect for a train trip to work, a lunchtime read or ten minutes with a cuppa. New titles are published each year to add to the series.

Piebald, is a crime fiction thriller by Nicola Davies

Moxie has a lot on her plate, caring for her little brother, Ryan, and sick mother, all in a town which the world has more or less abandoned. But life seems to take a turn for the better when a horse called Piebald and Dylan, Moxie’s long-lost dad, turn up out of the blue. But Dylan brings trouble to Moxie’s door in the shape of drug lord Sunny Spells; Moxie must get out of town to keep Ryan safe, and Piebald turns out to be more help than Moxie could ever have imagined.

Read the first chapter here:

Available now from your local bookshop.

Chwarae’r Chwedlau: Cabaret

Chwarae’r Chwedlau: Cabaret returns for one last edition in 2024! 

If you missed the National Eisteddfod this year, don’t worry; we’re bringing some of the wonderful acts from their queer programme, Mas ar y Maes, to The Queer Emporium!

Line-up includes Caitlin McKee, Tom Kemp, Betsan and Welsh Ballroom Community!

Please buy tickets whenever you can because the support helps, selling queer Welsh nights are difficult and it helps reduce our anxiety!

Beach of Dreams

TAPE is currently part of an exciting project called Beach of Dreams; we are part of a network of organisations, artists, and communities in a shared mission to explore and respond to the pressing climate challenges facing the UK’s coastal regions. 

We have been working with Jason Singh, an artist, nature beatboxer, producer, DJ, curator, facilitator and performer. He has worked with the likes of the BBC, Tate Britain, and the National Trust to name a few! 

TAPE Sound will work alongside Jason to capture sound from various sources in Colwyn Bay and the surrounding areas to be part of an immersive sonic experience. He will also be looking to capture stories and perspectives from the local community. 

TAPE is proud to be part of this coastal celebration alongside commissioned artists and local communities across the UK!

Join Booktober!

• Want to read more but don’t know where to start?
• Can’t find the time to read?
• Fancy an autumn challenge?

Pennod 49 – Cariad, Protest ac Ideoleg Mesur: Y Canu Rhydd

Episode 49

Love, Protest and the Ideology of Meter: the Free-Meter Poetry
We begin in this episode by considering something many of us in Wales take for granted, namely the difference between Welsh-language strict-meter poetry and free-meter poetry.

We suggested that there are social and ideological dimensions to this fundamental metrical difference. We concentrate on free-meter poetry composed during the sixteenth century and early in the following century and discussing the two kinds of free-meter verse provides an opportunity to consider big questions concerning the relationship (and difference) between the old and the new and the ‘native’ and the ‘foreign’. We note that female voices appear in this new body of poetry and we look at a poem which protests passionately against the deforestation of the valleys of South Wales (and which puts the blame on ‘the English’ for this ecological destruction).

NEWS: Welsh acts Y Dail and Ynys joint winners of the Neutron Prize

The Neutron Prize, God Is In The TV Zine‘s alternative to the Mercury Prize, has announced this year’s winner. Welsh- English bilingual bands Y Dail and Ynys were chosen, the first time the Neutron has been awarded to two artists. To mark the Neutron Prize, on Thursday 26 September God Is In The TV will […]

Pennod Arbennig: Ysgrifennu am ryfel yn Gymraeg . . . yn America!

Special Episode: Writing about war in Welsh . . . in America!

This is an episode which was recorded before a live audience in Storyville Books, Pontypridd during the 2024 National Eisteddfod.

As he had just finished reading it, Richard Wyn Jones wanted to discuss his co-presenter’s latest book, Dros Gyfiawnder a Rhyddid [‘For Justice and Freedom’]. It’s a volume which relates the history of a particular Welsh community during the American Civil War, concentrating in narrative fashion on the men in the army while also considering their relationship with their home community in Wisconsin.

This story is told through the original Welsh words of these Welsh Americans, and according to Richard Wyn Jones, ‘it’s amazing’ that it’s possible to present so much of this exiting history in this manner. As a number of the story’s main characters were born in the United States and raised speaking Welsh as their first language, it’s also an interesting chapter in the social history of the Old Language. And as Richard Wyn Jones notes, the way in which they write about war in Welsh connects this material to a great deal of medieval Welsh literature which was discussed in the first series of this podcast.

