New Welsh Review 70, Winter 2005

Editorial:

Land of the Free? (Francesca Rhydderch)

American foreign policy has had such a bad press since 9/11 that it has become easy to forget, or at least to overlook, Wales’s love affair with both American continents, North and South. Ever susceptible to the power of myth, Welsh cultural historians have long peddled the tale of Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd, who, so the legend has it, first ‘discovered’ America in the twelfth century. When reports later reached Wales of a tribe of white blue-eyed American Indians in the Far West who spoke Welsh, it was assumed that they were the descendants of Madoc. Iolo Morganwg, that ultimate faker and maker of national lore, subsequently sent John Evans to find the Welsh Indians in a bid to recapture, in suitably Romantic spirit, something of the magic of the original tale. Evans’s mission was unsuccessful.
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Features

• Gwyneth Lewis in America by Kathryn Gray
  The National Poet of Wales talks to Kathryn Gray about the crucial role played by her experience of America in her development as a bilingual poet.
  
  
• Dreams of Detroit by Anne Price-Owen
  Anne Price-Owen explores aspects of the development of Richard Cox's art, particularly the influence of the American Abstract Reductionists.
  
  
• Buenos Aires Diary by Richard Gwyn
  Richard Gwyn recalls a literary tour to Buenos Aires that went badly wrong when his niece was kidnapped.
  
  
• A South American Childhood by Lynette Roberts (radio talk)
  A revealing autobiographical piece, Lynette Roberts's radio talk on her South American poems to celebrate the launch of her Collected Poems published by Carcanet.
  
  
• Photo/Poem Collaboration by David Hurn and Owen Sheers
  Magnum photographer David Hurn will be collaborating with various writers in future issues of New Welsh Review to produce a series of specially-commissioned photo/poem pages. In this issue we show the work of David Hurn and Owen Sheers.
  
  
• Photo Essay by Tiago Venancio
  A series of images from Buenos Aires.
  
  
• A Writer's Writer by Andrew McNeillie
  Andrew McNeillie reflects on the the influence that Roland Mathias has had on him.
  
  
• Preview by various
  Up-coming events in Wales, December to March.
  
  
• Books we didn't have space to review in the magazine... by New Welsh Review
  David Barnes, The Companion Guide to Wales, Boydell & Brewer, 1900639-432, £16.99, pb. A travel guide that combines a well-informed historical perspective with a profound cultural awareness and a deep-rooted connection with the landscape. Gerald Morgan, Ceredigion: A Wealth of History, Gomer, hb, 1843235013, £24.99. A lively, comprehensive and beautifully illustrated history of the county. Preface by Joshua Fishman. Ed. Sam Boardman-Jacobs, Radio Scriptwriting, Seren , £7.95, pb, 185411347X. Essays by a range of contributors, including Louise Page and Christopher Hawes, which take the reader behind the scenes and reveal the mechanics of producing a finished script. A Bibliography of Welsh Literature in English Translation, Rhian Reynolds, University of Wales Press, hb, 0708318827 £25.00, July 2005. This volume maps for the first time the translation history of Wales’s two languages. Among the thousands of translations recorded here are the acknowledged classics of European culture – The Mabinogion, the work of Dafydd ap Gwilym, the hymns of Williams Williams Pantycelyn, and the plays, fiction and political writings of Saunders Lewis. Fiction Jo Verity, Everything in the Garden, Honno Modern Fiction, pb, £6.99, ISBN 1870206703. A lively first novel by the winner of Richard & Judy’s 2003 ‘Write Here Right Now’ short story competition. Ed. Dewi Roberts, Heartland: Short stories from north-western Wales, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, £7.50, 0863818900, pb. This comprehensive anthology features stories by Kate Roberts, Emyr Humphreys, John Sam Jones and Angharad Price. With a foreword by Jim Perrin. Herwood/Arvon: Young Writers’ Apprenticeships 2004/5, Worple Press, pb, 1905208022. In 2004, nine young writers were selected by their MA course tutors and then by three Arvon-appointed mentors to spend six months developing their novels. This is a selection of some of the work produced during the scheme. Includes work by Kate North and Bethan Roberts. Mike Jenkins, Short and Shorter Fiction, Gomer, pb, £7.99, 1843234912. A new collection of short stories from Mike Jenkins, many of them written in the Merthyr dialect. His previous collection, Wanting to Belong, won the Welsh Book of the Year Award in 1998.
  
  

Fiction

• East St Louis Toodle-Oo by John Williams
  An extract from a novel-in-progress
• Rifling Paradise by Jem Poster
  A preview extract from a new novel

Poems

Poems by :
Stephen Knight
Fiona Owen
Tamar Yoseloff (a sequence)

Reviews

The majority of books reviewed in New Welsh Review can be bought online from gwales.com, the Welsh Books Council's online bookshop, by simply clicking on the 'buy now' icon. For any that are unavailable, please contact the publishers or ask in your local bookshop. All details were correct at the time of publication.

• So Long, Hector Bebb by Ron Berry, with a forword by Niall Griffiths
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638808  pb £6.99
  Reviewed by Harri Roberts
  
  
• Border Country by Raymond Williams with a forword by Dai Smith
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638816  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Harri Roberts
  
  
• The Movement of Bodies by Sheenagh Pugh
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 1854113763  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by John Redmond
  
  
• The Media in Wales by David M. Barlow, Philip Mitchell, Tom O'Malley
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN 0708318398  pb £15.99
  Reviewed by Geraint Talfan Davies
  
  
• The Colour of a Dog Running Away by Richard Gwyn
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638549  pb £9.99
  Reviewed by Abigail O'Reilly
  
  
• Imaging the Imagination by Eds. Christine Kinsey and Ceridwen Lloyd-Morgan
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN 1843234335  hb £24.99
  Reviewed by Hugh Adams
  
  
• Sideways Glances by Ed. Jeni Williams
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 190263845X  pb £14.99
  Reviewed by Hugh Adams
  
  
• Happy Accidents by Tiffany Murray
  Published by Harper Perennial
  ISBN 0007183674  pb £6.99
  Reviewed by Will Atkins
  
  
• Temperance Town by John Williams
  Published by Bloomsbury
  ISBN 0747570981  pb £9.99
  Reviewed by Carrie Jadud
  
  
• Swansea Girl by Barbara Hardy
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 185411381X  pb £8.99
  Reviewed by Barbara Prys Williams
  
  
• Years on Air by Teleri Bevan
  Published by Y Lolfa
  ISBN 0862437172  pb £9.95
  Reviewed by Barbara Prys Williams
  
  
• Cecil & Noreen by Patrick Corcoran
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 1854113887  pb £6.99
  Reviewed by Barbara Prys Williams
  
  
• Playing Mercy by Matthew David Scott
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638557  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Rose Widlake
  
  
• Jewel and Thorn by Richard Poole
  Published by Simon & Schuster
  ISBN 0689872909  hb £12.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• Football by Lewis Davies
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638530  pb £6.99
  Reviewed by Alyce von Rothkirch
  
  
• Seeing without Light by Simon Turley
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638638  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Alyce von Rothkirch
  
  
• Still Life by Charles Way
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638662  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Alyce von Rothkirch
  
  

Letters

• A Hundred Years of Fiction - Patrick McGuinness
• Psychogeography - Lloyd Jones
• Welsh noir - Jim Leaper