Americymru

Blond-E - Atomic! Wales and The Uk's Top Blondie Tribute Band

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:34:00 +0000

AmeriCymru spoke to Diana Watts of Blond-E, South Wales and the UK's top Blondie tribute band. Find out more about the band on their website HERE

Diana Watts

AmeriCymru: Hi Diana and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. Care to tell us a little about your musical background?

Diana Watts: I started singing in clubs since I was 13. I've been a member of various bands around the Cardiff area but only willing to admit to 3, Catch 22, The phantoms and ‘so what’ with whom I was lucky enough to play in the Hippodrome Leicester square, and Hammersmith Palais

I was 1986 international ‘Voiceover’ Champion, and the Wales and the West 1991 Karaoke Champion and have been singing on and off ever since.

AmeriCymru: How did the band come to be formed. Who was the driving force behind Blond-E?

Diana Watts: A few years ago a good friend was remixing some Blondie tracks and as he thought I sounded like her asked me to overlay some vocal tracks. He has since passed away but the idea of Blondie stuck in my mind. I asked a few friends if they were interested in forming a tribute band and was overwhelmed by their response. At the same time our guitarists were also thinking of forming a Blondie tribute band and the rest as they say is history.

AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about the other band members. How did you all meet?

Diana Watts: To be honest some of us have known each other for years but we didn't keep in touch. It was Facebook that brought us all together.

Wayne our guitarist was in a band with our bassist Marc. Our other guitarist Ade met up again with them after having played in a band with him when they were both teenagers and brought in drummer Ian who he'd played in a punk covers band in the 1980s and finally I forced Dom out of retirement - Dom was the cute older brother of my friend when we were very young but he would never speak to me. Ade and I were born on the same day of the same year and I feel that this was 'Destiny, I don't know yet'.

A clip of Rapture performed by Blond-e using old stills

AmeriCymru: I guess everyone who remembers that era has a favorite Blondie track ( mine is 'Atomic' ), what would be yours?

Diana Watts: I really like X-Offender as to me it represents what New York New wave was all about back in the day. It may be kitsch, it may be tacky but it sums up the the 1980's and is a cursory nod to the throw-away pop culture of the time.

AmeriCymru: What has been your proudest moment/favorite gig with Blond-E so far?

Diana Watts: Our first gig was in Abergavenny, we had only been together for a short while and when we arrived we found a full stage and lighting rig. I think we got away with it. We did a gig on New Year's day in Mountain Ash and we rammed the place. I have to say that every gig we do just seems to get better and better and it is really down to our hard-core group of fans that makes it for us.

AmeriCymru: Does the band have any plans to perform or record original material or is strictly a Blondie tribute band?

Diana Watts: We also perform material that has been covered by Blondie such as Get in On by Mark Bolan and we also include a few other numbers that we all like in the set. We are all also actively engaged in other bands and projects

AmeriCymru: Any live gigs in the near future?

Diana Watts: Yes, our calendar for 2012 is filling up nicely - for details of all our upcoming gigs see our website at http://www.blond-e.com

AmeriCymru: Where can people go online to hear and/or purchase your music?

Diana Watts: We have some short clips available on our site and are about to go into studio to record a few more.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Diana Watts and Blond-E?

Diana Watts: We have been asked to do a few of the bigger festivals this summer and we are also looking to record some of Blondie's back catalogue in Welsh for our Welsh speaking audience. I'm currently trying to perfect my Welsh with a New York accent - listening to John Cale has helped!

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Diana Watts: Yes, we hope to be out on the West Coast some time later this year. Please check out our website and join our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blond-E/

A snippet recorded live at rehearsals. No overdubs or edits – This is Blond-E's live sound.

One way or another by natal102

Interview by Ceri Shaw Home Email

Complete A Short Survey - Win A Free Place At Cardiff University's 2012 Welsh Summer Course

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:46:00 +0000

Our newest member, Anthony Lydall from Cardiff, is researching potential demand for an online Welsh language course on behalf of Cardiff University’s Welsh for Adults Centre. He invites you to complete a short survey on the link below and there is a prize draw incentive of a free place on the University’s 2012 Welsh summer course, including accommodation, for one lucky respondent to the survey. It’s a good prize for doing something that only takes a few minutes!

https://www.snapsurveys.com/swh/surveylogin.asp?k=132800877385

Welsh Band Sicknote Go From Strength To States

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:40:00 +0000

Unzipped - Sicknote

After a performing in front of a capacity crowd at the Globe in Cardiff, Welsh proto-punk band Sicknote will be releasing an album containing a live unedited recording of the event this Monday (6 February 2012). Despite having been together for a number of years and having played most of the major festivals including Glastonbury it looks like 2012 will be the year of Sicknote - with an American tour lined up for this summer.The new album ‘UNZIPPED’ with be available to download from today (Monday 6 February). In a move that is becoming increasing common in the industry, the album is available in two formats: A ‘Pay What You Want’ download from www.sicknote.tv and a limited edition CD (limited 1,000 copies) complete with cover artwork from www.tantrumshop.co.uk.

Tuan Duong, Head of Promotions at The Globe, Cardiff was initially wary about putting the band on at the venue. He told us:

“When I was approached by Jason from the Sicknote team to stage their ‘Phone in Sick Mega Party’ event, I was very concerned to how he would be able to pull in the 330+ crowd, taking into account that we only had just over 2 weeks to stage the concert.

“As soon as the announcement was made, we had a massive response flooding in from all the major Internet Channels, it created an Amazing Buzz! As this was the first time that I heard of Sicknote, I really didn't understand much about this crowd of party goers, I had heard 'fairy tales' about their wild reputation which turned out to be nonsense.”

He continued:

“To my delight, the crowd was absolutely peaceful and were just happy going party lovers! Some of them had a wonderful sense of fashion. Both Sicknote and the crowd, super-charged the cold January night at The Globe and produced an awesome night with an electrifying atmosphere.

“It was an amazing sight to watch, the crowd and the band merged as one entity, dancing to the rhythm of the powerful vibes and beats. It was a pleasure to have come into contact with Sicknote and to have such wonderful people gracing the dance floor of The Globe.”

Band member and man behind the bleeps Jason Flapsandwich explained:

“This album signifies the start of a 10 week break after 5 years of spreading the sickness all over Europe. The album is as close to a live show as you are going to get, totally unedited. A straight recording from The Globe in January and mixed and mastered by Jake Tilley at Butterhill studio.

“You get the screams of the crowd, all the mistakes, all the atmosphere... and you can sense the tension with the new drummer (who had never ever played with us before as our regular drummer (The Filth) phoned in sick last minute).

He added:

“The CD feels like a night out with us. We hope you enjoy and with the 'pay what you want' thing we imagine it will spread far and wide and bridge the gap until we come back in April at Freekwency Festival in Portugal.”

Shortly after the concert the band were contacted by American promoter Ceri Shaw and asked if the would be interested in playing the West Coast of America this summer.

Mr Shaw of Americymru said:

“AmeriCymru and the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation are pleased and proud to be welcoming Sicknote to the Great Northwest later this year.

“We are arranging a tour taking in the cities of Seattle, Portland and Eugene.

He continued:

“We are sure that Sicknote's radical and innovative sound and stage performances will be welcomed here. Portland is the home of legendary US punk band, The Dead Kennedys and Seattle was the epicentre of the 90's grunge phenomenon. We are hoping that the tour will coincide with this year’s West Coast Eisteddfod.”

Check Out Our Selection of St Davids Day Cards on AmeriCymru

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:22:00 +0000

Looking for a selection of St David's Day cards? Look no further.

The AmeriCymru Directory will be displaying a selection of e-cards from today. Just a few to begin with but we will be adding more over the course of the next few weeks. Check back to see the latest designs. Cards are free to send so...Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus/Happy St David's Day

AmeriCymru Welsh E-Cards

Welsh Writer Cynan Jones Offers 'The Fart' FREE on Amazon!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:53:00 +0000

A message from Cynan Jones:-

It’s been a long January here in Wales! So, I felt it appropriate to lighten the mood a little.

I’ve released THE FART … a (very) short story, FREE on Amazon.co.uk from Monday 30th Jan – Friday 3rd Feb* here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Fart-ebook/d...

If you think it appropriate, you’re welcome to inform the members of your group, and bring a little laughter their way!

All the best,

Cynan

*After this time, it should remain available FREE to Amazon.com Prime members

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fart-ebook/dp/...

We thought it highly appropriate :) Free downloads available from Jan 30th.

Read our interview with Cynan Jones here:- Ten Questions with Cynan Jones

Books By Cynan Jones


The Long Dry by Cynan Jones $16.95	Everything I Found On the Beach by Cynan Jones

The Great American Songbook - Interview With Daniel and Laura Curtis

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:53:00 +0000

Daniel & Laura Curtis

AmeriCymru: Hi Dan and Laura and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. What is 'The Great American Songbook' and what inspired the project?

Dan & Laura: If you were to Google the term ‘The Great American Songbook’ the most common answer you will find is music from Broadway and Hollywood Musicals from 1920 to 1960. For me it far outreaches this, think of a song like Alexander’s Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin that was written back in 1911. Although most people agree that the birth of Rock and Roll ended the era of the Songbook.

I often get asked why the Great American Songbook is so important to me. It goes back to Sunday afternoons at my grandparent’s house where I used to spend hours watching the great Hollywood Movie Musicals and going through their endless record collection. My grandmother idolised the Italian American Tenor Mario Lanza who did record a large quantity of music from the Great American Songbook and I was first introduced to many of these songs through his recordings. Laura was a chorister in Lincoln Cathedral and she was taught many of the songs during her singing lessons and they were always her favourites. I put an advert out looking for a pianist and didn’t ever realise I would find a wife as well. Such is the power of this great music!

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little more about your repertoire?

Dan & Laura: Our repertoire is quite wide reaching and includes the works of composers such as Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Rodgers and Hammerstein and Cole Porter. We also perform many other songs associated with Broadway and Hollywood Musicals.

AmeriCymru: What are your personal favorites? Which songs do you enjoy listening to and performing the most?

Dan & Laura: This is really one of the hardest questions to answer, there are so many great songs. I think George Gershwins ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is one of the most fantastic pieces of music ever written. Bobby Darin’s Mack the Knife is amazing and also a recording by Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong called the ‘Five Pennies Saints’ that is very funny.

As far as songs to perform the song ‘How Deep is the Ocean’ written by Irving Berlin is one of our favourities. We also love to perform ‘Well Gather Lillacs’ by Ivor Novello. Other favourties include ‘My Way’, ‘If I Loved You’ and ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’

AmeriCymru: You hold a number of workshops with young people about the Great American Songbook. Care to tell us a little of your experience at these events?

Dan & Laura: As well as the performance side of things we have been working with young people to try inspire them to listen to the music with the aim of ensuring that it never gets forgotten. We have been holding schools workshops and teaching them songs like ‘I got Rhythm’ which has been a great success. In a World where music has changed so vastly it’s great to see the younger generation perform these great songs. We also tell them stories about the composers which they find really interesting.

AmeriCymru: You also record people's memories of the musical classics you seek to preserve. Any particularly poignant or interesting tales that you can share with us?

Dan & Laura: For this project we have been going around the country recording the memories of elderly people e.g. the first time they saw Singing in the Rain and talking about their experiences of the music. We are putting together a website and writing a book which will be about our findings so it can be preserved for generations to come.

We have had some really interesting tales come out of doing the recordings. We spoke to Debbie Reynolds of Singin’ in the Rain when we performed a post show concert for an event she did called Debbie Reynolds in Conversation at the British Film Institute.

She told us how when she was selected to play the part she had no real dance experience. She spent six months prior to filming learning how to dance and she knew what a perfectionist Gene Kelly was. One day she was just not coping and went and sat underneath a piano in the studio and started crying. Someone walked over and asked if she was ok and that person was the great Fred Astaire. He asked her what was wrong and she explained and he invited her into a usually closed rehearsal that he was doing. She watched for the next three hours as he went through creating his dance sequences pouring with sweat and clearly giving everything he had. Afterwards he walked over to her and said well now kid you realise what it takes to be great! From then on she threw everything she had into practice and the results can be seen on screen for themselves.

