Culhwch and Olwen by Catherine Fisher
Read an extract.
Creative Non-Fiction – Sarn Helen, Tom Bullough (Granta Publications)
Tom Bullough grew up on a hill farm in Radnorshire, Wales, and lives in Bannau Brycheiniog with his children. He is the author of four novels – A (Sort Of Books), The Claude Glass (Sort Of Books), Konstantin (Penguin Books Ltd), and Addlands (Granta). Sarn Helen is his first work of nonfiction. Tom is a climate activist and a freelance tutor in creative writing, and runs regular courses on climate.
Sarn Helen is illustrated by Jackie Morris.
Pennod 44 – Yr Hen a’r Newydd, Y Gwir a’r Gau: Rhagymadrodd Richard Davies
The Old and the New, The True and the False: Richard Davies’ Introduction
‘I am really floored by this’ is one of the things which Richard Wyn Jones says after hearing about Bishop Richard Davies’ amazing introduction to the Welsh New Testament published in 1567. Here is a lively literary piece which is incredibly interesting – and incredibly significant – in terms of Welsh identity in the period. It’s also a piece of Protestant propaganda which turns the truth inside out by portraying the Ancient Britons as some kind of proto-Protestants and claiming that the Protestant Reformation was returning their old faith to the Welsh rather than presenting them with a new one. But it also presents a kernel of truth of some kind while discussing the old wars between Wales and England, and it’s extraordinary to see Richard Davies discussing the English crown in such a negative manner, considering the fact that he was serving that crown as a bishop in the Church of England!
People’s Choice – In Orbit, Glyn Edwards (Seren)
Glyn Edwards is a PhD researcher in ecopoetry at Bangor University. His first poetry collection, Vertebrae, was published by the Lonely Press. He edits Modron, a journal for environmental writing, and the Wild Words feature for North Wales Wildlife Trust. He is a former winner and trustee of the Terry Hetherington Award for Welsh young writers, and works as a teacher in North Wales.
I Think We’re Alone Now, Abigail Parry (Bloodaxe Books)
Abigail Parry spent several years as a toymaker before completing a PhD on wordplay. She is currently a lecturer in creative writing at Cardiff University. Her poems have been set to music, translated into Spanish, Serbian and Japanese, and widely published in journals and anthologies. She has won several prizes and awards for her work, including the Ballymaloe Prize and an Eric Gregory Award. Her first collection, Jinx (Bloodaxe Books), was named a Book of the Year in The New Statesman, The Telegraph and Morning Star. I Think We’re Alone Now is also shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023.
Poetry – Cowboy, Kandace Siobhan Walker (CHEERIO Publishing)
Kandace Siobhan Walker, a writer and artist of Jamaican-Canadian, Saltwater Geechee and Welsh heritage, is also the author of Kaleido (Bad Betty Press). In 2021, she was the recipient of an Eric Gregory Award and the winner of The White Review Poet’s Prize. In 2019, she won the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize.
Seremoni Llyfr y Flwyddyn | Wales Book of Year Ceremony
The event will start streaming here from 7.10pm onwards.
The Wales Book of the Year Ceremony will be streaming live from Galeri, Caernarfon on AM! Join us on July 4th for a thrilling evening to celebrate the achievements of talented Welsh writers!
Comedian and presenter Tudur Owen will be presenting the evening as the winners of the Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Children and Young People categories will be revealed, as well announcing the winners of the People’s Choice award and the Overall Winner, claiming the title of Wales Book of the Year 2024.
Wales Book of the Year is our national literary awards which celebrate the achievements of Welsh writers who excel in diverse literary forms in both Welsh and English. There are twelve prizes in total, with a total of £14,000 of prizes awarded to the successful authors.
Llyfrau’r Haf | Summer Reads
Looking for new book to read this summer? Browse our new Summer Reads catalogue.
All books available now from your local bookshop.
QueerAF Partnership: Considering disabled accessibility is vital for rural LGBTQIA+ community members to take part
This article is part of a QueerAF and Inclusive Journalism Cymru partnership dedicated to uplifting Welsh LGBTQIA+ emerging and marginalised journalists.
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Brilliant Black British History, Atinuke (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Atinuke was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK when she was a child. Her first love was performing stories and she now pours her creative talents into writing children’s books. Many of her books, such as Africa, Amazing Africa (Walker), which won the 2020 School Library Association’s Information Book Award, are inspired by the beautiful continent of Africa.
Brilliant Black British History is illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi.
