Encouragement for Young Writers - the 2012 Dylan Thomas Prize!

If you're an aspiring young writer and it feels like achieving recognition and success is an impossible dream, take a look at the following article:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/07/30/dylan-thomas-prize-2012-longlist-unveiled-with-two-youngest-ever-entrants-91466-31506249/

The award is open to young writers aged 18-30 and the winner will receive a substantial prize - £30,000!  Whether they win or not, all the nominated authors will recieve very welcome publicity and a boost to their careers.

This year, the list of authors under consideration features two of the youngest people ever to enter.  They are 20 year-old Ben Brooks from the UK and Chibundo Onuzo (21) from Nigeria.   

The award ceremony will take place on the 9th November at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea and we'll report on the result here!

So, next time you're hunched over a computer or writing pad desperately seeking inspiration, remember the 10 young writers who are in with a chance of landing this prestigious prize!




Simon Rhys-Phillips

2012 Welsh Book of the Year Award

On Thursday 12th July, the 2012 Welsh Book of the Year Award was held at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.  This award has been running since 2004 and the shortlist of 18 books contained works in Welsh and English in the following categories: Poetry, Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction.


The shortlist:

Cutulla - Tiffany Atkinson

Deep Field - Philip Goss

Sparrow Tree - Gwyneth Lewis
The Last Hundred Days - Patrick McGuinness
The Keys of Babylon - Robert Minhinnick
Wild Abandon - Joe Dunthorne
The Vagabond's Breakfast - Richard Gwyn
Three Journeys - Byron Rogers
Ghost Milk - Iain Sinclair
Siarad Tywi'r Het - Karen Owen
Waliau'n Canu - Ifor ap Glyn
Rhwny Gwibdaith a Coldplay - Gerwyn Williams
Y Storiwr - Jon Gower
Neb ond Ni - Manon Rhys
Pantglas - Mihangel Morgan
Hen Enwau o Arfon, Llyn ac Eifionydd - Glenda Carr
John Morris-Jones - Allan James
Kate: Cofiant Kate Roberts, 1891-1985




This was a diverse list that includes tales of struggles with substance abuse, the negative effects of the London Olympics on local communities and the complexities of living on a commune!


The winners in each category were:


Fiction: The Last Hundred Days - Patrick McGuinness
Non Fiction: The Vagabond's Breakfast - Richard Gwyn
Poetry: Gwyneth Lewis - The Sparrow Tree
Media Wales People's Choice Prize: Deep Field - Philip Goss


The judges awarded the overall Welsh Book of the Year Award to Patrick McGuinness, with the Chair of the Judges, Dr Spencer Jordan, saying: “In a world turned upside by the Arab Spring and economic cataclysm, can there be a more apposite or important book than The Last Hundred Days? I doubt it. Set against the backdrop of Ceaucescu’s crumbling regime, the book explores the very human cost when society itself begins to self destruct.”


Nicolae Ceaucescu was the communist dictator who ruled Romania with an iron fist until his regime was overthrown in 1989.  The book details the experiences of a young student who moves to Bucharest (the capital city) and meets a host of interesting, if often shady, characters! 


More information about the prize and the 2012 shortlist can be found at:


http://walesbookoftheyear.co.uk/

Simon Rhys-Phillips

ESOL reading group star review!

ESOL level 1 student Silemani Silemani scooped up an Amazon voucher as his prize for winning the best written review of this year’s ESOL reading group. This is the fourth ESOL drop-in group that the Learning and Skills Centre has run and was a huge success with the 21 students who attended. A number of students commented that the 10 weeks reading the Quick Read book ‘We Won the Lottery’ helped them with their pronunciation, confidence, reading and writing skills. The LSC has led various successful groups for different subject areas in the college, including Return to Learn and Adult Foundation courses and hopes to expand these further next year.

World Book Night April 23rd

We celebrated World Book Night by giving away copies of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell – one of the many books listed as ‘give aways’ for the night.

The idea behind World Book Night is to celebrate reading and for volunteers to give out free books to those in their community to share their love of reading – for us the volunteer was Carolyn and the community was the College, and in total we gave away 24 books to students and staff from around the College. 