AmeriCymru: You have appeared on radio and television many times and given a number of community performances. What has been your proudest moment so far?

Dan & Laura: We were recently on the BBC One Show with Tony Bennett discussing the importance of preserving the music. It was fantastic to appear with such a legend.

We recently received a quote from Nancy Sinatra that we can use for our preservation work, we felt very honoured that she had taken the time to support us. What an amazing lady!

Appearing at West End Live to 10,000 people at Trafalgar Square in London was just incredible.

We recently performed at the Waldorf Astoria in Orlando and that was a very special concert, it’s always special to come to the US and perform.


Daniel and Laura on the BBC One Show with Tony Bennett

AmeriCymru: Any live shows coming up?

Dan & Laura: We tour all through the year so lots of great performances coming up this year which will take us all over Wales and England.

To mention just one. We are very excited about performing at St Fagan’s the National History Museum of Wales on the 27^th August. We will be at the Oakdale Workmen’s Insitute in full costume. The Workmen’s Insitute will be transformed back to the 1940s and we will be doing a series of performances throughout the day with someone on hand from the museum explaining about the time and the songs. Very excited about that one.

AmeriCymru: Any plans to visit the U.S.?

Dan & Laura: We will be visiting New York City at some point later this year or very early next year to do some concerts.

We are trying to raise some funds/sponosrship at the moment to come and do a mini tour of the U.S. and perform at churches, community groups linked to Wales for free where possible. Would love to make this happen.

If anybody knows of any places where we could come and perform, please do let us know.

AmeriCymru: Where can people go to hear and/or purchase your recordings online?

Dan & Laura: Our website is: www.greatamericansongbook.co.uk – there are lots of recordings and video on there. Please feel free to have a look.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Dan & Laura: It is always a pleasure hearing from people who are passionate about this inredible collection of music. If anybody has any questions or would just like to have a chat about the music or if you have any stories, please get in touch. Be wonderful to hear from you.

Interview by Ceri Shaw Home Email

'Guardian Angel" by Brian John - A Review - Is There Life After Death?

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:22:00 +0000

Read our interview with Brian John HERE

Guardian Angel

Is there life after death? For Mistress Martha Morgan this becomes a very real and urgent question after her supposed demise in Volume 5 of the Angel Mountain Saga. Since to reveal more would constitute a 'spoiler' I will leave it to the reader to discover the details of her 'reincarnation'. In each of the earlier volumes, Martha, the mistress of Plas Ingli, becomes involved in fantastical adventures and this 'sequel' is no exception. A premonition leads her to the realization that she must stay alive whilst assuming a new identity in order to protect her estate and her beloved mountain - Carn Ingli . As the drama unfolds we are taken by turns to Cardigan, Newcastle Emlyn, the gutters of Cardiff and the man made hell of early industrial Merthyr Tydfil. A brief sojourn on the continent brings us back to Newport, Pembs for the thrilling finale in which a plot to destroy the estate and the mountain itself is foiled.

Thematically the book explores the concepts of identity and personality and poses the question- "What does loss of identity mean?". The author, Brian John , says in an afterword that he is also happy if prople read the book as an allegory of a recent campaign by locals to prevent the PCNPA ( Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority ) from spraying the lower slopes of Carn Ingli with an aerial herbicide to remove encroaching bracken.

The novel deals powerfully with the effects of industrialisation on the lives of ordinary people. It is, of course, barely possible to write meaningfully about Wales in the 19th and 20th centuries without addressing these themes. There are choice descriptions of "China", an industrial slum in central Merthyr:-

"In the district officially named Ponty-storehouse, but known to everyone as "China", between the Cyfarthfa works and the Taff, I found a veritable labyrinth of hovels clustered together more or less randomly, and separated by narrow alleyways. The hovels, called "the cellars", were mostly in a stinking ditch between the roadway and the mighty piles of slag and cinders from the nearby coke ovens which were prominent features of this landscape of Hell. The places inhabited by human beings were made of rough stone blocks, stolen bricks , pieces of solid slag, broken wooden beams , sheets of tin and old bits of canvas. In many hovels there were no windows. Grubby faces peered out at me from the spaces which should have held doors. The stinking pig-sties at the Plas were better built, cleaner and drier."

There are also colourful descriptions of the characters who inhabited this ghetto; the Rodneys , bullies and nymphs all presided over by the self styled Emperor of China. The Emperor and his Empress both make cameo appearances in the book as does Lady Charlotte Guest. Mistress Martha berates her for her hypocisy in no uncertain terms:-

"I told her on several occasions - perhaps unfairly - that her charitable works were no better than gestures, designed to demonstrate her role as a benefactor and to improve her standing in the eyes of the press and the politicians. ......... After all, she could have ameliorated the poverty of her workers at a stroke by diverting just a small proportion of the payments that went to her directors into expenditures on housing, schools, sanitation and water supplies."

The Angel Mountain saga is a fine period drama set in early 19th century West Wales. AmeriCymru recommends it unreservedly and we hope to be reviewing more volumes in this series shortly ( including the new one which is due for publication later this year ) .

Older readers may remember the BBC series Poldark set in Cornwall. Recently author Brian John launched a campaign ( see this post ) to have the Angel Mountain books serialised by the BBC. It would be wonderful to see a costume drama along the same lines as 'Poldark', which ran for three years on British television, set in West Wales. We can only wish him every success in this endeavour.

ceridwen [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

More views of Carn Ingli from Wikimedia Commons HERE

Review by Ceri Shaw Home Email

New Edition of Hedd Wyn's Poems - An Interview With Daffni Percival of Merilang Press

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Daffni Percival has lived in Wales since 1985. She writes poetry and children's books and publishes both from Merilang Press.She lives in an ancient farmhouse with two border collies. two cats. three pet sheep and a dozen or so ducks.She is partly retired but teaches occasional crash courses in Russian, French and Welsh. AmeriCymru spoke to Daffni about Merilang Press and about the recent publication of a new edition of the poems of Hedd Wyn.

Hedd Wyn - Ei Farddoniaeth

AmeriCymru: Hi Daffni and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru.You are the publisher and editor of Merilang Press, what is Merilang Press and how did it come about?

Daffni: Merilang Press is a small publishing house, basically me. It came about because a few years back when I was about 76 I think, I decided that although several of my poems have been published in various magazines, I realise that I am somewhat lazy about submitting them. Also if I wanted to have a collection out there it was probably no good waiting for someone else to publish it, especially in view of the unlikelihood of me remembering to submit in the right place at the right time. So I decided to become a publisher so that I could deal direct with printers. That done, I in fact printed and manufactured the poetry book myself SUN ON THE HILL. It is only one section so all I needed was a long stapler.

But then I finally finished a children's book I was writing. This grew until it needed 4 sections including illustrations, so I set about reviving my book-binding skills and published that from home. I found that bit by bit it sold quite well and I kept running out of stock and having to go back to bookbinding when I wanted to write. So, having ascertained that the cost of coloured illustrations was prohibitive, I turned all the pictured to grey scale and had it printed by Lightning Source. That has proved a good idea as it means the black and white book is a little cheaper than the one I still print at home so the stock lasts longer. The only problem was producing a pdf of the book for the printers; I had always been scared stiff of pdf as I didn't understand it in the least. So a fellow writer with better technical skills did that part for me.

Then he, David Gardiner, found that his publisher had disappeared just when his second book of short stories should have been coming out, so he asked me to publish it. He did the technical side and thus began a working partnership. Now I have published more of my own and more of David's and also a book by an American writer, Andrew McIntyre. Maybe that's enough for now about Merilang Press and I'd better get to question 2.

AmeriCymru: You recently edited a new edition of Hedd Wyn's poems, can you tell us more about the project?

Daffni: You say I have recently published Hedd Wyn's poems but when you wrote to me I was in fact enmired in the problems of editing them and getting someone to write a foreword in decent Welsh. I asked my one time Welsh teacher but he didn't want to tread on the toes of experts but sent me the names and addresses of some bards. I write to Elwyn Edwards, who was the nearest and he kindly consented to do it. He also corrected quite a few typos etc that I'd missed.

The next thing was to produce a cover. For this I painted a ring of Welsh poppies and inserted a sepia photo of Hedd Wyn with a dark brown background. Unfortunately the printing process has rendered the brown more orange but at least it will stand out on shelves. As usual David formatted it as pdf and it is now a reality.

We are having a launch in the village hall, just about opposite the house where the poet was born. The house where he lived, next farm along the lane to me, is getting a new roof. They are putting a tent over the whole house to protect it during this operation and have promised to finish it by St David's day. That means there will be quite a lot of interest so I have booked the launch for that day.

AmeriCymru: Where can readers find this book and your other books?

Daffni: All Merilang Press books can be purchased from my website or David's They are also on Amazon etc. Andrew's book, The Short, the long and the Tall, short stories, is available from me and for signed copies from his site.

AmeriCymru: In March, 2010, you completed and published Alphonse Daudet’s Lettres de Mon Moulin/Letters From My Mill, how did you come to that project? How has it been received?

Daffni: Letters From My Mill I first came across at school many years ago. I managed only about two or three pages with a dictionary but fell in love with it and vowed I'd one day learn the language well enough to translate it. I did, between earning my living and other bits of living, in due course learn French very well in a mix of ways. In fact the sources of my French were so eclectic that a teacher I had at one time was so amused by my conversational attempts that he couldn't keep a straight face. He kept saying, 'well, there's no reason you can't say that, but wouldn't explain. I insisted and at least he said, 'Well, you often give me a sentence that is half Parisian argot and half pure Racine. That fitted as I originally learnt from a gang of working class socialists in Paris, went back to work in Hereford [where there is not a lot of French] and subsisted on a diet of library books, Simenon until I reached the end of the shelf, Moliere but didn't fancy him, and then discovered and fell in love with Racine. So that was a good diagnosis.

AmeriCymru: You've produced some works on border collies and even on behalf of your own dog, "And Thereby Hangs a Tail,". Care to tell us more?

Daffni: The children's book 'And Thereby Hangs a Tail' that more or less brought Merilang Press into being was the autobiography of a border collie puppy as he grows up and learns about things in general and in particular how to be 'a good dog' as his mother always told him he should. Long before the book became fact, he used to send his mother postcards, and my friends from whose farm he came kept saying, 'You should write a book' and I kept replying, 'I haven't got time'. I had a border collie down in Exeter before coming to live in Wales and found myself in love with the breed. So I have had several now, mostly two or three at a time. I suppose it's a bit of an obsession. They take over my stories and quite a few of my poems. So much so that once when I had posted a poem [I forget what about] on Uk authors' site, someone praised the poem and added, 'and not a sheepdog in sight.'

AmeriCymru: You also provide language instruction and teach Welsh, Russian, French, German and have described yourself as having a "passion for languages" How are your courses delivered?

Daffni: My language teaching really originated back in my university days when I went for a month to a summer school at Prague university, ostensibly to progress my Russian studies. I fell into temptation and studied Czech instead. I was so impressed by the methods there that I decided that was what I wanted to do. For about 12 years I taught English as a foreign language in Exeter at the same time as running an international centre. I enjoyed both these activities. The Centre was non profit making and meant that for all those years I was invited all over the world but never had the money or the time to go. The only invitation I did manage to accept was 12 days in Hungary. I drove across Euriope in a Robin Reliant van and arrived at the border able to say only 'goodbye'.

When I came to live in the wilds of Snowdonia, it was clearly not possible to teach EFL so I started teaching residential crash courses in Rusian. This was easy to advertise as the Soviet Union used to publish a newspaper for English Russophiles, a bit like the British Council publications for foreigners. For £10 I could have a full column inch and of course the readers were all interested in Russian so the percentage that might be interested in the language was higher than any other place I could advertise. It kept the wolf from the door and I enjoyed it enormously and eventually offered French and german as well. Then later when I had got enough Welsh under my belt, I added beginners' Welsh. That of course was a very good way to learn more.