Children & Young People – Skrimsli, Nicola Davies (Firefly Press)
Nicola Davies writes children’s non fiction and fiction about the natural world and our relationship with it. Also a zoologist, Nicola was one of the original presenters of the BBC children’s wildlife programme The Really Wild Show. She has been shortlisted for the Branford Boase and the Blue Peter Book Awards. Nicola lives in West Wales.
Skrimsli is illustrated by Jackie Morris.
Where the River Takes Us, Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Lesley Parr is the author of three novels for children. Her debut, The Valley of Lost Secrets (Bloomsbury), was published in 2021 and was both a Waterstones Book of the Month and longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. It won the Tir na n-Og Award, the King’s School Chester Book Award and the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award, as well as being shortlisted for many others. Lesley’s grew up in South Wales and now lives in England with her husband. She shares her time between writing stories, teaching at a primary school and tutoring adults. Apart from books, rugby union is her favourite thing in the world, especially if Wales is winning.
Y Nendyrau, Seran Dolma (Gwasg y Bwthyn)
Mae Seran Dolma yn byw ym Mhenrhyndeudraeth gyda’i phartner a’u dau fab ac yn gweithio fel Curadur Profiadau ym Mhlas Brondanw, Llanfrothen. Yn ei bywyd blaenorol, bu’n gweithio ym maes yr amgylchedd, ac mae’r diddordeb hwn yn parhau yn ei gwaith ysgrifennu. Hon yw ei nofel gyntaf.
Plant a Phobl Ifanc – Jac a’r Angel, Daf James (Y Lolfa)
Mae Daf James yn un o ddramodwyr, sgriptwyr, cyfansoddwyr a pherfformwyr amlycaf Cymru. Yn ogystal â phortreadu’r cymeriad cerddorol ‘Sue’, Daf yw awdur y dramâu arloesol Llwyth a Tylwyth. Bydd ei gyfres ddrama Lost Boys & Fairies yn cael ei darlledu ar BBC1 yn 2024. Mae’n byw yng Nghaerdydd gyda’i ŵr a’u tri phlentyn. Jac a’r Angel yw ei nofel gyntaf.
Mae Jac a’r Angel yn cynnwys darluniau gan Bethan Mai.
Astronot yn yr Atig, Megan Angharad Hunter (Y Lolfa)
Mae Megan Angharad Hunter yn awdur a sgriptiwr o Benygroes, Dyffryn Nantlle ond mae bellach yn byw yng Nghaerdydd. Ers graddio yn 2022, mae hi wedi bod yn gweithio fel awdur a golygydd llyfrau plant. Cyhoeddwyd tu ôl i’r awyr (Y Lolfa) – ei nofel gyntaf yn 2020 – aeth ymlaen i ennill Prif Wobr Llyfr y Flwyddyn 2021, a chyhoeddwyd Cat (Y Lolfa) fel rhan o gyfres arobryn Y Pump yn 2021. Yn 2023 cafodd gyfle i gymryd rhan mewn gŵyl lenyddol yn India ac yn Ffair Lyfrau Llundain. Astronot yn yr Atig yw ei nofel gyntaf i blant.
Pennod 43 – Testament Newydd 1567
In this episode we begin focusing on a subject which is of the greatest importance to the history of the Old Language and its literature – publishing the Bible in Welsh.
We begin this time with the Welsh translation of the New Testament published in 1567, explaining that one needs to understand the political context as well as the religious context in order to understand this milestone development. Although some like to see the Welsh Bible as ‘compensation’ given by Elizabeth for that which her father, Henry VIII, did to the Welsh language with the ‘Acts of Union’, we argue the opposite and suggest that both developments stemmed from the same political desire to centralize power and ensure uniformity in the realm. It’s interesting to note that political and religious uniformity were important to Elizabeth, not linguistic uniformity.
We discuss the contribution of Bishop Richard Davies and raise a topic which will also get attention in the next episode – the pseudo-history which Saunders Lewis called ‘The Protestant Church’s propaganda’.
Y Goeden
Madws gan Sioned Wyn Roberts
Lansiad Camu: Sgwrs Iola a Mari
Birdsplaining: A Natural History, Jasmine Donahaye (New Welsh Rarebye)
Jasmine Donahaye’s work has appeared in the New York Times and The Guardian, and her documentary, ‘Statue No 1’, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her books include the memoir, Losing Israel (Seren), winner of the nonfiction category in the Wales Book of the Year award; a biography of author Lily Tobias, The Greatest Need (Honno), the basis for ‘O Ystalyfera i Israel’, broadcast by S4C; the cultural study Whose People? Wales, Israel, Palestine (University of Wales Press), and two collections of poetry: Misappropriations (Parthian Books) and Self-Portrait as Ruth (Parthian Books). She is a part-time professor of Creative Writing at Swansea University, and a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
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Overall Winner – Sarn Helen, Tom Bullough (Granta Publications)
Tom Bullough grew up on a hill farm in Radnorshire, Wales, and lives in Bannau Brycheiniog with his children. He is the author of four novels – A (Sort Of Books), The Claude Glass (Sort Of Books), Konstantin (Penguin Books Ltd), and Addlands (Granta). Sarn Helen is his first work of nonfiction. Tom is a climate activist and a freelance tutor in creative writing, and runs regular courses on climate.