Some of the feedback to the book is that ‘it’s a great read and I’ll certainly pass it on’.  Each of the WBN books has a number which could be used to track its movement...if you have one of the books log onto http://www.worldbooknight.org/about-world-book-night and click on Track Your Book. If everyone who has the book does this it could tell a story in itself!

We have copies in the Learning Centre to borrow along with other Maggie O’Farrell titles.

The Growth of Literary Festivals in Wales

In April, I visited the Laugharne Weekend in West Wales for the third year in a row.  It’s a great little festival that attracts high-calibre writers and musicians, whilst remaining defiantly low-key and uncommercial!

Amongst this year’s highlights was a talk by Costa Book Award winning writer A.L. Kennedy, readings by punk-poet John Cooper Clarke and Robin Ince’s trawl through the realms of terrible fiction in his Bad Book Club. 

During my time in Laugharne I found myself reflecting on the growth of literary (and other) festivals in Wales in recent years.   

Obviously, the best-known is the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts.  This has been running since 1988 and now attracts writers, performers and visitors from all over the world.  Famously, it was described by Bill Clinton as “The Woodstock of the Mind”. 

 

This year’s festival takes places between 31^st May and 10^th June and further information can be found at:  www.hayfestival.com

However, there are a number of other festivals worthy of your attention in the coming months.

The Laugharne Weekend is over for this year, but it’s sure to be back next April, so take a look at: http://thelaugharneweekend.com/ to get an idea of what it’s all about!

The Dinefwr 2012 Literature Festival takes place between 29^th June and 1^st July in the stunning grounds of Dinefwr Park in Llandeilo.  The impressive line-up includes: Gruff Rhys, Howard Marks, Gillian Clarke (the Welsh National Poet), Julian Cope and comedians John Hegley and Josie Long.

Further information about this exciting addition to the Welsh festival scene can be found at:  http://www.dinefwrliteraturefestival.co.uk/

On the same weekend as the Dinefwr Literature Festival is Beyond the Border: Wales International Storytelling Festival.  This takes places every other year at St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan with the aim of: “celebrating the world’s rich heritage of traditional stories – and the universal art of storytelling….”.  The emphasis on storytelling makes it unique and in July 2002 The Times newspaper described it as “A festival like no other”.  It focuses on various themes and this year they include the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and the myths and legends of Celtic Britain.

Further details can be found at:  http://www.beyondtheborder.com/festival/line-up/

One other festival very much worth looking into is the Dylan Thomas Festival in Swansea.  This takes place in late autumn and the dates for 2012 have not been announced yet.  It has been running for thirteen years and it’s not all about Wales’s most famous writer.  For example, last year’s festival included a talk from Pembrokeshire-born author Sarah Waters and poetry readings from Simon Armitage.

Information on future festivals will be published at: www.dylanthomas.com

These are just some forthcoming festivals that I’m aware of and I’m sure there are more!  If you know of any, why not add your comments to this blog!

Simon Rhys-Phillips, April 2012

 What’s in a name?

We are renaming the Learning Centre/Learning Zone and would like you to have a say.  

Just pick up a voting slip from the Learning Centre/Learning Zone or log on to Moodle and click on the scrolling link on the front page and vote for your favourite!

The choices are:

Learning and Skills Centre
Learning and Skills Hub
Learning and Skills Zone

Voting open from today until Wednesday 4^th

One lucky student voter will win a £25 voucher for taking part.

Earlier this month, the Learning Zone/Learning Centre ran a ‘Recommend a Read’ competition to coincide with National Libraries Day. These are some of the books that were recommended.

Jail Bird by Jesse Keane

Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

The Damned United by David Peace

It’s Your Time You’re Wasting by Frank Chalk

The Wimbledon Poisoner by Nigel Williams

Beyond the Limits by Ranulph Fiennes

The Knife Man by Wendy Moore

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Bounce by Matthew Stde

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Dragon Heart by Todd McCaffrey

Shadowland by Alyson Noel

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Time Storms by Jenny Randles

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

The Family by Martina Cole

Alfred Russell Wallace by Peter Raby

The Abortion Debate by Craig Donnellan

The Alcemist by Paul Coelho

Death Comes to Pemberly by PD James

Fight Club by Chuck Palaniuk