The way it works is that a person comes to live in my house for a week [occasionally two] and they have 4 hours one-to-one tuition every morning, do some homework [voluntary] in the afternoon and watch films in the appropriate language in the evening. From these films I make cards with sentences from the film in Russian or French etc and English on the back and we use these in lessons to extend vocabulary and introduce all sorts or coloquialisms and interesting mnemonics.

AmeriCymru: You live near Snowdonia, Can you tell us a little more about your surroundings?

Daffni: Snowdonia is truly beautiful and largely Welsh speaking. trawsfynydd is inland a bit from Harlech. In the middle ages men used to go to Harlech to work as it was then an important port. When they died they often had requested their mates to carry them back 'across the mountain' to be buried and that is how the village got its name traws=across mynydd=mountain.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Daffni Percival and Merilang Press?

Daffni: What next? Well, two main projects. One is to do illustrations for a series of stories where the main characters are a very small sheepdog and a junior dragon. And the other is to translate And Thereby Hangs a Tail into Welsh. And of course go on writing poetry.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Daffni: As to a message to members of Ameri-Cymru: It's nice to get to know some of you a bit and I will try to attend the site more often. Can't of course come to your eisteddfodau east and west as I am too far away.

Please go and look at my books.

ATTEND THE BOOK LAUNCH ON MARCH 1st - DETAILS HERE

Interview by Ceri Shaw Home Email

An Interview With Nancy Wright - American Welsh Poet

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:13:00 +0000

AmeriCymru spoke to Nancy Wright, American-Welsh poet and WNAA Board of Trustees member about her poetry and her involvement with the North American Welsh Choir .Nancy was the winner of first place prize in the 2011 West Coast Eisteddfod Poetry Competition. To read her winning entry go here:- Remembering Fengdu Go here to enter this years West Coast Eisteddfod Online Poetry Competition

AmeriCymru: What first inspired you to write poetry?

Nancy: I have been creating poetry for as long as I can remember. I specify "creating," because I was rhyming in my mind before I was writing, at least cursive writing! In fact, all of my childhood poems featured conventional rhyme, in either an aabb or abba pattern. As I entered my teens, I began writing more free verse, and occasional blank verse, and that practice remained for quite some time. It was both frustrating and interesting to me that any time I wrote rhymed poetry during those teen and early college years--even on a serious theme--it sounded comical. As a result, I limited my writing of rhymed poetry to limericks, parodies, and those fun tribute "roasts" for people celebrating special occasions, and focused on free or blank verse for what I considered more serious subjects.

In recent years I have returned to rhymed poetry, but this time experimenting with different forms and styles, such as the mirrored refrain, in which the last two lines of each stanza are reversed, the etheree, which proceeds line by line from one to ten syllables, and shape poetry, in which the poem actually takes the shape of its subject. In fact, there is a subtle element of shape poetry in "Remembering Fengdu" which I leave to each reader to identify!

Regarding politics and poetry:

Of course, as we know, many, many poems have political themes, and we also know how powerful such poetry can be, indeed powerful enough that in some societies poets are imprisoned or otherwise persecuted for expressing themselves in verse on highly charged or controversial subjects. At a more fundamental level, however, the word "politics" is derived from the Greek words "polis" and "polites," meaning respectively, a city-state and citizens of that city-state. Thus the facts that politics has to do with any matters involving citizens, and that poetry is a uniquely human activity means that poetry and politics inevitably will cross paths.

With respect to my own experience teaching political science, definitely themes emerge; in fact, "Remembering Fengdu" is a prime example. Poetry can symbolically express power, conflict, struggle, reconciliation, and harmony, all of which embody some element of politics. Politiics is often associated with contestation or discord, but in fact political participation can also contribute to security and serenity.

AmeriCymru: Your Remembering Fengdu was a very worthy winner of this years West Coast Eisteddfod Online Poetry Competition. Care to tell us a little more about the poem?

Nancy: In 2001 my mother and I together visited China, which for a number of years we had talked about doing. It was a marvelous experience for both of us to share. Part of the China travel consisted of a three-day cruise down the Yangtze River, including the most scenic part of the Three Gorges, the narrowest portion of which we would access via larger cruise boats. The boat held several hundred people, but of course, it was smaller than an ocean-going vessel. Many of the travelers were members of large tour groups; only a few of us, including my mother and me, were characterized as "independent travelers." Perhaps it was that categorization of independence that enhanced my truly feeling like a participant observer during those three days. The messages about the Three Gorges Dam were rather mixed. On the one hand, it was presented as a grandiose engineering achievement that would prevent future severe flooding and provide much-needed electricity. Concerns about relocation were met with assurance that those being relocated would move to modern accommodations far superior to what they then inhabited. At the same time, our cabin television monitors included news segments and commentary from the United States about the extremely controversial nature of Three Gorges Dam, especially the relocation and ecological aspects. We were told that the ancient ghost city of Fengdu would be submerged once Three Gorges Dam was completed. The second day of the cruise we disembarked at Fengdu and took a cable car to the top of the mountain, where Chinese would pan for gold. As we were suspended in the cable car, I looked down and saw a farmer hoeing, and immediately the image of his hoeing weeds for the last time came to mind. Similarly, returning to the televised programs on Three Gorges Dam, there was one news segment that featured an elderly man painting a picture of his home, which was soon to be flooded. He intended to take the picture with him to remind him of his home and the self-sustaining village where his ancestors had lived for more than 500 years.

While I believe all of the other cruise passengers sensed the loss that Three Gorges Dam would cause, I felt that they also saw the dam as a sign of progress, albeit with the inevitable associated costs. One likened the commentary about the dam to that of Egypt's Aswan Dam decades before, commenting that prior to construction that project had been just as controversial, but that in time it was accepted and even welcomed as a sign of progress. Furthermore, there was something in the tone of conversation among many of the passengers that sounded to me superficial. There were times when, while standing on the deck gazing at cliffs that I knew soon would be underwater, I fervently wished for absolute silence. However, the chatter of the other travelers surrounded me----chatter about souvenirs, chatter about other places they had traveled, chatter about each other..

Also, the guide gave a running narrative that unfortunately was a bit hard to discern among the extraneous noises and a murky amplification system. All of the verbiage at times hummed through the boat in a way that almost seemed to mock what was about to happen, hence my reference in the poem to "gripping walls of tourists' wagging tongues and roving eyeballs."

Another aspect of the chronology of Three Gorges Dam was the designation of Beijing as the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics. In June 2003, nine years after construction on the dam had begun, and two years after my mother and I visited China and took that cruise, the government authorized the first filling of the reservoir. This was the first phase in a process that was to be completed in time for the 2008 Olympics, with the idea that Three Gorges Dam would enable China to meet the extra demands for electricity that the Olympics would require. The dam also became a national monument of modern technology. China's anticipation of the 2008 Olympics had become especially real to me several days before the Yangtze River cruise even began. While in Guilin, which was the first place in China that we visited, we were strolling through an outdoor market. I saw and bought a T-shirt with the iconic Olympic rings and "Beijing 2008" silk-screened on the front, and this was July 2001.

"Remembering Fengdu" is a composite of all those images. Moreover, it is not only about China's quest for and manifestation of power through construction of Three Gorges Dam, but that quest and manifestation of all nations---and in fact all humans----for power at one time or another. China's assertion of itself as a major power in the world reflects not only China's ambition but also the world in which China displays that ambition, which in fact is a world in which the powerful gain respect, or at least deference.

Another interesting aspect of "Remembering Fengdu" is that originally I wrote it simply as several stanzas of free verse. Julian Goodwin, a Brooklyn-based composer, set that version to music, and the way he captured the text with various harmonies and recurring themes gave that original version a new dimension, which in turn inspired me to revise the poem to evoke a sharper visual message. While I think the original lent itself much better to a composition, I believe the revised is a more effective poem when read or recited.

Where could one find more of my work?

I have not published poetry much at all. In October 2008 I did win a Spanish poetry competition in Patagonia, Argentina, while on tour with the North American Welsh Choir, and the poem was published in the Chubut regional press the following day. There is also a youtube from the Chubut Eisteddfod in which the adjudicator reads the poem, which was titled "Conocer Patagonia." A hymn text which I wrote, titled "Hymn to Song" was set to music by composer David Evan Thomas, and I understand it is in some hymnals, though I do not know which ones.

AmeriCymru: You also sing in the North American Welsh Choir. Care to tell us a little more about your involvement with them?

Nancy: I discovered the North American Welsh Choir while cycling down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan one Saturday afternoon! I had been teaching on Saturday mornings at City College's main campus in northern Manhattan. Typically I would cycle there and then return home by way of Central Park and Fifth Avenue. The really ineresting thing----and I consider this miraculous serendipity--was that normally I would have turned east onto 20th Street at its intersection with Fifth Avenue. That day, however, I continued southbound on Fifth Avenue to 12th Street, which is the location of the church where the North American Welsh Choir was scheduled to perform that night. It was April 2000. The sign outside the church featured the choir's famous motto, "The choir that spans a continent." It seemed like a very unique event, so I attended and loved it! Afterwards, I learned of the gymanfa ganu which was to take place the next afternoon and I attended that as well. I was able to obtain an e-mail the linked me to the interest form, and the rest evolved. I shall always cherish my decade with the choir. In addition to meeting wonderful people all over the United States and Canada, my membership in the choir also led me to learn about the North American Festival of Wales and its Eisteddfod, in which I have greatly enjoyed participating over the years. Still another interesting spinoff episode . . . and this one interfaces with my academic life . . . . .in the spring of 2005 I taught introductory public administration to undergraduates at Long Island University-Brooklyn. I wanted to include a unique comparative element in the course, and decided to arrange an intensive weekend to Kansas City. Much of the inspiration for this came from hearing NAWC member Ann McFerrin describe her work as an archivist with the Kansas City Department of Parks and Boulevards, as well as hearing chorister and WNAA Board member Judith Braugham discuss her work in housing and real estate. Another friend and former colleague of mine from my years with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development had relocated to Kansas City and I was able to reconnect with him during a choir regional concert there. He also is involved in real estate as well as community development and social justice in Kansas City. All three individuals were first-rate resource people and my students enjoyed the weekend immensely. Their perceptions of the southern Midwest were totally changed as a result of the trip.

AmeriCymru: Will you be at Scranton this year?

Nancy: Absolutely!

AmeriCymru: What's next for Nancy E. Wright?

Nancy: I leave Monday, January 16 for six months in Kolkata, India, where I have been awarded a Fulbright Teaching Grant to teach international relations at the University of Calcutta.

I am extremely honored and excited by this opportunity and look forward to learning more from my students than I am sure I shall impart while there.

On a somewhat more long-term basis, I also have a book project in process. It is a collection of poems and short stories with environmental themes. A number of the chapters have grown out of NAFOW Eisteddfod entries!

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Nancy: The eisteddfod is a marvellous Welsh tradition that I would love to see emerge in other cultures. I know every culture has its competitions and contests, but something about the eisteddfod is unique. Perhaps it is the combination of diverse categories of competition, accessibility to all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels, thorough and constructive adjudications, and wholly supportive and encouraging audiences that always inspires me.

I urge everyone with an interest in music, writing, recitation, or any other category offered to enter an eisteddfod, just for the experience if nothing else. Also, I want to express my gratitude for AmeriCymru. Just as the North American Welsh Choir's virtual nature enabled choristers to meet people throughout North America, AmeriCymru enables members to meet and correspond with an enormous spectrum of people who embrace Welsh culture in ways that would not have been possible a few decades ago. In a time when we are all justifiably concerned about problems with Internet use, it is gratifying to see such a wholesome and unifying use of the technology. I look forward to continuing to communicate while in India and of course, upon my return!