Sarn Helen is illustrated by Jackie Morris.
Spring Rain, Marc Hamer (Harvill Secker)
Marc Hamer was born in the North of England and moved to Wales over thirty years ago. After spending a period homeless, then working on the railway, he returned to education and studied fine art in Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent. He has worked in art galleries, marketing, graphic design and taught creative writing in a prison before becoming a gardener. Both his books, A Life in Nature; or How to Catch a Mole (Vintage) and Seed to Dust (Harvill Secker) have been longlisted for the Wainwright Prize.
Prif Enillydd – Sut i ddofi Corryn, Mari George (Sebra)
Bardd, awdur a chyfieithydd sy’n byw ym Mhen-y-bont ar Ogwr yw Mari George. Mae hi wedi cyhoeddi dwy gyfrol o gerddi – Y Nos yn Dal yn fy Ngwallt (2004) a Siarad Siafins (2014) – ac mae hi’n aelod o dîm Talwrn Aberhafren. Mae hi hefyd wedi golygu sawl casgliad o farddoniaeth ac wedi ysgrifennu ac addasu nifer o lyfrau i blant. Sut i Ddofi Corryn yw ei nofel gyntaf i oedolion.
Prynwch yma.
Anfadwaith, Llŷr Titus (Y Lolfa)
Un o Frynmawr ger Sarn ym Mhen Llŷn ydi Llŷr Titus. Mae’n awdur a dramodydd, yn un o sylfaenwyr Cwmni Theatr Cymunedol y Tebot, cylchgrawn Y Stamp a gwasg Cyhoeddiadau’r Stamp. Enillodd Goron Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd yn 2011, a’r Fedal Ddrama y flwyddyn olynol. Enillodd ei gyfrol gyntaf, nofel ffuglen wyddonol ar gyfer pobl ifainc, Gwalia (Gomer@Atebol), Wobr Tir na n-Og yn 2016. Enillodd ei nofel, Pridd (Gwasg y Bwthyn) Brif Wobr Llyfr y Flwyddyn yn 2023.
Raffl – Aled Jones Williams (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch)
Magwyd Aled Jones Williams ger Caernarfon ac astudiodd ym Mhrifysgol Bangor, Coleg Diwinyddol Mihangel Sant yn Llandaf, a Phrifysgol Caerdydd. Mae’n offeiriad gyda’r Eglwys yng Nghymru, yn Brifardd, yn awdur ac yn ddramodydd y mae amryw o’i ddramâu wedi eu llwyfannu. Roedd ei lyfr, Rhaid i ti fyned y daith honno dy hun (Gwasg Pantycelyn), ar restr fer Llyfr y Flwyddyn yn 2002, ac enillodd y Goron yn yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr un flwyddyn. Mae ei bryddest fuddugol, ‘Awelon’, wedi ei chynnwys yn Y Cylchoedd Perffaith (Gwasg y Bwthyn), ei gasgliad cyntaf o farddoniaeth, sy’n ymdrin â cholli ffydd ac alcoholiaeth. Dewiswyd ei nofel Eneidiau (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch) ar gyfer Silff Lyfrau Cyfnewidfa Lên Cymru yn Hydref 2013, ac roedd ar restr fer Llyfr y Flwyddyn yn 2014. Dewiswyd ei nofel, Nostos (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch), hefyd i Silff Lyfrau 2018.
Gypsy Stories Showcasing Event
WHAT’S ON: Gypsy Stories
When: 27th June 2024, 4pm
Where: The Riverfront Theatre, Kingsway, Newport, NP20 1HG
The Joy Bringers by Karin Celestine
Fiction – The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone – Alex McCarthy (Doubleday)
Alex McCarthy was born in Cardiff and grew up in South Wales. An alumna of London Contemporary Dance School, she worked as a dancer and choreographer for a number of years on stage, TV and film. In 2017, following a career change and several years of writing, Alex began to write this novel. She has a daughter and stepdaughter, and lives in Wales.