Buy ‘Dros Gyfiawnder a Rhyddid HERE

Porter’s Presents: Amplify LOR & TÂN CERDD and guests

Friday 11th October

Porter’s Presents: Amplifying MOBO Wales, partnering with TÂN CERDD CIC Celebrating Black History Month at Porter’s Cardiff

18+

FREE ENTRY

8:00pm – 11:30pm

Stellar performances from some of Cardiff’s finest: Niques, Aisha Kigs, Valleyboy Zero, Lily Webbe, Lucas J Rowe, Ruth Vibes, Samantha & DJ Precious

CHILDREN OF ZEUS + LEMFRECK + MERCY ROSE + DJ JAFFA & HOSTED BY DREGZ

Sunday, 20th October at The Globe, Albany Rd, Cardiff! Join us for a vibrant Black History Month UK Celebration with stellar live performances from Children of Zeus, Lemfreck, Mercy Rose, DJ Jaffa & MC Dregz. It’s set to be an unforgettable night of music and culture.

Immerse yourself in the rich pulse of Black Music & Culture—Feel the Unity, Feel the Vibe!!!

Supported by Cardiff Music City, Visit Wales and Cardiff Council. Don’t miss out—join us for an unforgettable Experience!!!

Get your tickets here!

Pennod 48 – Coblyn o Ddadl: Ymryson Edmwnd Prys a Wiliam Cynwal

One Heck of an Argument: The Bardic Debate between Edmwnd Prys and Wiliam Cynwal

The ymryson held between Edmwnd Prys and Wiliam Cynwal in the 1580s is the longest bardic debate in the entire history of the Welsh language. It contains 53 poems in the strict-metre cywydd form and more than 4,000 lines, and it was only the death of the old bard Wiliam Cynwl which brought the contention to an end. We discuss this amazing ymryson in this episode, explaining its origin before examining the essence of the argument.

Edmwnd Prys received his education in Cambridge while Wiliam Cynwal was a traditional bard who graduated in an eisteddfod, and we see that two kind of learning are contending, one new and the other old. It’s possible to see this as a struggle over the future of Welsh poetry. Yet despite the esoteric subjects and cultural themes woven through these debate poems, the two also engage in personal insults at times, with Edmwnd Prys calling Wiliam Cynwal old and the bard suggesting that Prys is fat.

Sŵn 2024

Sŵn Festival is an award-winning, multi-venue, contemporary music festival, which has been a cornerstone of Cardiff’s cultural landscape since 2007. With an unwavering commitment to showcasing new music and emerging talent, our festival programme celebrates a diverse array of artists, ranging from homegrown to international acts.

For three unforgettable days each year, we take over some of our favourite venues and spaces across Cardiff’s city centre. Transforming the city into a bustling hub for both music-makers and music fanatics, where you have the opportunity to explore the wonderful city of Cardiff, its independent music venues, and discover remarkable new music.



This year, Sŵn festival will take place Thursday, October 17th – Saturday, October 19th.

This years venues include; This years venues include; Clwb Ifor Bach, Tramshed, Jacobs Antiques Market, Tiny Rebel, The Moon, Fuel, Mad Dog Brewery, and Cornerstone.

This year Sŵn is proudly part of Cardiff Music City Festival. Supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council. More information can be found at cardiffmusiccityfestival.wales. 

Tickets

Cynrychioli Cymru | Representing Wales 2025-26

Apply now for the fifth round of Representing Wales!

Representing Wales is a 12-month programme which provides development opportunities for writers currently underrepresented in the literature sector in Wales. Individuals from under-represented backgrounds who wish to develop their creative writing skills and their professional careers as writers are invited to apply. The programme will run from April 2025 to March 2026.

Over the course of the year, Literature Wales will support a cohort of 14 writers by offering the following:

  • A bursary of £3,000

  • A travel and ticket fund
  • An intense training programme on craft and on professional career development featuring world-renowned writers as tutors and guest speakers including online writing rooms and writing masterclasses, one of which will be a residential weekend at Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre
  • A personal mentor
  • Regular opportunities for the cohort to share creative work and feedback
  • Networking opportunities throughout the year, online and in person
  • Dedicated support from Literature Wales including advice, signposting and identifying opportunities
  • A bespoke aftercare programme

Closing Date: 12.00pm midday, Thursday 10 October 2024.


Informal Drop-in Sessions


Literature Wales staff will be available to answer your questions during two informal drop-in sessions between 6.00 pm -7.00 pm on Thursday 29 August and Tuesday 10 September 2024. Click on the dates highlighted to book your free ticket through Eventbrite.