Interview by Ceri Shaw Home Email

Click Your Way Into the Top Ten on the AmeriCymru Welsh Directory!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

If you have added a listing to the brand new AmeriCymru Welsh Directory or if you are planning to, you might be interested in our latest new promotional feature. Here's how it woks:-

1. Create your listing Go to this page:- Add Entry ( or here if you want to read some brief instructions first:- Instructions For Posting) .

2. Promote On every directory listing page you will see two new features. Firstly the 'love' buttons ( '1' in image below ). We have added Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ buttons to all Directory listing pages. Use these buttons to spread the word and promote your listings page. If you get enough hits your page will make the Top Ten ( '2' in image below ). If it does a link to your page will appear on every Directory page in the top left hand corner 'Most Popular Entries' display.

click here for larger image

BUT THERE'S MORE! If you make the Top Ten in the Most Popular list you will also appear on every page ( currently more than 15,000 ) on the AmeriCymru social site in the right hand column ( see image below ):-

click here for larger image

AND the link to your Directory listing page will appear on every page of the AmeriCymru blog ( see image below ):-

click here for larger image

The listings on all pages will update at least once a day.

So if you want to advertise on every page of our network ...go to it.You have nothing to lose. Directory listings are completely free. Diolch a croeso to the AmeriCymru Welsh Directory.

Claim your FREE listing on the new AmeriCymru Directory NOW!

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Claim your listing on the new AmeriCymru Directory NOW! It only takes a minute and it's completely FREE!

AmeriCymru Welsh Directory

Three Reasons to Add Your Business/Society Listing to our Directory

The listings are all integrated with the DisQus commenting system which means that they are also integrated with Facebook/Twitter etc. You can circulate your listing via social networking channels, encourage others to do so AND use it to make announcements , special promotions etc.
The Directory can be a useful part of your linking strategy. As the site grows we are sure that it will become more highly ranked, consequently a link from the Directory will help increase your visibility in search results. You can add more than one link in the 'Long Description' field.
Most Directories do not generate a large amount of traffic. We intend that the AmeriCymru Directory will be different. It IS the Directory of a community and as such we will be driving traffic to it. It is intended that the Directory will serve as the focus for special promotions , competitions etc both on the AmeriCymru network and on other social sites.

There are two options:-

Without Login: You may post your listing without registering or logging into the site. If you adopt this method you will NOT subsequently be able to edit your listing. Use this method if you think that you will not need to alter or amend your listing at a later date. Simply click on Add Entry

With Login/Registration: Use this option if you think you may wish to alter your listing in the future. Requires username/password and email address. Simply click on Login

Here are some example pages:-

St David's Society of Greater St Louis

David Western Lovespoons

ADD YOUR LISTING NOW!

We will be using early adopters listings on various sites as example posts. SO sign up now to get free extra exposure for your business/site or society. Add Entry or Login

Cofion gorau

The AmeriCymru Team

Interview With Welsh Photographer Graham Williams

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:37:00 +0000

AmeriCymru spoke to Graham Williams a Welsh photographer based in Bangor, Gwynedd. Graham's ambition is to photograph the world starting with his own small part of it in North Wales.

AmeriCymru: Hi Graham and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. What sparked your interest in/and passion for photography?

Graham: Thanks for asking Ceri. To be honest it was actually quite an unrelated (perhaps superficial) aspect that attracted me to photography. It was the sheer sense of precision and weight of a Canon AV1 that my Dad bought in the 1980s.

This fascination then evolved over the years as a consequence of the places that I travelled to; whether that be on package holidays to Spain, R&R with the Royal Navy, cruise ships in the Caribbean, or an eco resort in Byron Bay in Australia. The one feature these experiences have in common is that I was unable to properly capture the sights, which is a real shame, as I remember when I was 8 plotting my travels of the world on the Reader's Digest World Atlas and planning at that time of writing 'my book of the world'. I can recall wind-swept tropical beaches in Ghana, feluccas sailing on the Nile at Aswan, and the sun setting at Venice- I haven't got a single photograph of these scenes! There's only one thing for it: go back with a camera. I also vividly recall the evening light in the Sahara desert as the red sand melded in with the red sky, simply amazing. The problem was that I was doing the Marathon des Sables at the time, which meant that there was absolutely no chance of taking a 3Kg camera around; I had even sawn my toothbrush in half to save weight. Again though, I definitely want to return to photograph the desert because it has such simple lines in the sand created by the wind, together with vibrant primary colours.

What really inspired me was the work of some Western Australian photographers. They managed to capture the colours and movement of the sea in an almost dream-like way. I then decided that I too would try my hand at it and I have the benefit of living in an area where there is so much more diversity of subject matter.

AmeriCymru: What are the main criteria that influence your choice of shots? What are your favourite photographic subjects?

Graham: The main criteria are that the image should invite the viewer to 'want to be there' and that it is aspirational. I find that strong composition and simplicity go a long way to achieving this. I don't have a favourite subject as such but I have found that on reflection water plays a major part in the pictures that I chose to show. This may take the form of lakes, seascapes, rivers, waterfalls, or snow. What I'm really looking for in the ideal photograph is a nice strong curving form that draws you in. Curves can be found by watching the movement of things; swaying grass, or the way water moves across rocks for example.

Slipping Away

AmeriCymru: What are the main advantages for a photographer in being based in North Wales?

Graham: The eye-opening experience brought about by foreign travel has enabled me to see North Wales in a different light. In the Whitsunday Islands I jokingly remarked to someone that it was just like the Mawddach Estuary in Barmouth. Now OK I was definitely joking but there was a grain of truth running through that comment and it only really occurred to me some weeks later. On reflection, the couple from Manchester that I made the remark to knew exactly what I was talking about and the irony was that we had flown 10,000 miles and found a common thread, namely sand, turquoise water, and mountains.

I can get in the car and within half an hour be on a beach, in an forest, by a river, in woodland, beside a lake, in the mountains, among sand dunes, or on a rocky cliff. The only thing I can't arrange is 28 degrees C with the occasional cloud for artistic effect!

Mawddach

Whitsunday

AmeriCymru: Can you elaborate on your connection with Australia?

Graham: I was born in North Wales and in 1973 we emigrated as £10 poms to Adelaide in South Australia. I started at the infants school there and started to speak 'Australian'. After a few years we returned to live in North Wales and then 32 years later, I returned there with my wife as we were considering emigrating and even visited my old house - a weird experience! Since then we have returned on four other occasions taking in places like Sydney, Hunter Valley, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Albany, Perth, Shark Bay, Margaret River, Whitsundays, the Daintree, and the Great Barrier Reef. Despite the horrendous exchange rate for us Poms (it gets worse on every visit), it's still definitely worth going there! Interestingly, most of the time photography is best done early or later in the day as this gives greater colour and shape. However, it can often be the case in Australia that 12 noon with a polarising filter is the best time, particularly in the northern parts. This is because a polarising filter will work in almost any direction that you chose to look when the sun is directly overhead.

Polarising Filter

AmeriCymru: OK...the technical stuff. What is your favourite photographic equipment? What cameras do you use and why?

Graham: In 1989 I worked in a camera shop in Cardiff and traded in my Nikon F401 for an F801 and thus began my brand alligience to Nikon. You tend to find this; once you become involved in one particular stable it becomes difficult to move away because you buy all sorts of extra pieces of kit that will only work with your brand. At that time I firmly believed that Nikon had the edge in terms of build quality. Due to the recession in 1990 I had to sell all my photography gear and it wasn't until 2010 that I reinvested in equipment and I suppose it was because of habit and the comfort factor that I bought back into Nikon once again. I bought a Nikon D5000. Some eight months later, as I result of people's comments, it became apparent that there was the potential to take things to a new level and so I took the plunge and went for an upgrade: a Nikon D3s. What I have found is that it is not the number of pixels that a camera has, it is how unique each pixel is able to be and this is very apparent with the new kit.

With regard to the 'digital dark room', I use a 27" iMac and Photoshop CS5. The Mac is callibrated and is the finest display I've seen so far. Whenever I send images for printing I use the printing company's ICC files and preview the image and adjust accordingly to ensure that the print is what I intended.

AmeriCymru: How important a role do photographers play in creating and representing Wales image abroad?

Graham: Things have now evolved to the stage where I believe the Internet can hold the key to the success of any business or even country; just look at what's happening in the middle east today. People read the internet differently from printed media; it takes them 25% longer to read it. They read out of sequence, they scan for hooks, headlines, and hyperlinks. The internet is a visual experience and it is therefore entirely logical that the value of a photographer has never been greater. When we speak of an image we can actually talk of two things; firstly there is the image in the traditional sense of a photograph, secondly there is the mental after-taste left in the viewers mind. The latter will have an effect on all manner of things from trade to culture to art. I believe the photographers' role has never been more important in this internet age- many people will know of Wales what we choose to show them. 2012 is going to be financially challenging for us all, so let's see if we can attract some of the Olympic visitors to Wales!

First Snow

Pensarn Turbines

Red Wharf Bay Morning

AmeriCymru: Any major events coming up?

Graham: I am really pleased to say that I've been invited to exhibit at Venue Cymru in Llandudno in 2013 Exhibition at Venue Cymru. I will be exhibiting between 1 May and 31 August. I am fortunate that photography is a passion, not a mortgage-paying enterprise and so we can develop things without worrying about sales figures or giving up the day jobs. This is great as the plan is just to get known currently.

AmeriCymru: Where can people go to view and purchase your work?

Graham: Online at www.ImagesByGrahamWilliams.com We're also aware that many people want to see a printed image before buying, so we have also made a selection available at Electric Mountain visitor centre in Llanberis, North Wales. Hopefully, other outlets will follow later this year.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Graham Williams?

Graham: I am really enjoying the photography and I'm learning all the time. We will be doing some more foreign travelling in 2012 although we haven't decided on where yet, somewhere in Europe and maybe the Canyonlands area, USA? In April 2013 we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary so want to do something extra special. And then of course, there's the Venue Cymru Exhibition!

I intend to do everything I can to continue to promote North Wales positively. It really is a beautiful and diverse area which is often overlooked by Welsh, British and foreign travellers.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Graham: Continue to promote AmeriCymru to all your friends and family and participate openly and respectfully on the site.Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Thank you for reading. Happy New Year!

Find more photos like this on Americymru

Interview by Ceri Shaw Google+ Email

Ten Questions With Welsh Writer, Cynan Jones

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:46:00 +0000

Cynan Jones lives near Aberaeron in west Wales. His first book, 'The Long Dry 'was published in June 2006. The novel , which won a Betty Trask Award in 2007 is set on a Mid Wales farm. His second book 'Everything I Found on The beach' is also set in West and North Wales. AmeriCymru dpoke to Cynan recently about his novels and his plans for the future.

AmeriCymru: Many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. What inspired you to become a writer?

Cynan: I find it difficult to be around good things without wanting to try and do something good myself. If I eat amazing food, I want to learn to cook. Reading amazing books probably made me want to write, way back. But in terms of inspiration, I think the question is mostly asked the wrong way round. I didn't get 'inspired to be a writer.' A person is inspired, and they find an outlet for that. Be it chefing, or excellence in sport, or writing. It's driven by a great love of a thing and the consequent desire to want to do it well.

AmeriCymru: Your first book 'After The Factory' is somewhat difficult to find. Care to tell us a little more about it and whether it will become more easily obtainable in the future?

Cynan: 'After the Factory' tells the story of Joseph Napoleon, a factory worker who comes home every night to his basement flat and, while trying to sleep, imagines the characters behind the footsteps that echo across the square outside his room.

It's a short work, but one that readers seem to like very much. It's very different from the two 'Welsh' novels. I'm hoping there will be some news on the 'After the Factory' front soon. I'll keep you posted.

AmeriCymru: In both your subsequent books:- 'Everything I Found on The Beach' and 'The Long Dry' the central characters life and circumstances are revealed through an intimate connection with their surroundings. How important is a sense of 'place' in your writing?