Stray Dogs, Richard John Parfitt (Third Man Books)
Born, educated, and living in south Wales, Richard John Parfitt was a founding member of 90s Welsh rock group 60ft Dolls. As a writer he was shortlisted for the New Welsh Review Rheidol Prize and has also had work published by Planet: The Welsh Internationalist, The Conversation, The Portland Review, Bloomsbury Academic, and Red Pepper Magazine. He holds a BA [Hons] in English and an MA in Education.
Neon Roses, Rachel Dawson (John Murray)
Rachel Dawson is a lesbian, working-class Welsh writer. Neon Roses is her debut novel. She was awarded a bursary by Literature Wales in 2020, which enabled her to write it. She was born in Swansea and has done a variety of jobs, including selling sausage rolls and vibrators (not at the same time), and volunteering for an MP. She now works in the third sector and lives with her wife in Cardiff.
Pennod 42 – Bromance William Salesbury a Gruffudd Hiraethog
The Bromance of William Salesbury and Gruffudd Hiraethog
In the last episode it was seen that the humanist William Salesbury pays tribute to the bard Gruffudd Hiraethog in his introduction to the book Oll Synnwyr Pen Cymro. We look at the other side of the coin in this episode, and we do that by reading a praise poem which Gruffudd Hiraethog composed for the humanist.
Although we sometimes see the professional Welsh poets and the humanists as two factions competing over the future of the Welsh language and its literature, the friendly and productive relationship between these two offers a very different view. We see the bard adapting the old Welsh panegyric conventions in order to praise the education which the humanist got in Oxford, providing an excellent example of the way in which the old and the new combines in Welsh literature of the sixteenth century.
Y Delyn Aur, Malachy Owain Edwards (Gwasg y Bwthyn)
Yn enedigol o Lundain ac wedi ei fagu yn Ffynnon Taf mae Malachy bellach yn byw ar Ynys Môn. Cafodd cofiant ffeithiol creadigol yr awdur, Y Delyn Aur ei gyhoeddi gan Wasg y Bwthyn ym mis Tachwedd 2023. Ynddo mae Malachy yn wynebu ei hunaniaeth hil-gymysg, aml-ddiwylliedig a chrefyddol wrth olrhain hanes ei deulu yn Iwerddon a Barbados. Ar hyn o bryd, mae’n ymchwilio i’r dilyniant yn ei gyfres gofiannol ffeithiol creadigol, Paradwys Goll a gyhoeddir yn 2025. Yn ogystal ag ysgrifennu llyfrau, mae’r awdur yn golofnydd i’r cylchgrawn Golwg.
Barn y Bobl – Trothwy, Iwan Rhys (Y Lolfa)
Magwyd Iwan Rhys ym Mhorthyrhyd, Cwm Gwendraeth. Enillodd Gadair Eisteddfod yr Urdd ddwywaith; yn 2001 ac yn 2008. Mae’n aelod o dîm talwrn Dros yr Aber a thîm Y Deheubarth yn Ymryson yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol. Ef yw awdur y gyfrol Eleni Mewn Englynion (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch) a’r nofel Y Bwrdd (Y Lolfa).
Ffeithiol Greadigol – Cranogwen, Jane Aaron (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru)
Athro Emerita yn y Dyniaethau ym Mhrifysgol De Cymru yw Jane Aaron; enillodd ddwy wobr am ei chyfrolau blaenorol ar lên menywod Cymru yn y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, sef Gwobr Goffa Ellis Griffith (1999) a Gwobr Roland Mathias (2009), ac mae hefyd wedi cyhoeddi sawl erthygl ar y pwnc.
Astronot yn yr Atig gan Megan Angharad Hunter
Jac a’r Angel gan Daf James
Anturiaethau’r Brenin Arthur gan Rebecca Thomas
Mae Bywyd Yma – Guto Dafydd (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch)
Mae Guto Dafydd yn fardd ac yn nofelydd. Yn wreiddiol o Drefor, mae bellach yn magu Casi a Nedw ym Mhwllheli gyda Lisa. Enillodd y Goron yn Eisteddfodau Cenedlaethol 2014 a 2019, a chyhoeddi Ni Bia’r Awyr (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas), cyfrol o gerddi, yn 2014. Mae ei farddoniaeth yn sôn am berthynas pobl, eu hunaniaeth a’u straeon, a’r tir. Ar ôl cyhoeddi’r nofel Stad yn 2015, enillodd Wobr Goffa Daniel Owen am Ymbelydredd yn 2016 a Carafanio yn 2019. Mae ei nofelau (oll wedi eu cyhoeddi gan Y Lolfa) yn sôn am Gymry yn Lloegr, a chreaduriaid sy’n cael trafferth dygymod â’u hamgylchiadau yn y byd.
