Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Carmarthen Library is helping people combat the January blues by celebrating the life and work of iconic Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. 2014 marked the centenary of Dylan Thomas’s birth, and Carmarthen Library in conjunction with the Dylan Thomas Boathouse will be giving visitors the opportunity to step in to his world. With readings, sound recordings, photographs and books will give people an insight to the county’s most famous poet and his iconic writing shed, which travelled around the country last year. The free event will take place at Carmarthen Library on Wednesday, January 21, with readings at 11am, 1pm and 3pm. Reference Manager, Catrin Simon, said: "What better way to beat the January blues by escaping into the world of Dylan Thomas. Come and join us.” Carmarthenshire libraries host many events throughout the year. Make sure you don’t miss out by following them on Facebook or Twitter ; alternatively email library@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or call 01267 224824.

The Welsh Department at Aberystwyth University is living again in the presence of one of its most distinguished members of staff. Thomas Gwynn Jones (1871- 1949) taught in the department for 34 years between his appointment as a lecturer in 1913 and his retirement in 1937. He was appointed Chair of Literature in 1919. Now, through the generosity of his grandson, Mr Emrys Wynn Jones, who served as registrar at the former University of Wales Aberystwyth, many of Professor Jones’s books, including copies of his own work, have been donated to the Department for the use of staff and students. Thanking Mr Jones for his gift, Dr Robin Chapman, acting head of the department, said: “Thomas Gwynn Jones was both a distinguished academic and a first-rate writer. The history of twentieth-century Welsh literature in many senses begins with him. “It is thrilling to hold his personal copies of work that I have read and taught to students throughout my career, many inscribed with his signature. ...

Members of Blaenconin Baptist Chapel launched a major initiative which will transform community action in Llandysilio, Pembrokeshire. Over the coming months, a new Community Interest Company established by the Church will be leading the development of the chapel site (opposite the Nantyffin Motel) to provide a Centre to celebrate the life and work of the renowned bard, Waldo Williams and other poets from the locality. It will also encompass the re-configuring of the current Chapel building to enable more community activity to take place and develop its vestry for residential accommodation to help sustain the new Centres. When completed, there will be two Centres on the site: the new Canolfan Waldo and Canolfan Blaenconin. In Canolfan Blaenconin there will be multi-purpose spaces which can be used for a range of activities from book clubs to pre-school groups, from training sessions to choirs. Canolfan Waldo will welcome visitors following in the footsteps of Waldo Williams. As p...

A replica of Dylan Thomas’s iconic writing shed is to be unveiled at an event in Laugharne this week. Welsh Government Minister Edwina Hart will officially open the shed on Friday, February 14, to give people their first glimpse inside. Hannah Ellis, granddaughter of Wales’ most famous bard, will announce the first new word to be published in a Dictionary of Dylan. Artist in residence at the shed Emily Hinshelwood will be delivering Poems on Prescription in celebration of Valentine’s Day, handing out love poems to the public. Children from Laugharne Primary School will perform a dramatic presentation of some of Dylan’s work, including A Child’s Christmas in Wales. Carmarthenshire County Council is organising the event and the Leader Cllr Kevin Madge, executive board member Cllr Meryl Gravell and Chair Cllr Terry Davies will all take part in the programme. People are welcome to go along to the event which is taking place in Laugharne Castle car park from 10am. The bespoke replica of D...

The new David Jones Centre, based at the Department of English and Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University will be launched at a conference at the National Library of Wales (NLW) this Friday, 14th September. The new centre is named after the influential modernist painter and poet, David Jones (1895-1974). As a painter David Jones worked mainly in watercolour, painting portraits, landscapes, and legendary and religious subjects. He was also a wood-engraver and designer of inscriptions and the author of the epic war poem In Parenthesis, acknowledged by T. S. Eliot as a poem of major importance. His Catholic beliefs and Welsh heritage infuse his work. Born in Brockley, Kent to a Welsh father, Jones closely identified with his father's background and developed an early interest in art. In January 1915 he enlisted with the Royal Welch Fusiliers and saw extensive service in France and Flanders. After demobilisation he returned to his art studies at Westminster School of Art. He met ...

Menna Elfyn will be launching her new bilingual Welsh-English collection Murmur with a number of events this autumn. As well as several launches in Wales, she will also be giving two readings in London. The book is published by Bloodaxe on 27 September. Murmur includes a sequence of poems about the last princess of Wales, Catrin Glyndwr, daughter of Owain Glyndwr, who was incarcerated with her children in the Tower of London for over two years until their mysterious death. Fittingly enough, mur-mur in Welsh also means wall-wall, so the book’s leitmotif is one that stresses the distance between words and worlds. Murmur is a Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation.  “Her voice is gentle, even tender, but she is far from confining herself to the valleys and mines of her grandparents’ landscape… her points of reference lie far outside the Welsh tradition – to Emily Dickinson and Kurt Vonnegut… and her own travels extend to Cairo and Bucharest.”   - PB...

Garden Bard takes a bow | The National Botanic Garden of Wales The National Botanic Garden of Wales has announced the appointment of its first evet Poet in Residence. Mab Jones, who recently represented Wales at a cultural festival in Japan, will be resident bard at the Garden from this weekend (April 21-22). This coincides with Shakespeare’s 200th birthday on the 23rd, and Mab will be offering readings and workshops over the weekend inspired by the great writer.

BBC News - Death of Welsh language poet Iwan Llwyd, aged 52 How sad.