Cynan: A good story should work even when it's lifted out of its setting - I'm talking about the key themes, the big motors of the thing. This is how great 'universal' tales are built, even when they are humble like 'The Old Man and the Sea'. But creating a sense of place is akin to setting the spell, making a world for a reader. It happens that the main characters are very linked to their environments in both these stories so the sense of place is vital. It's the environment I grew up in and am very close to. While I haven't written that intimacy in deliberately, its picked up majorly by readers.

AmeriCymru: You live in West Wales and your books reveal a strong familiarity with the rural lifestyle. What is your background? What did you do before you became a writer?

Cynan: I grew up in West Wales and returned to live here at twenty eight after a stint in Glasgow working as a freelance copywriter. I grew up very close to my grandparents' farm, so spent most of my time there. The farm was small, sixty acres or so. But it had woods, fields and scrubland, and ran right down to a beach. It had an incredible range of places to play. I don't think I ever outgrew that. All I'm doing now really is playing made up games like I did when I was a kid. Just I'm writing things down rather than running round playing them.

Before now I've been a substitute teacher, mentored in a behavioural unit, worked on building sites and as a wine presenter. I've worked in aquariums, and in a kitchen. All sorts. I've done whatever it took to get by without getting tied up in a contract which wouldn't let me drop out to work on a book when I needed to.

AmeriCymru: Care to tell us a little more about The Long Dry. What can readers expect to find? How would you describe the book?

Cynan: The Long Dry is the story of a bad day that gets worse. A calving cow goes missing, and the farmer has to try and find it. He is meanwhile beset by doubts and questions.

I wrote it very quickly (in ten days) and immediately knew it was the strongest thing I was capable of at the time. That was back in 2005. It was accepted for publication relatively soon after I wrote it. It went on to win a Society of Authors first novel award, and has been translated into French, Arabic and Italian. It is ostensibly a very simple thing, but people say it's very strong.

AmeriCymru: Everything I Found on The Beach paints a grim picture of life in rural West Wales. How has the area been affected by the current economic hard times?

Cynan: In some ways there hasn't been a major 'boom' here, so we're not as badly affected as those places that grew and swelled with the prior injection of affluence. Statistically, people here earn considerably less than the average wage, and house prices are higher than near anywhere in the UK as compared to earnings, (because of the huge second home market). In terms of jobs, there's not much to do. There's farming, but on small family run farms that are increasingly unfeasible. There's some factory work in relatively small factories. There's a university and hospital in Aberystwyth and lots of seasonal work in tourism related industries. The local authority is a major employer. But the quality of life if good. If you use and appreciate this area, it pays back. You don't need vast amounts to exist. The grim element perhaps comes from the limited choices here.

AmeriCymru: How difficult is it for Welsh writers to get published and to succeed these days?

Cynan: It is simply difficult to get published, Welsh or not. (You could even argue it's easier when you're Welsh, particularly writing in Welsh, because of the funding that makes that process possible).

When I decided to write I said to myself: write as strongly as you can, everything else is a side effect. I've stuck by that. However, the key thing now is visibility. Breaking through the London-dominated media wall is difficult, and perhaps they don't take Welsh publishers as seriously as they should. In France and Italy my work had big reviews in major newspapers, with some extraordinary critical acclaim. The next step, as well as continuing to write strongly, is to get that attention on my own turf.

AmeriCymru: What do you read for pleasure? Any recommendations?

Cynan: I read massive amounts. Writers like Steinbeck, McCarthy, Carver and so on are on a different level. Brink, Coetze. Graham Greene, Orwell. The great writers. When you write yourself, the quality of the writing has to be very very high. For something more recent, try 'The Solitude of Thomas Cave' by Georgina Harding.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Cynan Jones? What are you working on currently?

Cynan: There's a new novel on the desk right now. Come the end of January, I'll start work on the final draft. It's called 'Traces of People.'

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Cynan: Keep reading! When you read something you like, tell everyone!

Interview by Ceri Shaw Google+ Email

Welsh Double Agent Arthur Owens - An Interview With Madoc Roberts, Author of 'Snow'

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:01:00 +0000

Snow

SNOW is the codename assigned to Arthur Owens, one of the most important British spies of the Second World War. Described by MI5 as a typical 'Welsh underfed type' he became the first of the great double-cross agents who were to play a major part in Britain's victory over the Germans. AmeriCymru spoke to author Madoc Roberts about this fascinating and little known character.

Madoc Roberts

AmeriCymru:- Hi Madoc and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. When did you first become aware of 'Snow'? What piqued your interest?

Madoc:- I have my own television production company called Barkingmad tv and amongst other things we traced Hitler’s relatives to Long Island in New York. This involved getting hold of files from both the American and British Governments. Around the same time I noticed files about a Welsh spy called Snow were being released. I started researching him in case there might be a television programme in the story and that was the start of a six year search which ended up as my first book. This involved reading hundreds of secret Mi5 files and tracing his family. I have discovered a son in Ireland and a Hollywood branch of the family.

Snow’s real name was Arthur Owens and he was born in Pontardawe and later moved to Canada where he invented an improvement to batteries which he hoped would make his fortune but nobody wanted it so he came back to Europe . One day he walked into the German embassy in Belgium and came out as Germany’s master spy in Britain with the codename Johnny O’Brien. Every German spy sent to Britain was told to contact Johnny. What the German’s didn’t know was that he was already working for the British security services and he handed all these agents over to Mi5. That is how this little Welshman became the most important British double agent during the early years of WWII

Arthur Graham Owens

AmeriCymru:- How easy was it to access the MI5 files necessary for your research? How much work was involved?

Madoc:- The files were all kept at the National archives in Kew where the staff are very helpful. The problem is that the system is not easy to follow so you have to be very persistent to get what you want. There were hundreds of pages on Snow (his real name was never mentioned) so I photographed them all, took them home and started reading this amazing story which had never been told. In many cases you are the first person looking at these files that were written over sixty years ago, so it is a thrilling experience.

AmeriCymru:- How valuable was Owens work to the allied cause?

Microdot Stamp

Madoc:- The pattern that Arthur Owens set as Mi5’s first wartime double agent was followed by all those who followed. By the end of the war Mi5 controlled every single agent that Germany had sent to Britain and they also took their expenses which means that the Germans were paying for Mi5s operation. The greatest success of the double cross system was the D-Day deceptions which saved thousands of allied lives. It has been described as the greatest military deception since a large wooden horse was discovered one morning outside the city of Troy. On top of all this Arthur Owens messages which were sent to his handlers in Hamburg were used to make the first British breakthrough in the German Enigma code. He also went on may exciting missions involving early infra-red systems, trying to capture senior German spies and he brought back information regarding German plans to poison British reservoirs. I would say he was vital to the allied cause.

AmeriCymru:- OK I have to ask...which side was he on? Or was he playing both sides to his own advantage? The trip to Lisbon and the spell in Dartmoor are as confusing as they are intriguing.

X-rays of Detonators
Inside Batteries

Madoc:- Arthur Owens has always had bad press and his role as the founder of the double cross system has largely been ignored. The reason for this is because most of the books that bother to mention him rely on German sources for their information but of course these sources were based on false information that Mi5 were sending to the Germans in order to send them on the wrong path. Mi5s problem with him was that unlike most of their other agents who were ex criminals, Arthur Owens was a volunteer. His initial motive may well have been money but he had something of worth and in 1935 when he started spying for the British security services we were not at war with Germany. The public school boys and ex-military types of Mi5 described him as a “typical underfed Cardiff type” and he is often categorised as a fervent Welsh nationalist who sang folk songs to entertain the Germans but his son denies that he could sing a note. The information he gave to the Germans was all cleared by Mi5 and the formation he brought back from his exciting missions was invaluable.

After his final mission to Lisbon Mi5 decided that they couldn’t trust Snow anymore and chose to believe the ex-criminals they had watching him. The problem with the double game was that it was hard to know when an agent was tricking them or just playing their part as a Nazi spy. One false move and an agent could find themselves being put up against the wall and shot by either side. Arthur Owens liked a drink and everyone at his local pub seemed to know that he was a spy so when Mi5 had him detained in Dartmoor it was probably his saving grace. It is typical of Arthur Owens that even when he was in Dartmoor he took it upon himself to spy on his fellow inmates and he brought out some of the first information about the German V2 rockets.

AmeriCymru:- Why do you think the Heath government blocked rehabilitation of Owen's name?

Madoc:- In the 1970s several books were published about the double cross system and this was the first time that their existence was acknowledged publicly. These books painted a very unflattering picture of Arthur Owens who was portrayed as an untrustworthy, duplicitous, womaniser. Upon reading these accounts his eldest son Robert wrote to the Prime Minister asking to be allowed to tell his side of his father’s story. However Ted Heath used the official secrets act to block Robert’s right of reply. Robert probably had a rose tinted view of his father’s activities and by the strict letter of the law none of the books should have been published either. In fact the authors had to go America to find publishers. After the war Arthur Owens used his skills as a master spy to change his identity and vanish because he feared that someone he had double crossed might catch up with him. This not only made it a very difficult task to find him, it also left a vacuum which was filled by myths and half-truths. He didn’t want to be rehabilitated he just wanted to start a new family and forget about his war time activities.

AmeriCymru:- There is a Hollywood connection to this story. Care to tell us what it is and how you discovered it?

Patricia Owens

Madoc:- The Mi5 files mentioned that Snow had a daughter who they called Pat. I knew from her age that she would have been born in Canada but finding Canadian citizens is not easy as only family can apply for certificates. The only Patricia Owens I could find in Canada was a Hollywood film star who was the star of the original version of The Fly so I dismissed her as a mere coincidence. There were many people looking for Arthur Owens on the internet but by this time I knew that most of the books were wrong when they gave his middle name as George. I had discovered the patent for the battery invention which gave his middle name as Graham. So when someone replied to one of my requests for information saying that his father might be Snow’s son and that his name was Graham I got in touch with him. We compared notes and it became obvious that I was talking to a son of agent Snow from his second family which he started in Ireland. The Graham told me that as a boy he had been taken to the pictures to see The Fly and his mother told him that the leading lady on the screen was his sister. Patricia Owens had a glittering career appearing in over thirty films alongside the likes of Marlon Brando, James mason and Vincent Price. However she lost touch with her father and lived in fear that the public portrayal of him that emerged of him as a Nazi spy would become public and her career would be over.

AmeriCymru:- Do you think there is more to be discovered about this devious and fascinating character?

Madoc:- Snow is buried in an unmarked grave in Ireland because his son can’t quite work out what to put on his stone. I do find it a bit of a coincidence that he died only a few days after a newspaper article was published about his activities as a spy. At the time he was living in Ireland where he attended nationalist meetings and clapped loudly at the end of speeches although he couldn’t understand a word of Irish. If he had been sent to Ireland to infiltrate Sinn Fein then his time in Dartmoor would have given him the perfect cover but as with all things in Snow’s story you never know if things are true or whether it is all part of the double cross game. I may have to make another visit to the National archives to see if I can uncover even more.

AmeriCymru:- Where can our readers go to buy the book online?

Madoc:- Snow: the double life of a world war II spy is available through Amazon here

It has also just been released in the USA and can be purchased here

And is available on Kindle here

If people want to read more about Snow they can go to the codenamesnow site Where there is more information, a video interview with Snow’s son which features clips of Patricia with Marlon Brando in the Oscar winning Sayonara. The site also has a BBC Wales news item about him and a BBC Radio Wales interview I did on Jammie Owen’s show.

There are also lots more pictures including previously unseen family photos on my Facebook site

AmeriCymru:- What's next for Madoc Roberts?