PSYLENCE 2024

Weekend of events to celebrate our friend and colleague – Emyr Glyn Williams (Emyr Ankst)

4-6/10/24

Pontio presents a weekend of special events this October to celebrate and remember our friend and colleague, Emyr Glyn Williams (Emyr Ankst).

Psylence was one of the most exciting events Emyr organised here at Pontio with bands such as Datblygu, Adwaith and R. Seiliog setting live scores to various films such as Andy Warhol’s Kiss, Maya Deren’s short films, Dovzhenko’s Earth and much more.

Emyr’s saying was ‘build it, and they will come’ – so, we are building on the most innovative, exciting and bold events Emyr curated, with a full weekend of events; Psylence 2024 is the biggest yet.

All proceeds will go to charities Cancer Research UK as chosen by Emyr’s family.

More events and artists to be announced!

More information and tickets

Pennod 47 – ‘Swydd y Beirdd sydd heb Urddas’: Beirdd, Dyneiddwyr a Karl Marx

The Job of the Bards is without Dignity’: Bards, Humanists and Karl Marx

This episode concentrates on the factors which were undermining the Welsh bardic order during the second half of the sixteenth century. We discuss three challenges specifically, beginning with the fact that the pool of patronage was shrinking and making it more difficult for a bard to earn a living by composing praise poetry.

We also consider the challenge posed by the ideas and attitudes of the humanists and the struggle between two kinds of learning in the period.

Finally, we note the way in which the new technology of the printing press was presenting a different kind of challenge.

You’ll hear an anecdote about an uchelwr who showed his contempt for a praise poet in a memorable manner and there is ample opportunity to explore a Marxist analysis of these changes in the course of our literature’s history.

Beacons Cymru Basecamp

Check out this amazing short film produced by a talented team of young people supported by TAPE facilitator Niall Jones. 

The film documents the recent Beacons Cymru Basecamp event held at TAPE, which was part of Creu Conwy’s Winter Sounds project. 

The event featured workshops, panels, and performances for young people interested in the music industry. It was an inspiring day, and we’re thrilled to share it with you. 

Gareth Churchill

Our Artist of the Month for August is Gareth Churchill!

Gareth Churchill is a composer, collaborative artist, music teacher, and now clarion player. He is music teacher for Cardiff University Lifelong Learning, and has been a member of Paraorchestra since 2018.

He originally trained as an oboist, and was fortunate to play at a professional level, before a stroke left him with cognitive, sensory and physical impairments aged 20. This redirected his path towards composition.

As a composer, the sound of his music is deeply rooted in his personal, lived experience of the mechanical interacting with the organic, and, often with an autobiographical facet, his work frequently aspires to give musical voice and artistic expression to the lived experiences of others.

Image credit: Matthew Thistlewood

Pennod 46 – Llenyddiaeth Gymraeg yr Eidal a Gwasg Anghyfreithlon yng Nghymru

Italy’s Welsh-language Literature and an Illegal Printing Press in Wales

As we’ve been looking recently at the relationship between humanism, Protestantism and the Welsh language, here’s an opportunity to look at the other side of the Reformation’s coin.

In this episode we discuss some of the Welsh-language Catholic literature of the sixteenth century, concentrating on two extraordinary friends, Morris Clynnog and Gruffudd Robert. These two men from north-west Wales had to flee to the continent because of there religion when the Protestant queen Elizabeth I came to the throne.

Publishing Welsh books in Milan, fighting between the Welsh and the English in Rome’s English College, producing a Welsh-language Catholic book on an illegal printing press in a cave in Wales – these Welsh exiles were connected with some of the most amazing chapters in the history of the Welsh language.

Ailddyfeisio’r Prif Gymeriad | Reinventing the Protagonist

Literature Wales, in partnership with Disability Arts Cymru, is once more delighted to invite Deaf and/or Disabled and/or Neurodiverse writers based in Wales to apply for a space on our Reinventing the Protagonist virtual creative writing course for winter 2024 – spring 2025.

Deadline to apply: 12.00pm, Thursday 29 August

Course dates: 6, 13, 20, 27 November 2024, with one-to-one tutorials and final sharing session taking place in January and February 2025 . A mutually convenient time will be decided upon with the selected writers, closer to the course dates.

Informal drop-in sessions: Wednesday 24 July 1.00pm-2.00pm, Tuesday 6 August, 1.00pm-2.00pm.

