Author: Andrew Green
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Tri aderyn gaeafol
1 Dryw Codi’n raddol y mae’r llwybr o’r traeth. A finnau yng nghanol fy negawd olaf o dringo’r llethr yn fy sgidiau rhedeg, bron ar unwaith bydda i’n ymladd am wynt, cyn bod y llwybr yn mynd yn fwy gwastad a rhoi digon o nerth imi allu wynebu’r grisiau serth tuag at ben Trwyn y…
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A zombie doctrine and a crisis in Venezuela
There’s been much talk, since Donald Trump kidnapped the President of Venezuela and declared that he would ‘run’ the country, of a reassertion of the Monroe Doctrine. This set me thinking about what exactly is or was the ‘Monro Doctrine’, and how it’s related to Trump’s actions. To begin with, there’s something odd about linking…
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Imaging Fanny Price
Mansfield Park isn’t, I suspect, the favourite novel of Jane Austen of those who value her for her cutting wit and comforting social outlook. Because, though not without its share of humour, it’s a far from comforting work. It asks questions about how people of strong convictions but introverted character and uncertain social status can…
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The war on fonts
The Trump administration has just opened a new front in its intensifying war on the rest of the world. It’s a typographical war, and it concerns a common font called Calibri. Personally, I’m quite fond of Calibri, and use it pretty much every day of the week. But, from the perspective of the Trumpists, it…
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Agor y Storfa
Ar ddechrau mis Rhagfyr digwyddodd rhywbeth rhagorol yn Abertawe. Mae trigolion y ddinas wedi hen arfer disgwyl clywed newyddion o fath gwahanol. Dirywiad, wedi’r cwbl, fu ei hanes ers blynyddoedd maith – ei economi yn methu, pob corff cyhoeddus bron yn dioddef o hyd, anghydraddoldeb yn dwysau yn ei gymdeithas, y ddwy brifysgol yn colli…
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Peter Finch: Wales’s Mr Poetry
In front of me is a 24-page pamphlet published by ‘second aeon publications’ in 1971. It’s held together with a couple of rusting staples and contains seventeen short poems, typewritten and photocopied. Back then, that’s how you produced a skinny book of poems: gritty, home-made, no upper-case. But this one, John Tripp’s bute park and…
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Dust and roses: Philip Pullman’s vision
The rose field, published in October, completes Philip Pullman’s massive ‘Book of dust’ trilogy. More than that, it completes the whole cycle of ‘Lyra’ novels that Pullman began thirty years ago with Northern lights. It seems to me that it’s one of the greatest achievements in children’s literature in our time. Though ‘children’s literature’ is…
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Kyffin in Bangor
This is the edited text of a public talk given in Bangor University on Wednesday 19 November 2025 about the eleven oil paintings by Kyffin Williams housed in the University. The talk was followed by a guided tour of the paintings. Diolch am y gwahoddiad i ddod i’r Brifysgol, a’r cyfle i siarad am artist…
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Things from Carmarthenshire
We’ll call him Dai Stoneface. He stares out at us with dark, gouged eyes. Someone has flattened his nose in an ancient fight, the same with the ears. Could he have been a professional boxer? Even the mouth is belligerent, the narrow lips drawn together in grim silence. As someone said, you‘d feel nervous if…
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Bob Dylan in Swansea, in 17 tracks
1 It’s my first time in the Swansea Arena auditorium. The building opened more than three years ago, but its usual diet of lesser comedians and tribute bands has never held much appeal. But tonight’s different: the first of three appearances here by Bob Dylan. 2 Dylan’s known for his never-ending world tours, and this…