New Welsh Review 61, Autumn 2003

Editorial:

How Black is Noir? (Francesca Rhyddech)

It takes a brave critic to identify trends in contemporary Welsh writing. Half the books you are dealing with have hardly been reviewed yet, let alone penetrated the academic, cultural and critical consciousness which has dominated debates on Welsh writing in English. This difficulty is compounded by the evident shifts in cultural and civic identity which have taken place since the establishment of the National Assembly, and the re-focusing of external perceptions of Wales.
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Features

• A Belated Rise to Fame by Peter Lord
  Peter Lord reviews the National Museum's Thomas Jones exhibition and questions the value of connoisseurial art criticism. He believes '...that pictures have no essential meaning and no intrinsic quality. A picture is a silent partner in a dialogue with the sentient.'
  
  
• Not Going Gently: a place called dying, a time called living by Kaite O'Reilly
  Kaite O'Reilly reflects on her experience of editing Shelf Life, a collection of creative work by a group of new writers with predetermined or shortened life expectancy.
  
  
• Hearing Voices by Stevie Davies
  From history, via fiction to radio drama, Stevie Davies relates her experiences of researching and writing on women's voices from the 17th century.
  
  
• The Case of the Vanishing Hero by John Pikoulis
  A profile of Richard Lewis Davies, founder and Publishing Director of Parthian Press.
  
  
• Dylan's Forgotten Mornings by David N. Thomas
  Colin Edward's taped interviews with relatives and friends of Dylan Thomas were donated to the National Library of Wales in 1996. In this article David Thomas, who edited the collection to be published by Seren in 2004, focuses on the importance of Dylan Thomas's 'square mile' and the web of family relationships into which he was born.
  
  

Fiction

• Living in Hope by Gee Williams
  
• The Day I Was Eaten by a Lion by Rhys Thomas
  
• Noi by Huw Lawrence
  

Poems

Poems by :
Welsh Writers against the War:
Gillian Clarke
Stevie Davies
Menna Elfyn
Richard Jones
Fiona Owen
Owen Sheers

Cardiff International Poetry Competition Prize winners:
Emma Jones
Jamie Walsh
Jenny Swann

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 work '95-'98 by Ed Thomas
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638247  £9.99
  Reviewed by Alyce von Rothkirch
  
  
• Poems for Dylan by Vernon Watkins
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN 1843232367  £5.95
  Reviewed by Victor Golightly
  
  
• The Pterodactyl's Wing by Richard Gwyn (Ed)
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 190263828X  £9.99
  Reviewed by Richard Poole
  
  
• The Red Rubber Ball of Happiness by Frances Williams
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 1854113364  £6.95
  Reviewed by Tiffany Atkinson
  
  
• bbboing! and associated weirdness by Lloyd Robson
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 0902638298  £7.99
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• Shush! by Lloyd Robson
  Published by Blackhat
  ISBN CD  £7.00
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• To the God of Rain by Tim Liardet
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 1854113356  £6.95
  Reviewed by Matthew Jarvis
  
  
• The Everyday Apocalypse by David Lloyd
  Published by Three Conditions Press
  ISBN 097212411X  £Not supplied
  Reviewed by Matthew Jarvis
  
  
• The Gospel According to Frank by David Lloyd
  Published by New American Press
  ISBN 1930907192  £5.00
  Reviewed by Matthew Jarvis
  
  
• Ghosts of the Old Year: New Welsh Short Fiction by Not supplied
  Published by Parthian
  ISBN 1902638271  £5.99
  Reviewed by Stephen Wade
  
  
• The Prince of Wales by John Williams
  Published by Bloomsbury
  ISBN 0747559759  £9.99
  Reviewed by John Harrison
  
  
• Fire Mountain: How One Man Survived the World's Worst Volcanic Disaster by Peter Morgan
  Published by Bloomsbury
  ISBN 0747556768  £14.99
  Reviewed by Jon Gower
  
  
• Who Speaks for Wales? Nation, Culture, Identity: Raymond Williams by Daniel Williams (Ed)
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN 0708317847  £14.99
  Reviewed by Dai Smith
  
  
• History and Legend: Writing the International Brigades by Robert Stradling
  Published by University of Wales Press
  ISBN 170831774X  £35.00
  Reviewed by Stephen Wade
  
  
• Blue: 101 haiku, senryu and tanka by Nigel Jenkins
  Published by Planet
  ISBN 0954088115  £6.50
  Reviewed by Richard Poole
  
  
• How Glass Becomes Sand by A.L. Doughty
  Published by Gwasg Pantycelyn
  ISBN 1903314348  £7.00
  Reviewed by Richard Poole
  
  

Letters

• War Archives, Editorial NWR 60 - Nigel Jarrett
• Punters by Herbert Williams - Richard Jones
• Dylan Thomas sketch - Meic Stephens
• Lynette Roberts - Isabel Adonis
• Wales, the Anglo-Welsh literary magazine - John Idris Jones
• 'The Last Days of Dolwen' - Dewi Roberts