Mae Mae Bywyd Yma yn gywaith barddoniaeth a ffotograffiaeth. Lluniau gan Dafydd Nant.
Barddoniaeth – Mymryn Rhyddid, Gruffudd Owen (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas)
Mae Gruffudd Owen yn fardd, dramodydd a sgriptiwr teledu o Bwllheli. Enillodd Gadair yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn 2018 ac ef oedd Bardd Plant Cymru 2019-2021. Mymryn Rhyddid yw ei ail gyfrol o gerddi ar gyfer oedolion. Mae’n byw yng Nghaerdydd gyda’i wraig a’i feibion.
Y Traeth o Dan y Stryd – Hywel Griffiths (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas)
Mae Hywel Griffiths yn fardd ac yn ddaearyddwr yn Adran Daearyddiaeth a Gwyddorau Daear, Prifysgol Aberystwyth. Enillodd Goron Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn 2008 a’r Gadair yn 2015. Mae’n cyfrannu at y Talwrn fel aelod o dîm y Glêr ac yn ymrysona gyda thîm yr Ymryson. Afonydd a llifogydd yw ei arbenigedd fel daearyddwr ac mae hynny’n ysbrydoliaeth i’w waith creadigol yn aml. Mae’n byw yn Llanbadarn Fawr gyda’i wraig, Alaw, a’i blant, Lleucu a Morgan. Y Traeth o Dan y Stryd yw ei bedwaredd gyfrol o farddoniaeth.
Pennod 41 – Maniffesto William Salesbury
We discuss an incredibly exciting text in this episode, namely William Salesbury’s introduction to a book published in 1547, Oll Synnwyr Pen. We suggest that this introduction can be seen as a Welsh humanist manifesto, a call which presents an agenda for safeguarding and perfecting the language.
William Salesbury used his Oxford education and his skill as an author to wake up readers and make them aware of the need: they had to ensure that Welsh would be a language of learning, a language which could discuss any aspect of society and thought, a medium capable of transmitting any kind of knowledge.
Mapping Public Interest Journalism in Wales
Mapio Newyddiaduraeth er Budd y Cyhoedd yng Nghymru
gan Silvia Rose
Where the River Takes Us – Lesley Parr
Where the River Takes Us by Lesley Parr is the 2024 winner of the Tir na n-Og English-language Award for children and young people’s literature.
The book also won the Reader’s Choice Award, a special award chosen by children and young people who took part in the Tir na n-Og Shadowing Scheme and nominated their own winner from the shortlisted titles.
Where the River Takes Us, is a pacy 1970s adventure set in the South Wales valleys.
Whispers echo through the valley – tales of a wild beast roaming the mountains. When a reward is offered for proof of its existence, Jason and his friends are determined to find the creature first. But for Jason it’s more than a quest – the money is a way for him and his brother to stay together. The four friends set off, following the river north, not realising that this journey will push them to their limits. An extraordinary adventure awaits …
“Action-packed and brilliantly written, this pacy tale of 70s hardships and the hunt for a wild cat is totally gripping and lots of fun.” Simon Fisher, Chair of the judging panel.
“We thought they were all well written and very engaging, but we especially enjoyed Where the River Takes Us as the friendship between the characters had us believing in them. We also liked the references of different cultural elements of the 70s. The story plot started many interesting and lively discussions within the class” Nottage Primary School
Lesley Parr reads an extract from the book.
Available now from your local bookshop.
Your True Name – Leaf Pettit
Written in response to The mountain is not moved by Glyn Edwards
Snowdon’s silent call – Tarquin Shipley
Written in response to ‘The mountain is not moved’ by Glyn Edwards
LLYF24: Rhestr Fer | WBOTY24: Shortlist
After several months reading 2023’s literary output, two independent judging panels have selected their shortlists for the 2024 Wales Book of the Year Award.
To find out more about the shortlisted books and authors, visit the Wales Book of the Year page.
The Wales Book of the Year awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, July 4 at Galeri Caernarfon. Tickets available here.
Parti Priodas gan Gruffudd Owen
Bobi a Sami gan Wil Sam (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch) Nes i ddisgyn mewn cariad efo’r ddrama yma pan oeddwn i yn yr ysgol. Drama drist efo llawer o ddigrifiwch ynddi, ac mae hynny’n rhywbeth dwi wedi ceisio ei gyflawni efo Parti Priodas. Sut i drefnu Priodas Pum Mil gan Trystan Ellis-Morris, Emma Walford ac Alaw […]
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