Sunday 22nd October - Literature Events
11.00AM - Children’s event, Victoria Gardens
Rebecca F. John
The Shadow Order
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One year on from the day the shadows shifted – showing people their truest selves rather than just their shapes – best friends Teddy, Betsy and Effie plan to risk all and watch the winter sun rise over Copperwell, in defiance of the Shadow Order. But from their hidden vantage point the three shocked friends witness a mysterious woman shouting a dire warning, before she is arrested, beaten, and dragged away in handcuffs. The event leads them on an extraordinary series of dangerous adventures to save their city as they begin to learn the truth about the Shadow Order, the world surrounding Copperwell, and themselves.
Rebecca F. John is the author of four novels for adults. Her short stories have been broadcast on Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra. The Shadow Order is her first children's novel.
12.00PM - Mayor;s Parlour Town Halll
Christopher Meredith and Lewis Davies
Wales and the working-class novel
Shifts and Work, Sex and Rugby are two of the most iconic novels of the South Wales Working Class Experience. One set in Ebbw Vale and one set in Neath. The novelists Christopher Meredith and Lewis Davies discuss their books how they fit in a changing world. Parthian publishes a new edition of Shifts in its Library of Wales series this month.
1.00PM - Mayor's Parlour Town Halll
Leslie Scase
The Inspector Chard Mysteries
Crime Cymru member Leslie Scase is the author of the Inspector Chard Mystery series: Fortuna’s Deadly Shadow, Fatal Solution and Sabrina’s Teardrop. Thrillingly written and brilliantly researched, his novels offer an insight into the often brutal world of industrial Wales and England in the Victorian era.
2.00PM - Mayor's Parlour Town Halll
REBECCA F. JOHN
STRONG WOMEN, STRONGWOMAN
On a stormy winter’s night, 1892, Kate Williams, a Baptist Minister’s daughter, leaves her small Welsh hometown of Abergavenny and sets out for London with nothing more than a travel case and a wild plan: she is going to become a strongwoman. Rebecca F. John’s latest novel Vulcana is a passionate fictional retelling of Kate Williams’ rise to fame, unconventional home life and shines a new light on this exceptional Victorian woman.
Rebecca F. John’s first novel, The Haunting of Henry Twist, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her novel Fannie, was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year. Her short story ‘The Glove Maker’s Numbers’ was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.
4.00PM - Welsh language event Mayor's Parlour Town Halll
Gwenfair Griffith (gol. / ed.)
Fy Stori Fawr
PROFIADAU CUDD NEWYDDIADURWYR - dyna fydd pwnc trafod y sesiwn hon yng nghwmni golygydd cyfrol newydd gan y Lolfa, Y Stori Fawr. Bydd un o ferched yr ardal, newyddiadurwraig Newyddion S4C o'r BBC, Aimee Thomas, yn siarad a Gwenfair Griffith ac un o ohebwyr y gyfrol, Maxine Hughes fydd yn hedfan draw o America i gymeryd rhan yn y sgwrs. Dewch i glywed cyfrinachau gohebwyr a mwy!
The hidden experiences of journalists – that’s the topic of conversation in this session with the editor of a new book by Y Lolfa, Y Stori Fawr. Aimee Thomas, a news journalist with S4C and the BBC, will be talking to Gwenfair Griffith and one of the contributors to the book, Maxine Hughes, who has travelled from America for the talk. Come and hear some of the correspondents' secrets and more!
Bu Gwenfair Griffith yn newyddiadurwraig ers graddio yn y pwnc yng Nghanada yn 2003. Wedi gohebu i'r BBC yng Nghymru ac i ABC ac SBS yn Awstralia, bu'n ddarlithydd Newyddiaduraeth ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd. Mae bellach yn gynhyrchydd rhaglenni dogfen llawrydd. Mae'n briod â Hywel, a chanddyn nhw ddau o feibion. Mae'r teulu'n byw yng Nghaerdydd lle cafodd Gwenfair ei geni.
Gwenfair Griffith has been a journalist since graduating in 2003. After working as a correspondent for the BBC in Wales and then ABC and SBS in Australia, she lectured Journalism in Cardiff University. She now works as a freelance documentary producer. She is married to Hywel and they have two sons. They live in Cardiff.
5.00PM - Welsh language event Mayor's Parlour Town Halll
Catrin Stevns
‘Ewyllys Unedig Menywod yn erbyn Rhyfel’ Hanes Deiseb Heddwch Menywod Cymru at Fenywod America 1923-24
Cawn gyfle yn y sgwrs hon i gofio’r Apel ryfeddol hon gan 390,296 o fenywod at ferched UDA; sut y casglwyd yr enwau arni a phwy oedd y prif arweinwyr yn ardal Castell Nedd. Yna cawn olrhain hanes y daith gyffrous i America.
Gallwn drafod hefyd sut y byddwn yn dathlu’r canmlwyddiant yn 2023-24, ac yn ceisio gwireddu breuddwyd y weledigaeth fawr hon.
‘The United Will of Women against War’ – The History of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition to the Women of America 1923-24
During this talk, we will remember the remarkable Appeal of 390,296 Welsh women to the women of the United States of America; how the names on the petition were collected and who the main leaders in the Neath area were. We will then recall their exciting journey to America. We will also discuss how we will be celebrating the centenary in 2023-24, trying to make the dream of the vision come true.
Mae Catrin Stevens yn gyn-bennaeth Hanes a’r Dyniaethau Coleg y Drindod, Caerfyrddin ac yn awdur nifer o lyfrau ar hanes Cymru ac arferion gwerin yn Gymraeg a Saesneg ar gyfer plant ac oedolion. Mae’n gyn-Gadeirydd Cenedlaethol Mudiad Meithrin, Merched y Wawr, Menter Ysgolion y Dreftadaeth Gymreig, Cronfa Glyndŵr ac Archif Menywod Cymru ac mae wedi arwain nifer o brosiectau arloesol ar ran yr Archif. Mae’n Aelod o Bartneriaeth Hawlio Heddwch ac o’r pwyllgor ymchwil. Mae’n wreiddiol o Lan-non, Ceredigion ac yn by wyn awry ng Nghasllwchwr ger Abertawe.
Catrin Stevens is a former head of History and Humanities at Trinity College, Carmarthen. She is the author of many books on the history and folk traditions of Wales for children and adults, published in both Welsh and English. She is a past national Chair of Mudiad Meithrin, Merched y Wawr, Menter Ysgolion y Dreftadaeth Gymraeg, Cronfa Glyndŵr and Archif Menywod Cymru/Women’s Archive Wales and has led many groundbreaking projects on behalf of the Archive. She is a member of the Peace Petition Partnership and its research committee. Originally from Llan-non, Ceredigion, she now lives in Loughor near Swansea.
7.00PM - Mayor's Parlour Town Halll
Jude Rogers
SONGS, NOSTALGIA AND THE SOUND OF BEING HUMAN: HOW MUSIC SHAPES OUR LIVES
Guardian and Observer journalist Jude Rogers, born in Swansea and brought up in Loughor, talks about her critically acclaimed, Wales Book Of The Year and Penderyn Prize-nominated memoir The Sound of Being Human ("fascinating" - Ian Rankin; "I loved this book" – Ruth Jones). From the death of her father when she was five to her life today as a parent in mid-life, music has carried her, and she will talk about how and why songs have the power to shape the making of our memories, our teenage identities and changing relationships, as well as linger in our brains and hearts until the ends of our lives. She will also talk about her 20-year career interviewing some of the world's biggest pop stars, including Paul McCartney, Adele, Robert Plant and Kylie Minogue.