Bert Ussher + Ophelia’s Beard + Louis O’Hara

Friday 26 July 2024

Tickets

Bert Ussher is the alias of Bristol-based musician Robert Pearson. Bert and his band, composed of Tom Gould and Marcus Jeffrey, channel a 1970s-tinged sound taking influence from the likes of Air and Neil Young. Bert was notably featured on last year’s Katy J Pearson & Friends EP of covers from cult classic folk-horror film The Wicker Man. Bert Ussher’s own debut EP, recorded at the Louisiana with Alfie Tyson Brown, comes out on show day and we can’t wait to celebrate its release at CWRW!

Support comes from Ophelia’s Beard, making their first visit to CWRW following a string of well-received dates in South Wales. Ophelia’s Beard are an original four-piece folk-rock band, fronted with powerhouse vocals and with fringes back, left and centre. Their music has been regarded ‘a multi-genre soundtrack’, swaying audiences through medieval, country, pop and indie sounds and illustrative storytelling narratives.

Also in support will be Louis O’Hara, following hotly on the heels of his full-band CWRW gig with His Burley Chassis. This solo set will see Louis performing a stripped-down set that promises to be more experimental and equally enthralling.

Lande Hekt + Private Party + Spwci + Morgan Thomas

Friday 09 August 2024

Tickets

We can’t wait to welcome Lande Hekt for her first CWRWbar performance, the day before her At the Edge of the Sea festival appearance! Support comes from Private Party and Morgan Thomas and we are now delighted to adding SPWCI to the line-up – come and see four brilliant bands and artists!

Lande’s music is born out of self-reflection, social and political awareness, and her capacity for evocative storytelling. Having explored this personal song-writing approach with her former band, Muncie Girls, with their punchy yet tender punk-flecked songs, Lande released her debut solo record Going To Hell in 2021, soon followed by House Without a View and last year’s singles ‘Pottery Class’ and ‘Axis’. Lande’s songwriting presents its raw honesty amongst understatedly luminous melodies and candid, unpretentious lyrics which contemplate queer identity, life and childhood experience and musings on her life.

The music sits beautifully alongside such essential artists as The Wedding Present, The Sundays, The Replacements, Sleeper and Sharon Van Etten. She has toured in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia supporting the likes of Alvvays, Laura Jane Grace, The Beths and the legend that is Tricky. She has also played at Glastonbury festival, as well as events for The Big Issue and the Labour Party.

Making their debut in late 2021, Private Party quickly made their presence known around Wales. Since releasing their dreamy hook-filled debut EP Artificial Feelings they’ve played Focus Wales in 2023 and released three singles, ‘Could’ve Asked Sooner’, ‘Disconnected’ and ‘bahama mama’. This summer, Private Party played In It Together festival and their debut album Borderless is out now on all platforms.

Joining the brilliant line-up, SPWCI are a four-piece band from Wales. Their music blends the raw spirit of 90s grunge with the mind-bending kaleidoscopic vibes of 60s/70s psychedelia. We can’t wait to welcome them back to the CWRW stage.

Returning to CWRW, Welsh-born and German-raised musician Morgan Thomas has one foot in folk and another striding forward into progressive rock. With catchy melodies, swaying guitars and emotive vocals, Morgan’s passionate and individual sound is a vehicle for his personal, soul to the earth songwriting.

Bible Club x Hypothetics + Katalogen (free)

Saturday 24 August 2024

Tickets 


 We can’t wait to welcome two of Bristol’s hottest new bands, Bible Club and Hypothetics, for a double-headline gig at CWRW, supported by new local indie poppers Katalogen. Free advance tickets are available now via the link above!

After touring in support of their debut EP, Bible Club have honed their engrossing live sound. ‘AD’ captures the band’s new direction, which Bible Club have been developing with a focus on writing new material. With a captivating live set that dynamically shifts from punchy tracks to post rock soundscapes, Bible Club’s permeating sound is a refreshing and unique experience.

Constantly refining, Hypothetics are an innovative psych-punk four-piece known for their hardened sound, filtered through hazy folk melodies and tortured electronics. Motivated by an intense pride in their music, they aren’t afraid to rewire themselves creatively to show the audience something new. Their reputation for progressive releases and hard-hitting performances has landed Hypothetics shows across the UK with appearances at Forwards, 2000trees and Boardmasters. Their debut EP ‘Gets Let Down!’ received extensive attention from BBC Radio 1 as well as Spotify’s editorial playlists, including ‘Hot New Bands’, ‘Post Punk’ and ‘Melomania’, and they were included in CLUNK Magazine’s ‘Ones to Watch 2024’ alongside the likes of Opus Kink and Fat Dog.