Issue 79, Spring 2008

Editorial

Soundtracks and Scores (Francesca Rhydderch)

Welsh writing has been marching to a different beat since devolution: the last ten years have seen confident experimentation on the part of writers, bold dissent within the literary establishment and a growing number of literary lists being developed by Welsh publishers. Add to that the burgeoning export of Welsh fiction and poetry beyond the UK in various European languages and the increasing number of writers working as freely in English as they do in Welsh, and the literary and critical landscape is almost unrecognisable in comparison with the outlook a decade ago.
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Features

• Commemoration and Amnesia by Rachel Trezise
  
  Rachel Trezise interviews poet and playwright Patrick Jones about his work, his burning desire to inspire and enable young and disadvantaged people, and the influence (or not) of his younger brother’s band, the Manic Street Preachers.


• Opera and the Word by Penny Simpson
  
  Penny Simpson looks at a new generation of librettists, and the exciting changes that have been taking place at the Welsh National Opera over the past six years.


• Good Vibrations by Charlotte Greig
  
  An extract from The Moon To Play With, a memoir by folk singer, songwriter, and novelist Charlotte Greig.


• She Sings of a(n Iron) Maiden by Sarah Morse
  
  Sarah Morse examines the role of music in new fiction from Wales, including the work of Rachel Trezise, Hayley Long and Clare Potter.


• Photo /Poem Collaboration by David Hurn and Christine Evans
  
  


• A Writer's Music by Matthew Francis
  
  Portrait of the Poet as a Failed Musician: the elusive music of poetry.


• Photo Essay by Maciej Dakowicz
  
  Street Music

Fiction

• Arrivals by Tristan Hughes
  Fiction extract from Revenant
• An Elephant in the Thames by Bethan Roberts
  

Poetry

Poems by :
Tiffany Atkinson
Ros Barber
John Kinsella
Kevin Mills
Chris Preddle

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.

• After the First Death: An Anthology of Wales and War in the Twentieth Century by Ed. Tony Curtis
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 9781854114501  pb £9.99
  Reviewed by Robert Minhinnick
  
  
• Modern Welsh Dictionary: A Guide to the Living Language by Ed. Gareth King
  Published by Oxford University Press
  ISBN 9780199228744  pb £9.99
  Reviewed by T. Robin Chapman
  
  
• Y Llyfr Enwau: Enwau'r Wlad: A Welsh Check-List of Welsh Place-Names by D. Geraint Lewis
  Published by Gomer
  ISBN 9780843237358  pb £17.99
  Reviewed by T. Robin Chapman
  
  
• Perffaith Nam / Perfect Blemish by Menna Elfyn
  Published by Bloodaxe
  ISBN 1852247797  pb £12.00
  Reviewed by Claire Crowther
  
  
• 'Blerwytirhwng?': The Place of Welsh Pop Music by Sarah Hill
  Published by Ashgate
  ISBN 9780754658986  hb £50.00
  Reviewed by Cathryn Scott
  
  
• It Means Nothing To Me by Geraldine Monk and David Annwn
  Published by West House Books
  ISBN 9781904052210  pb £4.50
  Reviewed by Zoe Brigley
  
  
• Dark Wires by Zoe Skoulding
  Published by West House Books
  ISBN 9781904052203  pb £3.50
  Reviewed by Zoe Brigley
  
  
• 19th Century Blues by Patrick McGuinness
  Published by Smith/Doorstop
  ISBN 9781902382883  pb £3.00
  Reviewed by Zoe Brigley
  
  
• A Performance Cosmology by Eds. Julie Christie, Richard Gough and Daniel Watt
  Published by Routledge
  ISBN 9780415372589  pb £29.99
  Reviewed by Chris Ricketts
  
  
• Walking to Work by Simon Whitehead
  Published by Shoeless
  ISBN 9780955402005  pb incl. CD £12.99
  Reviewed by Chris Ricketts
  
  
• The Pools by Bethan Roberts
  Published by Serpent's Tail
  ISBN 978152424992  pb £10.99
  Reviewed by Kaite O'Reilly
  
  
• Hector's Talent for Miracles by Kitty Harri
  Published by Honno
  ISBN 9781870206815  pb £6.99
  Reviewed by Kaite O'Reilly
  
  
• Ingrid's Husband by Paul Henry
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 9781854114389  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Richard Marggraf Turley
  
  
• Birthmarks by Mark Jenkins
  Published by Infestedwaters
  ISBN 095438427X  hb £12.99
  Reviewed by Sian Melangell Dafydd
  
  
• Everything Must Change by Grahame Davies
  Published by Seren
  ISBN 9781854114235  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Sian Melangell Dafydd
  
  
• The Fossil-Box by Richard Marggraf Turley
  Published by Cinnamon Press
  ISBN 9781905614356  pb £7.99
  Reviewed by Chris Kinsey
  
  
• Stone Milk by Anne Stevenson
  Published by Bloodaxe Books
  ISBN 9781852247751  pb £7.95
  Reviewed by Chris Kinsey
  
  

Letters

• The digitisation debate - Richard Combes
• The digitisation debate - Christopher Meredith
• The digitisation debate - Greg Cullen