Category: books
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In the Chair
Today the e-book version of my book In the chair is published by Parthian Books. As the subtitle says, it’s in essence a practical guide: ‘how to guide groups and manage meetings’. Its aim is to help people who find themselves in the position of Chair to learn the craft and become successful. Strangely little…
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Celf a chrefydd: George Herbert a’r anffyddiwr
Rai blynyddoedd yn ôl ces i wahoddiad i ymddangos ar y rhaglen radio Beti a’i phobl, i sgwrsio â Beti George a dewis ychydig o recordiadau. Un ohonynt oedd darn o waith sy’n bwysig iawn imi, ers y tro cyntaf imi ei glywed rhyw ugain mlynedd yn ôl: Spem in alium, y motét i ddeugain…
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Erlid ac alltud: Heini Gruffudd a W.G. Sebald
Does fawr o wirionedd yn yr honiad na all llyfrau Cymraeg ddod i afael â digwyddiadau mawr y byd. Ond os ydych chi’n dod i hyd i rywun sy’n ceisio ei honni, yr ateb syml yw ‘Darllenwch Yr erlid gan Heini Gruffudd’. Erchyllterau gwaethaf yr ugeinfed ganrif – dinistr yr Iddewon gan y Natsïaid –…
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Emily Dickinson’s reticent volcano
It’s taken a long time for Emily Dickinson to come out. During her lifetime (1830-86) only ten of her roughly 1,800 extant poems were published, some of them without her knowledge. After her death her manuscripts lay disregarded by all but a few. It was not till 1955 that anything close to a complete edition…
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Walking poets
In 2012 the Huddersfield poet Simon Armitage published a book called Walking home, about a trip he made on foot two years earlier from north to south along the length of the Pennine Way. He started without a penny in his pocket, paying for his accommodation and meals through poetry readings he gave at various…
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A brief note on bedside books
Back in the days when Glyn Tegai Hughes and R. Gerallt Jones were Wardens there was a custom that most overnight visitors to Gregynog appreciated as an unusual but delightful practice. Somewhere in your bedroom – usually on the mantlepiece if you were placed in the old house – you’d find a small collection of…
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Zennor in light
Penwith is as far west as you can go in England. At the toe of Cornwall, it’s a region that looks and feels Atlantic. Its place-names are mostly Celtic. Prehistoric remains lie scattered across its open granite landscape. Three nights we spent recently in Penwith give me the chance to taste the South West Coastal…
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Afallon = Abertawe?
‘Nofel ddarllenadwy a chrefftus’ yw’r ansoddeiriau ar glawr Afallon gan Robat Gruffudd, a enillodd Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen llynedd. Disgrifiad teg iawn, ‘swn i’n dweud: mae’n llyfr sy’n dal ei afael arnoch chi hyd y diwedd. Y cymeriad canolog yw Rhys John, dyn sy wedi gweld llawer o’r byd, ond ychydig iawn o hunan-dwyll sy…
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Peter Lord: iconographer / iconoclast
On 23 May in the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea Peter Lord gave an illustrated talk as part of the launch of his new book Relationships with pictures: an oblique autobiography (Parthian, 2013). It was a remarkable performance. As ever with Peter you couldn’t fail to be aware of the depth of feeling underlying his…