New Welsh Review 55, Spring 2002

Editorial:

A prospect of the sea (Victor Golightly)

I’m standing on the promenade, near the Mumbles, in Swansea, a few hundred yards from my home. After a night of high winds, the waves are running across the path, firmly but without malice, confident of their rights, and pulling away again, leaving a fresh lick of sand. I’m unpacking my worries, and my memories, in cold wellingtons before breakfast. There’s a cold comfort in the experience of such indifferent and overwhelming power, and this traditional remedy for muddle and heartbreak is an effective one: the ever-changing colours of the sea and clouds, the curve of the coastline fading into the mist, the solid dependability of the light-house, and ships receding like calmly departing souls, all offer an optimistic vista from Dylan Thomas’s Devon-facing shore.
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Features

• States of fear by Walford Davies
  Davies relates his experience of being in America on a teaching trip and the added poignancy of his subject material at the time of the September 11th attacks.
  
  
• Success against the odds by Grahame Davies
  Davies looks at the state of the Welsh language in terms of poetry in Welsh and looks at some of the best Welsh poets under the age of 45.
  
  
• Screen Cymru by Rhydian Reeves
  Davies examines the films of the 2001 Welsh International Film Festival.
  
  
• Dylan Thomas: the Celebration by Gilbert Bennett and Donna Jones Paananen with photography by Bernard Mitchell
  Bennett and Paananen tell of their experiences of the fourth annual Dylan Thomas Celebration.
  
  
• Cinderella and the Capital of Culture by Rian Evans
  Evans examines the recent situation of the Welsh National Opera in light of the commencement of work on their new home, the Wales Millenium Centre.
  
  
• In Memory of Graham by Maureen Rhys and John Ogwen
  Rhys and Ogwen share personal recollections of Graham Laker.
  
  
• Adrift in the Mainstream by Roger Owen
  Owen looks at a selection of Welsh theatre productions from the autumn season.
  
  
• Private View by Tony Curtis
  Curtis examines a selection of autumn's Welsh art exhibitions.
  
  
• Books I Remember by Rian Evans
  Evans looks at the most memorable books from her life.
  
  

Fiction

• Mrs. Minter by S. A. Afolabi
  
• Avin a Field Day by Mike jenkins
  
• Between the Walls by Matthew Francis
  
• My Friend Ludovic by Guillaume Apollinaire trans. Malcolm Parr
  

Poems

Poems by :
Allan Crosbie
James Davies
Paul Henry
Floyd Skloot
Ifor Thomas
Anna Wigley

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.

• Dylan Thomas by John Goodby and Chris Wigginton, eds.
  Published by Palgrave
  ISBN   235pp £13.99
  Reviewed by Victor N. Paananen
  
  
• Arthur Giardelli: Paintings, Constructions, Relief Sculptures by Derek Shiel
  Published by Seren
  ISBN   164pp 24 colour plates £30
  Reviewed by Peter Wakelin
  
  
• Nations and Relations: Writing Across the British Isles by Tony Brown and Russel Stephens, eds.
  Published by New Welsh Review
  ISBN   155pp £9.99
  Reviewed by Katie Gramich
  
  
• Austerblitz by W. G. Sebald
  Published by Hamish Hamilton
  ISBN   415pp £16.99
  Reviewed by Stevie Davies
  
  
• Goodbye Twentieth Century by Dannie Abse
  Published by Pimlico Original
  ISBN   £12.50
  Reviewed by Tony Curtis
  
  
• The Rebecca Rioter: A Story of Killay Life by Amy Dilwyn
  Published by Honno Classics
  ISBN   xxii + 178pp £8.99
  Reviewed by Stephen Derry
  
  
• Welsh Journal by Jeremy Hooker
  Published by Seren
  ISBN   252pp £7.95
  Reviewed by Stevie Davies
  
  
• Footsore on the Frontier: Selected Essays and Articles by Nigel Jenkins
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN   222pp £8.95
  Reviewed by Stevie Davies
  
  
• Hazard's Way by Roger Hubank
  Published by Ernest Press
  ISBN   248pp £12
  Reviewed by Jim Perrin
  
  
• A Human Condition by Rhys Davies
  Published by Parthian Books
  ISBN   127pp £5.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Merriman
  
  
• Outside Paradise by Sian James
  Published by Parthian Books
  ISBN   128pp £5.99
  Reviewed by Catherine Merriman
  
  
• Triptych by R. Gerallt Jones
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN   172pp £7.50
  Reviewed by Catherine Merriman
  
  
• Cardiff Cut by Lloyd Robson
  Published by Parthian Books
  ISBN   109pp £5.99
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• The Welsh of London by Emrys Jones ed.
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN   hb/pb £20 hb £14.99 pb
  Reviewed by R. J. Buswell
  
  
• On Angel Mountain: A Pembrokeshire Tale by Brian John
  Published by Greencroft Books
  ISBN   326pp £6.99
  Reviewed by Kirsti Bohata
  
  
• A Gower Story by Deborah Fisher
  Published by Tregolwyn
  ISBN   232pp £5.99
  Reviewed by Kirsti Bohata
  
  
• Frail Flesh by Rob Watson
  Published by Seren
  ISBN   230pp £6.95
  Reviewed by Kirsti Bohata
  
  
• Frail Flesh by Rob Watson
  Published by Seren
  ISBN   230pp £6.95
  Reviewed by Kirsti Bohata
  
  
• Voice From a Correspondent by Ric Hool
  Published by The Collective Press
  ISBN   £6.50
  Reviewed by Jane Blank
  
  
• The Mold Tragedy of 1869 by Jenny and Mike Griffiths
  Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwlach
  ISBN   68pp £3.95
  Reviewed by Dewi Roberts
  
  
• Portrait of North Wales by Michael Senior
  Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
  ISBN   178pp £6.90
  Reviewed by Dewi Roberts
  
  
• Wilder Wales by Ivor Wynne Jones
  Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
  ISBN   230pp £4.95
  Reviewed by Dewi Roberts
  
  
• Anglesey Past and Present by Wendy Hughes
  Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
  ISBN   166pp £4.95
  Reviewed by Dewi Roberts
  
  

Letters

• Lack of support for Welsh writing - Mary Oldham
• The greatest British Monarch - John Idris Jones