New Welsh Review 64, Summer 2004

Editorial:

'Hiraeth' and a new cultural ecology (Francesca Rhydderch)

On May 1st, the day on which ten ‘new’ countries gained accession to the European Union, I was amazed to read reports that Plaid Cymru were expressing concern that an enlarged Union would result in fewer opportunities for minority cultures such as Wales. Such narrow political sentiment seemed a poignant expression of the failure of the party to develop an intellectual discourse for the twenty-first century capable of encompassing an increasingly complex and cosmopolitan modern Welsh identity.
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Features

• 'The Shape-shifter's Kingdom' by Patrick McGuinness
  A review of new collections by Gwyneth Lewis and Robert Minhinnick. Both include translations from Welsh into English, and Patrick McGuinness considers what can sometimes be a 'fraught' and culturally-loaded process.
  
  
• 'Quietly as Snow' by Walford Davies
  Gwydion Thomas, the only child of R.S. Thomas and artist M.E. Eldridge, talks to Walford Davies about his experiences as the son of artistic parents, and discusses the interrelationship of their respective fields in their creative partnership. Among other things, he argues that the artistic output of his mother has yet to be accorded the critical attention it deserves, and he also reflects upon the tensions of the public persona and private life of R.S. Thomas.
  
  
• From Hay-on-Wye to the Haymarket Riots by Daniel Williams
  While Hay-on-Wye has become famous for its literary connections, it is a little-known fact that the town claims a significant place in the life and work of American novelist William Dean Howells, contempory of Henry James and Mark Twain. In this article, Daniell Williams explores Howells' Welsh roots and considers the ways in which the author used his ethnicity to challenge the widely-held view that Americans were 'the English race in the United States'.
  
  
• Sleeping with the Enemy by Grahame Davies
  Grahame Davies was recently awarded an Academi Writer's Bursary in order to enable him to produce an English-language version of his novel Rhaid i Bopeth Newid. In this article he reflects on the tensions of becoming a writer who works in both languages.
  
  

Fiction

• In Leading Reins by Stevie Davies
  
• Underground by Brian George
  
• The Tao of Silk by Donna Evans
  

Poems

Poems by :
Sam Adams
Ruth Bidgood
Paul Henry
Stevie Krayer
Jo Mazelis
Richard Poole
Zoë Skoulding
Ifor Thomas

Cardiff International Poetry Competition winners 2004
Anne-Marie Fyfe
Stephen Duncan
William Hampton

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.

• Selected Poems by R.S. Thomas
  Published by Penguin Modern Classics
  ISBN 0140188908  pb £9.99
  Reviewed by Katie Gramich
  
  
• Collected Later Poems 1988-2000 by R.S. Thomas
  Published by Bloodaxe
  ISBN 1852246480  pb £9.95
  Reviewed by Katie Gramich
  
  
• Dyn yr Eiliad by Owen Martell
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN 1843233053  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Jon Gower
  
  
• Medicine in Wales c. 1800-2000 by Anne Borsay (Ed)
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN 070831824X  hb £40.00
  Reviewed by Glyn Elwyn
  
  
• The Poems of Rowan Williams by Rowan Williams
  Published by Perpetua
  ISBN 1870882164  pb £10.00
  Reviewed by Richard Poole
  
  
• The Hare That Hides Within by Anne Cluysenaar and Norman Schwenk (Eds)
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638387  pb £5.95
  Reviewed by Richard Poole
  
  
• O My Swan by Fiona Owen
  Published by Flarestack
  ISBN 190039765X  pamphlet £3.00
  Reviewed by Carrie Etter
  
  
• Imagining the Full Hundred by Fiona Owen
  Published by Gwasg Pantycelyn
  ISBN 1903314607  pb £4.50
  Reviewed by Carrie Etter
  
  
• Cyfaredd y Cysgodion: Delweddu Cyrmru ar Ffilm, 1935-1951 by Gwenno Ffrancon
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN 0780318339  pb £14.99
  Reviewed by Kate Woodward
  
  
• Gaudier-Brzeska: An Absolute Case of Genius by Paul O'Keeffe
  Published by Penguin/Allen Lane
  ISBN 0713993278  hb £29.00
  Reviewed by Herbert Williams
  
  
• Stevenson Under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel
  Published by Canongate
  ISBN 1841954497  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Amanda Hopkinson
  
  
• As I Was a Boy Fishing by Lewis Davies
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638328  £5.99
  Reviewed by Anna Kiernan
  
  
• For Anatole's Tomb by Stephane Mallarme translated with an introduction by Patrick McGuinness
  Published by Carcanet
  ISBN 1857546369  pb £9.95
  Reviewed by Heather Williams
  
  
• The Last Crossing by Guy Vanderhaeghe
  Published by Little, Brown
  ISBN 0316726176  hb £14.99
  Reviewed by John Barnie
  
  
• An Underworld at War by Donald Thomas
  Published by John Murray
  ISBN 0719563402  hb £20.00
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• Deception in War by Jon Latimer
  Published by John Murray
  ISBN 0719562163  pb £8.99
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• Behind You! by Ruth Morgan
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 1843232693  pb £3.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• Billy Jones, Dog Star by Sian Lewis
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 1843231697  pb £4.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• Merlin Wakes by Graham Howells
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 1843232111  pb £4.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• A Wind from the Sea by Jennifer Morgan
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 184323209X  pb £4.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• Weird Tales from the Storyteller by Daniel Morden, illustrations Jac Jones
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 1843232103  pb £4.50
  Reviewed by Catherine Fisher
  
  
• Second Thoughts by Neil Nuttall and Andy Hawkins
  Published by Pont
  ISBN 1843230461  pb £5.95
  Reviewed by Jeni Williams
  
  

Letters

• 'So Whats's This National Theatre Debate?' (NWR 63) - Geraint Talfan Davies
• Swansea Bay Asylum Seekers Support Group - Tom Cheesman
• Welsh Kitsch - Leonora Brito