Madoc:- I have just finished editing an interesting episode of the channel four archaeology series Time Team which went in search of Shakespeare’s house in Stratford upon Avon. I am also hoping that we might get a chance to make a follow up feature film to “Flick” which we made a few years ago and starred Faye Dunaway as a one armed cop in search of a killer zombie! Also an American record label has re-released my bands single from the seventies. We were called the Tunnelrunners and we were a punk band which played in the Swansea area. One of the original singles sold on eBay recently for $1,000 and a re-release of four other songs will come out soon. On the book front I am looking at a Nazi plot to kidnap the Duke of Windsor which I am provisionally calling Operation Willi and the Nazi Queen. It is a great story but a bit of a minefield when it comes to the research so we will have to see how it goes.

AmeriCymru:- Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Madoc:- Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn Newydd dda I chi gyd and if you are looking for a gift with a seasonal title then let’s all hope that we get Snow for Christmas. (Geddit? Sorry.)

Interview by Ceri Shaw Email

West End Star, John Owen Jones Is Latest Addition To Llangollen 2012 Lineup

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:58:00 +0000

John Owen Jones

Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera star John Owen-Jones is the latest big name star to join the 2012 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod concert series line-up.

Owen-Jones, who is originally from Burry Port, will feature in the Grand finale musical extravaganza on Sunday 8 July. The award-winning and record-breaking West End and Broadway performer joins classical singer and Go Compare advert star Wynne Evans, Evans’ brother Mark Llywelyn Evans, soprano Fflur Wyn and Côr CF1 on the iconic Llangollen Pavilion stage.

The announcement comes as concert and field tickets are officially released on general sale via the Box Office (01978 862001) and on the Eisteddfod website.

John Owen-Jones says, "I'm really looking forward to performing at the Llangollen Eisteddfod’s Grand Finale, so much so that I'll be flying in from Dublin especially to sing there. Everyone taking part are going to make sure the audience that night go home feeling the Eisteddfod kept the best show for last!"

Owen-Jones is currently reprising his role as The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera having previously a successful stint between 2001 and 2005, and becoming the longest running Phantom.

Other names confirmed to appear at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 2012, between Tuesday 3 July and Sunday 8 July, include Alfie Boe, Karl Jenkins, Lesley Garrett, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and instrumentalists Alison Balsom and Nicola Benedetti.

John Owen Jones – Artist Biography

John Owen-Jones, from Burry Port in South Wales, is an award winning and record-breaking West End and Broadway performer. He is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and as The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.

After training at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, John, at the age of twenty six became the youngest actor ever to play the role of Jean Valjean in the West End production of Les Miserables. He is one of only a handful of actors to have played the role of Valjean both in the West End and on Broadway following the revival of Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York in 2008. In a worldwide online poll, John was voted the “Best Ever Valjean” and “Best Ever Performer” in Les Miserables, by fans of the show.

John returned to play the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables for its 25th anniversary tour and was recently awarded the Manchester Evening News Award for the Best Actor in a Visiting Production for his performance as Jean Valjean, on the tour. The Manchester Evening News described his performance as “a truly astonishing achievement that must be one of the greatest stage performances of all time.” John was also part of the Valjean quartet featured in the finale of the Les Miserable 25^th Anniversary Concert at the O2 Arena, London.

John is currently reprising his role as The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, at her Majesty’s Theatre, London. He initially played the role nearly 1500 times from 2001 to 2005, making him the West End’s longest running Phantom. The Daily Mail described John as being “better than all the talented actors who preceded him in the role.”

Other roles include Ravenal in Raymond Gubbay’s production of Showboat at the Royal Albert Hall, Cleante in Moliere’s The Hypochondriac at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Mr Elanson in A Little Night Music at the Royal National Theatre.

John has performed as a soloist in concerts around the world from Bangkok to Bangor, North Wales! John has been a presenter for BBC Radio Wales and has made numerous appearances on television. John’s first solo recording ‘Hallelujah’, was released in 2006 on the Sain Label and his second album “John Owen Jones” was released in 2009. His third album will be released early next year, to coincide with a new UK tour of Phantom in January 2012.

2012 Llangollen International Eisteddfod

Tuesday 3 July – Sunday 8 July

2012 concert schedule in full –

Tickets on general and online sale from Monday 5 December 2011

Tuesday 3 July 2012

One World, One Stage, One Llangollen Welcome – Performances by some of the best and most colourful competitors of Llangollen 2012

Tickets - £15, £10

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert

Alison Balsom, Lesley Garrett and Nicola Benedetti with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Tickets - £35, £28, £15

Thursday 5 July 2012

Alfie Boe at Llangollen featuring All Singing, All Dancing Show Choirs competition

Tickets - £30, £20, £15

Friday 6 July 2012

Karl Jenkins’ The Peacemakers and Valentina Nafornita (Winner – Cardiff Singer of the World 2011)

Tickets - £25, £20, £15

Saturday 7 July 2012

Choir of the World – The Pavarotti Trophy

Tickets - £25, £20, £15

Sunday 8 July 2012

Grand Finale – Wynne Evans, John Owen Jones, Mark Llywelyn Evans, Fflur Wyn, Côr CF1 and many more

Tickets - £25, £20, £15

The Eisteddfod

Six days of the best music and folk dance from all over the world in one place! More than 4,000 competitors, from over 50 countries will take part, including some rare visitors from South Korea, China, Moldova, Slovakia.

Full booking info:

Reserve your tickets from MONDAY 5 DECEMBER 2011! Online booking at www.international-eisteddfod.co.uk

Box Office: 01978 862001 9.30am to 4.30pm weekdays.

Email tickets@international-eisteddfod.co.uk

By post: Llangollen Eisteddfod Box Office, Royal International Pavilion, Abbey Road, Llangollen, LL20 8SW.

Season Tickets: amazing offers!

Become a Season Ticket Holder or a Friend of the Festival to have access to priority seating arrangements and great offers;

Platinum Season Ticket – £185 (Days and evenings, except Tuesday day. Official Souvenir Programme included)

Gold Season Ticket - £125 (Valid Tuesday to Sunday CONCERTS only) Official Souvenir Programme included

Silver (Day) Season - £70 (Valid Wednesday to Saturday Competitive Session only)

Weekend Ticket – £80 (Friday – Sunday evening concerts including Saturday day)

Alun Wyn Jones’s World Cup Year

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:03:00 +0000

“If there is an image that captures how the passion of Welsh rugby and the pride of Welsh identity cannot be separated, it is Alun Wyn Jones singing the national anthem” Carolyn Hitt.

2011 has been an exceptional year for Welsh rugby. As Wales narrowly missed out on a place in the World Cup Final, every single passionate Welsh rugby fan experienced excitement, elation and yes, disappointment. But undoubtedly, the overriding emotion has to be pride. What better way to celebrate this remarkable year than to share the experience of arguably one of Wales’s most passionate rugby players – Alun Wyn Jones.

Alun Wyn Jones’s World Cup Year, published by Gomer Press, is Alun Wyn’s first book, and it has been a very busy year for the Ospreys, Wales and British Lions second-row forward.

His diary gives us an insight to his thoughts on good and bad days with his regional side, as well as on the Welsh team’s performances during both the Six Nations Tournament and the Rugby World Cup. Find out what he thought of that red card, of the heartbreaking defeat against France and what the future holds for this inspiring young team.

Contrary to popular belief, there is more to an international star’s life than rugby. Although a great deal of time is dedicated to training and hard work on the playing field, there is an occasional day off, and Alun Wyn has made the most of them this year. Living every man’s dream, he spent a day as James Bond in an Aston Martin and a visit to the Dyfi Osprey Project inspired the Ospreys captain to think like a ‘real’ osprey on the rugby field!

One of his co-authors, Alun Wyn Bevan, also helped him realise another ambition by arranging a fishing lesson for him, but this was no ordinary lesson – it was a lesson from none other than rugby legend Gareth Edwards on the river Tywi.

When Alun Wyn Jones was approached to be part of this project to raise funds for the Stepping Stones Appeal, he felt it to be both his duty to accept and an honour to have been asked. By giving of his time and effort for the sole benefit of the charity, Alun Wyn has proved what Carolyn Hitt says of him: “He’s everything you want the modern Welsh player to be – hugely talented on the field and a rounded individual off it.”

The co-author of this book is Alun Wyn Bevan, who is well known as an experienced author, broadcaster, rugby commentator and former referee. Alun Wyn Jones explains in the introduction to the book how a mix-up involving their Christian names brought both authors together.

This remarkable and memorable year in the history of Welsh rugby is captured with striking, exclusive photographs from the World Cup campaign by Huw Evans, the WRU’s official photographer.

Alun Wyn Jones’s World Cup Year is the ideal Christmas gift for all rugby fans.

All royalty payments from the sale of the book will be donated to the Stepping Stones Appeal, supporting Lung Cancer Research at Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff.

Alun Wyn Jones’s World Cup Year is available from all good bookshops and online retailers.

For more information, please visit www.gomer.co.uk

A Message From The 'Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation' ( Please Circulate )

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Hello,

We're sending this to everyone in our address book and if this isn't of interest to you or you can't remember who the heck we are or why we'd be writing you, our sincere apologies!

We run an Oregon arts and culture non-profit, the Meriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation. An eisteddfod is a Welsh performing arts festival and the purpose of our non-profit is to bring Welsh art and artists to the US, to introduce Americans to these traditions and give American artists this opportunity to present their work. We've done three years of presenting this festival, the first two years in Portland the third in LA. We brought Welsh musicians, authors and artists to American audiences, writers from our first two years gave free presentations and lectures at Portland area schools and libraries on writing and poetry and spoke at Wordstock. In our third year, more than 2,000 people attended free presentations on music, literature, poetry and heritage at Barnsdall Art Park in Hollywood and found our more about Welsh people in America.

We are 100% funded by donations, we're full-time + volunteers who take no pay, all proceeds of donations go to fund the programs we deliver and we need help to make it happen.

Chase Bank is doing the Chase Community Giving competition on Facebook again this year: basically, this is a sort of beauty contest for non-profits. Facebook members vote for non-profits and Chase gives out grants as prizes. We're working to get to the bottom tier and qualify for one of several $25,000.00 grants, which would be enough to fund our annual arts and heritage festival and fund another smaller event in addition, like a writing activity for school children or a local literary and literacy event.

I'm writing to ask you to please vote for us in the Chase competition now - if you're a Facebook member, log in and vote at the link, below, if not, please consider joining Facebook to vote for us at the link below. Just click on the link, log in, click the button to like the application at the top left and then click the big, green VOTE button on the page:

http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/263243673-mlmef?src=vote_share

Make sure you vote by hitting the big, green VOTE button, not just like the charity or the page. If you have any trouble, if the VOTE button doesn't work or something else goes wrong, please email me or message me on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/gaabriel.becket and let me know!

(After you vote for us, you have nine more votes you can cast for other worthy charities.)

This doesn't cost you a penny, will only take a few moments and you can really help us out by doing something quick and easy! We have only two weeks to make it, PLEASE vote for us and help us get there!

Thank you so much for your time and attention - Gaabriel Becket

Interview With Dave Lewis - Welsh Author of 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' - "...good old fashioned sex and violence"

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:56:00 +0000

"Dave Lewis is a writer and poet based in Pontypridd, south Wales. He also lectures IT & Photography, designs web sites and is a keen photographer. He has always lived in Wales except for a short spell in Kenya in 1993-94 and enjoys travelling to different parts of the world. He writes content for and still maintains many web sites, was web producer for the BBC Wales Scrum V fanzine, has run four hugely successful rugby sites with Rivals.net and used to write a newspaper column for the Pontypridd Observer " more AmeriCymru spoke to Dave about his latest novel 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' and other literary projects.

Ctrl-Alt-Delete by Dave Lewis

AmeriCymru: Hi Dave and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Your first novel 'Ctrl-Alt-Delete' is currently available on Kindle. Care to tell us a little more about the novel and what inspired it?

Dave: I guess it's a crime thriller. A Facebook, cyber-stalking, murder mystery, love story with some good old fashioned sex and violence thrown in for good measure.

I've always wanted to follow in the footsteps of someone like James Patterson and be a successful commercial writer, if only to allow myself time out from the day job to develop my writing skills more.

Having worked in IT for 17 years I am always amazed at how innocent to the dangers of the web people can be and whilst I had the idea of linking a number of very different local characters together in a very fast, filmic novel, I imagine my computer knowledge helped inspire the main thrust of the book.

One of the reviews says: ‘Could do for Wales what Stieg Larsson did for Sweden!’ which is a great compliment and hopefully true ;)

Amazon link - http://amzn.to/s9c6qU

From Amazon.co.uk:

When beautiful Jenny Morris uses Facebook to get her ex-boyfriend Hal Griffiths to stalk her she has no idea what a dangerous game she is playing - for someone else is watching from the murky shadows of cyberspace.

And when an horrific murder in a sleepy Welsh village stirs a seasoned reporter, a conceited detective and an overweight IT expert into action, they too always seem to be one step behind the mysterious killer - Hagar.

Against the backdrop of a tangled web of deviant sexual practices Hal must rescue his lover before the killer strikes again. In the wilds of the Brecon Beacons National Park an electrifying climax is played out when Hal is forced to confront his deadly rival.

Social and political commentary within a close-knit community has never been so honest. Pornography morphs into technology and we are forced to ask ourselves the question - will man’s lust for instant gratification ultimately be his undoing?

A full-throttle thriller effortlessly blending violence, eroticism and suspense, Ctrl-Alt-Delete is both a modern love story and a prophetic tale of intrigue in our ever-distracting machine driven world. A truly gripping debut novel by Dave Lewis.

AmeriCymru: How intrusive and how dangerous do you think modern social media/networks are? Can technology go too far?

Dave: Very dangerous (just read the book) ;) I'm sure that we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg at the moment and things will get much worse before people wake up. I read one study last year that some young people spend five times more time 'socialising' online than they do in the real world - this is very sad when there is a great big beautiful world out there to explore.

There are security/identity issues with online use, health issues and outright dangers, especially when you delve into the world of internet dating and pornography.

Technology is neutral I guess and will just continue to develop to enable more people to participate and therefore consume, it's a capitalist world and the masses of India, Africa and China are not even in the game yet - it's Christmas for sellers!

AmeriCymru: Are you planning a sequel to 'Crtl-Alt-Delete'

Yep! I can't say too much but it's half written in my head and whilst the first book is set almost entirely in Wales, the second will be in Kenya and... Nah, that would be telling ;)

AmeriCymru: What are the advantages of publishing digital editions? How easy (or difficult) is it to publish on Kindle?

Dave: Hopefully, budding writers can by-pass the traditional and outdated agent/publisher route and just get on with it. It's about 2-3 years quicker, very easy if you have a few computer skills and some very basic html knowledge. You also get to control commissions etc. I used the least commission / hopefully more sales option, e.g. my novel is just 86p or 99cents and already in less than 2 weeks I've sold nearly 100 copies (in UK).


Sawing Fallen Logs ForLadybird Houses Dave Lewis

AmeriCymru: You have also published three anthologies of poems and short stories. Your third collection Sawing Fallen Logs For Ladybird Houses is accompanied by photographs on your website. How do the two media work together?

Dave: Yeh, the poetry is always a constant and I'm sure I'll continue to publish poetry for many years to come. Sawing Fallen Logs... was a concept I had a few years back. I applied for a bursary from 'Literature Wales' to enable me to get a publisher in Wales but as they only seem to give money to the same old faces... I do what I always do if they are not willing to support grass roots art of this kind - I just do it anyway. To publish full-colour images alongside the poetry as was envisaged would have been better but in the end was just too expensive to do. Luckily the poems stand alone anyway, but for those that have bought the book and given me feedback they don't see it as such a drawback having to have the images open on a laptop or iPad.

AmeriCymru: You were a runner up in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2009 with your short story 'Onions'. Can you tell us more about the story? Do you plan to write more short stories?

Dave: 'Onions' was a challenge to the politically correct mainstream literary world and they seemed to fall for it hook, line and sinker! Very satisfying :) Many thought it highlighted the racism within a working class valleys culture but actually all it shows is that there is good and bad everywhere and that people just get too hung up on clichés, stereotypes and jumping on the BBC bandwagon of over-the-top political correctness.

The story is set in a south Wales valleys curryhouse and I take the stresses and strains we all face to extremes when an Al-Qaeda recruit (a pubescent, confused young lad who is neither one thing nor the other) blows up a restaurant. The story highlights culture within culture by means of jumping between tables in the room and from the waiters’ point of view rather than the customers.

I've got two more stories in Urban Birdsong and have a couple of others ready for a future book.

AmeriCymru: In addition to writing you have also organised the Welsh Poetry Competition for the past five years. How has the competition grown and developed since 2007?

Dave: It's been fantastic! We went from a few hundred entries mostly from within Wales in the first year to becoming truly international a couple of years later and get entries from all over the world now. I think the success has been down to our great judges, John Evans, Mike Jenkins and Sally Spedding and the fact that the competition is judged fairly, unlike many I won't mention ;)

AmeriCymru: Who is the judge this year?

Dave: It's a secret, but OK then, John Evans ;)

AmeriCymru: What are you reading at the moment? Any recommendations?

Dave: My favourite book of all time is 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists' but at the moment I'm reading Gary Snyder - Turtle Island, a Patricia Cornwell book, a Sandy Denny biography and Crash by JG Ballard, plus anything else lying around... ;)

AmeriCymru: Favourite pub in Ponty?

Dave: Always was the Llanover Arms, but a new watering hole has emerged recently in the form of The Patriot - award-winning real ales, great landlord and always packed! The 'Llan' will always have a special place in all Ponty peoples' hearts of course, I've been drinking there myself since I was 15 or 16 ;)

AmeriCymru: What's next for Dave Lewis?

Dave: I've got a book of haiku half done plus bits and bobs, photography to catch up on, but I guess I really should start on a sequel to Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then the third...

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Dave: Merry Christmas of course, does time fly as fast in America as it does here in Wales? Oh, and buy my book of course (is that allowed Ceri?)

AmeriCymru: Certainly is...BUY DAVE'S BOOK: Ed :)

Interview by Ceri Shaw Email

An Interview With Sarah Woodbury - King Arthur, Time Travel And Medieval Mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:25:00 +0000

Sarah Woodbury "With two historian parents, Sarah couldn’t help but develop an interest in the past. She went on to get more than enough education herself (in anthropology) and began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded she let them out. Her interest in Wales stems from her own ancestry and the year she lived in England when she fell in love with the country, language, and people. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names."...more Sarah spoke to AmeriCymru recently about her writing, King Arthur and the location of Camelot.

AmeriCymru: Hi Sarah and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. What influenced you to write historical fiction and in particular, historical fiction set in Wales?

Sarah: I've always been interested in my personal Welsh history. My ancestors left Wales in the early 1600s for Massachusetts. Their lives and the family they left behind in Wales were a focus of my research beginning in the late 1990s. I began writing historical fiction set in Wales five years ago when my children reached their teenage years. I wanted to write books for them to read that were accessible and fun, but gave them something concrete about their heritage to hang on to.

AmeriCymru: In your 'After Cilmeri' series you combine historical fiction with time travel. Care to tell us how this combination occurred to you?

Sarah: It's really very simple: I have always hated that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd died the way he did. Even at the time, it was said that if he'd held on for just a few more days, all of Wales would have flocked to his banner. Who's to say? Perhaps he would have defeated King Edward, who was being pushed to the wall by his English barons (who cared not at all for Wales and thought it a drain on the exchequer) and his creditors. Certain moments in history have repercussions far beyond the events of the time, and the death of Llywelyn is one of those moments. Seven hundred years under the English boot followed. I could have written a straight historical fiction in which Llywelyn died--but where's the fun in that? History changing time travel seemed to provide the answer.

AmeriCymru: Three of your books concern the reign of 'King Arthur' and its aftermath in Welsh history. Care to tell us a little more about them?

Sarah: Historically speaking, King Arthur (if he existed at all--still subject to debate), was Welsh. The historical sources for King Arthur begin with the Y Goddodin—a Welsh poem by the 7th century poet, Aneirin, with it’s passing mention of Arthur. The author refers to the battle of Catraeth, fought around AD 600 and describes a warrior who “fed black ravens on the ramparts of a fortress, though he was no Arthur”. This reference is followed in time by the writings of Taliesin, Nennius, and the tales of the Mabinogi, all written before Geoffrey of Monmouth popularized Arthur in his book dating to the middle of the 12th century. (more on my blog: Historical Sources for King Arthur

Thus, if King Arthur was a real person, he was resolutely Welsh, in which case, he reigned at a crucial time in Welsh history. This story is not the same one that is often told in popular fiction. I wanted to tell the story of the real Arthur, and try to capture what life might have been like in that era. Cold My Heart is set in the time of Arthur himself. The Last Pendragon and The Pendragon's Quest follow Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon who lived in the 7th century. These latter two books are steeped in the pagan and Christian worlds that permeated Dark Age Wales.

AmeriCymru: Many locations have been advanced for the location of King Arthur's Camelot:- Cadbury Castle, Caerleon, Wroxeter and Stirling Castle to name but a few. Where do you think Camelot was located?

Sarah: Geoffrey of Monmouth places Arthur at Caerleon (the Roman fort, Isca) on the River Usk in Wales. Who knows how accurate this assessment is, but at least it's in Wales. Camelot proper is first mentioned in the romance, Lancelot, written by the French poet Chretien de Troyes between 1170 and 1185. He made it up. I placed my King Arthur in Gwynedd at Garth Celyn (Aber), a long-time seat of the the northern kings. Other choices for 'Camelot' could be Aberffraw, Deganwy, or Dinas Bran. As a side note, Dinas Bran is purportedly where Joseph of Arimathea left the Holy Grail.

AmeriCymru: In 'The Good Knight' we are treated to a medieval mystery in the tradition of the late great Ellis Peters. Is this the first of many? And if so will Gareth and Gwen be appearing in future episodes?

Sarah: Most definitely! I am writing the next mystery as we speak for publication in 2012 and hope to continue with many more installments in the years ahead.

AmeriCymru: What title/titles would you recommend to readers wanting to acquire a background knowledge of medieval Welsh history?

Sarah: For historical fiction set in medieval Wales, Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh trilogy (ending with The Reckoning and the story of the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd) are required reading. Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael books are wonderful; most are not set in Wales but Cadfael is Welsh. She also wrote (as Edith Pargeter) the Brothers of Gwynedd quartet, recounting the story of the life of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. On my bookshelf is also J. Beverly Smith's monumental work, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, (publlication date, 1998).

AmeriCymru: What are you reading at the moment? Any recommendations?

Sarah: I have just finished the last of Anna Elliott's trilogy of Tristan and Isolde, Sunrise of Avalon. It is wonderful. She follows the more Norman/French tradition, in terms of location and mythology of Arthur, but sets parts of her books in Wales too.

AmeriCymru: Where can readers go to purchase your works online?

Sarah: Everywhere! My books are available in both ebook and paper format at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Sarah Woodbury?

Sarah: I'm writing the next Gareth and Gwen mystery as part of National Novel Writing Month (starting November 1). It is going to be great fun. I'm also well into the third book in the After Cilmeri series (called Crossroads in Time), which follows the adventures of Anna and David, two teenagers transported in time back to the medieval kingdom of Wales.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Sarah: In May of 2012, my husband and I are traveling to Wales for two weeks. It's been too long since I've visited and he has never been. If anyone has a place they think I need to visit, email me (dr.sarahwoodbury @ gmail.com) and let me know! I love hearing from people who've read my books and look forward to connecting with other people of Welsh descent. Diolch yn fawr!

AmeriCymru: Diolch Sarah!

Interview by Ceri Shaw Email

Made in Wales - Halen Môn

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:28:00 +0000

Reproduced with kind permission of Cymru Culture Magazine

Neither of us can quite remember how we first came to hear of Halen Môn. But we'd definitely heard of it before we tasted it. We remember deciding, while we were on the island, to combine a visit to the Anglesey Sea Zoo with a look around the Halen Môn 'factory' next door. That was in 2004, and the Head Chef at Tŵr Cymru Culture Towers has bought no other salt since.

Halen Môn has gone from strength to strength since the company's foundation in 1997; becoming an iconic Welsh brand in those few short years. They have won award after award, including an accolade from Feria de Gastronomia, voted on by Michelin starred chefs, who noted Halen Môn as one of the world's top five gastronomic products. In the first of our series on great Welsh products, Alison Lea-Wilson, Director and co-founder of The Anglesey Sea Salt Company, agreed to tell us about the journey from cottage kitchen industry to gastronomic stardom ...

Alison Lea-Wilson

CC … How long had you been making salt at home before you decided to sell it? What inspired you to make it yourself, rather than to buy it?

ALW … We had been looking for new business ideas whilst still running Anglesey Sea Zoo. We both loved the business, but whilst it made money in the summer it steadily lost it in the winter and we wanted to give our staff year round employment. We sat down for a day and looked at a whole range of business ideas and the sea salt was one that stuck. We started making it at home and tasting it and then we realised we had struck 'culinary gold'!

CC … You certainly had. When did you realise you had something very special?

ALW … I think it was when we were approached at an exhibition (International Food Exhibition in London) by a charming Spaniard who was desperate to import it. He assured us that the top Spanish chefs would love it, and indeed they did. Given that Spain is the world's largest exporter of sea salt we were particularly flattered to have been approached.

Afon Menai at Brynsiencyn, Ynys Môn - the source of Halen Môn's organic sea salt

CC … How many other names were on the shortlist, before you decided on Halen Môn?

ALW … Halen Môn was always the front runner- it's easy to spell and to pronounce, and it reflects what it is.

CC … Did you think you may be taking a risk by using a Welsh language name?

ALW … We were told that Welsh products had no advantage, but we didn't believe it. We wanted to establish ourselves as an Anglesey product from the very beginning - and now, happily, Welsh provenance is being recognised all over the world as a quality marque.

CC … What was your early packaging like?

ALW … It was designed by FBA in Aberystwyth. It was white fish on a dark blue background; the same blue as we have today. The fish were meant to symbolise the sea - not the flavour, as some people thought. We wrapped the blank tubes by hand with the sticky labels as we needed them. And in those days you were only allowed to sell salt in certain weights so we chose 250g. Now we pack from 3g sachets to 25kg bags and we've just rebranded to make ourselves even more Anglesey-centred, with the help of the wonderful Sid Madge of Madhen.

The current 100g range

CC … Did you receive much help from government agencies?

ALW … We really owe our success to Menter Môn who believed in the product and gave us a grant to purchase the first equipment. Almost more important than the money was the belief that we were on to something workable. Lots of other people said that no one would buy it because it was far too expensive.

CC … What was your first outlet?

ALW … David, my partner, co-director and co-founder, went to London and attended a sales exhibition for a day. He took 2 orders, one from a London deli, which has since gone bust, and one from our local butchers in Menai Bridge - still a customer today!

CC … Selling through Waitrose and Marks and Spencer must have transformed your business. What were the main changes?

ALW … They helped us be a lot more professional and lay down systems to make the product more consistent. We now have BRC accreditation [the technical standard for food packaging manufacturers, developed jointly by the British Retail Consortium and the Institute of Packaging – Ed.]. Our third inspection this year has given us a Grade A. They also gave us the volume we needed to be able to invest more in the business.

Salt harvesting at Halen Môn's Brynsiencyn factory on Ynys Môn

CC … Your products have had some fabulous endorsements. Which ones have made you the proudest?

ALW … It's difficult to pick them out really - I get equal satisfaction from local chefs such as Keith Rothwell from the Bulls Head Inn in Beaumaris and the Executive chef of the Mandarin Oriental group in Hong Kong. I also get an enormous kick out of the fact that President Obama's favourite chocolates, made by Fran's in Seattle, are topped with our oak smoked Halen Môn.

CC … What should our daily salt consumption limit be?

ALW … Six grams, and that includes the salt in all the 'processed' foods, such as cereals, bread etc. We are supplying a growing number of manufacturers, as our Halen Môn sea salt contains more taste, for less sodium. Perfect if you are trying to cut down on salt consumption.

CC … I am able to buy products from around the world in my local Tesco. However, so many top quality products made right here in Wales are not stocked. And the same goes for Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's. Why aren't the major supermarkets beating a path to your door?

ALW … Actually, although I take your point about ease of purchasing, selling to supermarkets is a tricky business, especially for a product like Halen Môn that trades on quality not price. Small businesses get squeezed and we are seriously worried by the way things are going for a lot of products and producers. We are able to sell through farm shops and delis and are just about to start working with Amazon. We are more comfortable with that as a sustainable business model.

CC … You've travelled around the world to meet clients and potential customers. Would you like to share any highlights with us?

ALW … We have been very privileged to visit places like Russia, Shanghai and Finland and we've made friends along the way. We also get to go into kitchens and have delicious food cooked for us by friendly chefs. And we also do tastings in big stores like Harvey Nichols and Harrods - it's fascinating to see behind the scenes.

CC … Your quest for world domination looks to be going according to plan (Halen Môn is sold in around two dozen countries worldwide already). With which breakthrough were you happiest?

ALW … I love the process of selling; to meet enthusiastic chefs and retail buyers and show them the range, and then to get the order is a fabulous feeling. We are about to start supplying the wonderful Leon chain of restaurants in London with a bespoke blend, and I've just come back from seeing the Catering Manager of my local National Trust restaurant who wants to use it in their kitchens and on the restaurant tables. It's a great feeling that people will be enjoying it all over the world, in small and bigger outlets. I've got a very important meeting coming up later this week and if we get the order I will be shouting it from the rooftops!

CC … How many people are employed on your site?

ALW … Twelve. And the salt harvesters' initials appear on the bottom of each tube so you can see who made what you are sprinkling onto your food.

Salt harvesters Keith, Gareth and John at the Brynsiencyn factory

CC … Tell us about your product range.

ALW … Pure sea salt in different sized crystals from ground to order, to three centimetres across and fine and coarse in between; organic spiced; organic celery; Welsh oak smoked and Tahitian vanilla. Our latest product is a beautiful ceramic kilner jar filled with pure Halen Môn, complete with wooden spoon and it is perfect for table top use and by the cooker.

CC … I can't wait to try the organic celery salt. A good Bloody Mary is hard to beat, and I reckon Halen Môn celery salt will give it a real zing. Are any other flavours in the pipeline?

ALW … It certainly does. We are working on a seasonal range, hand blended and packed into dinky kilner jars and it will include lavender, chilli and garlic, and a special Christmas blend.

CC … Alison Lea-Wilson, thank you.

Try some Halen Môn recipes:

With Organic Celery Seeds … Use as a dipping salt for quails' eggs, in a classic Bloody Mary or in savoury dishes like winter casseroles and roasted vegetables.		With Tahitian Vanilla … With a fine dusting of vanilla seeds, this salt is the perfect partner for white fish, shellfish, salads or creamed vegetables. Or use it to add a decadent edge to anything chocolatey.
With Welsh Oak … Slowly smoked over Welsh oak chippings, this salt has a warming, autumnal aroma. Serve with scrambled eggs, poached chicken, fish, raw oysters, or give chocolate or caramel desserts a deliciously quirky twist.		With Organic Spices … Mixed with nine organic and Fair Trade spices, this salt has a rich, rounded flavour. Perfect with tomato, cheese or roasted meat dishes or sprinkled over roast potatoes for a glorious, spicy crust.

An Interview With Welsh Writer Lloyd Jones - Electric Sheep And A Small Mouse

noreply@blogger.com (Ceri Shaw) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:00:00 +0000

AmeriCymru: Hi Lloyd and many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed by AmeriCymru. You have recently finished your second Welsh language novel Y Daith Care to describe the book for our readers?

Lloyd: The book begins and ends with Mog Morgan washing up at the sink on the morning after his fiftieth birthday. We go on a journey of discovery along the Welsh borders as Mog traces the history of his marriage to Meg. Using devices such as questionnaires, e-mails and postcards, Mog reveals a lot about his attitude towards women and love. Brought up in a children's home, he is inept and frightened of life; he lives in a daydream and has a comical relationship with his psychiatrist. The book is a bittersweet and tragi-comic examination of the self in relation to one's homeland and other people. I hope it's rather sad and quite funny.

AmeriCymru: Y Daith is dedicated to Pol Wong and Carrie Harper from Wrexham "who were responsible for bringing to the public's attention the Welsh Assembly and local authorities' underhanded plans for destroying the beauty and culture of north Wales through unlimited housing development and the encouragement of immigration," Can you tell us more about the dedication and the campaign against the housing development?

Lloyd: This has been such a bad experience, and an illustration of the widening gap between the people and politicians of Britain. No-one was happier than I when the Welsh Assembly came into existence, but then a group of campaigners led by Pol and Carrie discovered that our politicians and councillors had been working covertly with English agencies to establish townships in North Wales which would be colonised by immigrants. I've nothing against immigrants, but desecrating Wales's legendary beauty and killing off what's left of the native culture is surely too high a price to pay. What really rankled was the sneaky way our 'leaders' went about it. For instance, a bunch of venture capitalists want to build a huge greenfield estate by a lovely little Welsh village, Bodelwyddan, famous for its landmark marble church, so the Welsh Assembly went behind our backs and downgraded the land so that the plan could go ahead. The whole thing stinks to high heaven.

AmeriCymru: You are also contributing a volume to the Seren New Tales From the Mabinogion series. Which of the tales are you 'modernizing' and when can we expect to see it in print?

Lloyd: I'm writing a modern version of the third branch, about Manawydan, a nice bloke who has to put up with a lot of shit. It's an honour to be involved, since the stories so far have been told by the cream of Welsh writing, and I've enjoyed their renditions. It's all downhill from here folks! I think my version comes out next Spring.

AmeriCymru: Many people enjoyed your first collection of English language short stories My First Colouring Book . Do you have any plans for further collections?

Lloyd: That little book didn't register on the literary richter scale in Wales. Not a blip. A very small mouse stifling a yawn in a dark hole three miles below Llanddewi Brefi would have had a greater effect on Welsh literature than My First Colouring Book. One the other hand, the Wales-inspired Extreme Sheep LED Art on YouTube has enjoyed well over 15 million hits, so the obvious answer is to write exclusively about sheep running around the Welsh hills, fetchingly adorned with fairy lights. I did consider writing a tract comparing the decline of the Welsh Mountain Sheep (rather gorgeous) in direct relation to the native Welsh (also rather gorgeous) but I was afraid I might attract the attention of the authorities again. Last time I got away with a fine and a warning, but I wouldn't get away with it again.

AmeriCymru: For three years now you have generously agreed to be the judge for the West Coast Eisteddfod Short Story Competition. Do you have any advice for this years competitiors?

Lloyd: Be yourself, and just enjoy it.

AmeriCymru: What are you reading at the moment. Any recommendations?

Lloyd: I'm reading In the Shadow of the Pulpit by Professor M Wynn Thomas, a very readable book about the influence of the Nonconformist religion on Welsh literature. Together with a family history I did recently, it tells me exactly where I came from, and why I write the way I do. It's very well written by a very nice man who knows his subject inside out. I've been wading my way through the Penguin Modern Classics recently and two American authors have made a distinct impression: I loved the rampant use of language in Don DeLillo's Americana, and I was mesmerised by Walter Abish's writing style in How German Is It.

AmeriCymru: What's next for Lloyd Jones?

Lloyd: Over the years I've produced a couple of poetry chapbooks, featuring squibs and short light poems. I've taken it up a notch or two and I'm trying to write a decent book of poetry.

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Lloyd: Hia!

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Made in Wales - Halen Môn

With Organic Celery Seeds …

With Tahitian Vanilla …

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With Organic Spices …

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