A Writer's House in Wales


Book Description

Through an exploration of her country home in Wales, acclaimed travel writer Jan Morris discovers the heart of her fascinating country and what it means to be Welsh. Trefan Morys, Morris's home between the sea and mountains of the remote northwest corner of Wales, is the 18th-century stable block of her former family house nearby. Surrounding it are the fields and outbuildings, the mud, sheep, and cattle of a working Welsh farm. She regards this modest building not only as a reflection of herself and her life, but also as epitomizing the small and complex country of Wales, which has defied the world for centuries to preserve its own identity. Morris brilliantly meditates on the beams and stone walls of the house, its jumbled contents, its sounds and smells, its memories and inhabitants, and finally discovers the profoundest meanings of Welshness.




Homesick


Book Description

The story of a personal housing crisis that led to a discovery of the true value of home. 'Incredibly moving. To find peace and a sense of home after a life so profoundly affected by the housing crisis, is truly inspirational' Raynor Winn, bestselling author of The Salt Path Aged thirty-one, Catrina Davies was renting a box-room in a house in Bristol, which she shared with four other adults and a child. Working several jobs and never knowing if she could make the rent, she felt like she was breaking apart. Homesick for the landscape of her childhood, in the far west of Cornwall, Catrina decides to give up the box-room and face her demons. As a child, she saw her family and their security torn apart; now, she resolves to make a tiny, dilapidated shed a home of her own. With the freedom to write, surf and make music, Catrina rebuilds the shed and, piece by piece, her own sense of self. On the border of civilisation and wilderness, between the woods and the sea, she discovers the true value of home, while trying to find her place in a fragile natural world. This is the story of a personal housing crisis and a country-wide one, grappling with class, economics, mental health and nature. It shows how housing can trap us or set us free, and what it means to feel at home.




British Author House Museums and Other Memorials


Book Description

The most celebrated authors of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are immortalized not only in their writing but also in the museums, libraries, and other memorials dedicated in their honor. Over 300 sites devoted to 40 authors are covered in this guide. The sites range from restored historic homes to memorial statues. Each entry describes the site and its history, placing it within the context of the author's life and career. Directions are provided to help the reader reach each site; telephone numbers, admission prices, and hours are also included for the traveler's convenience. The text is illustrated with photographs from these historic and literary homes, libraries, and other important memorial locations. Postage stamps commemorating the writers are also included.




Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2025


Book Description

'What is your best investment? Buying a copy of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook.' Kimberley Chambers This bestselling Writers' & Artists' Yearbook contains a wealth of information on all aspects of writing and becoming a published author, plus a comprehensive directory of media contacts. Packed with practical tips, it includes expert advice from renowned authors and industry insiders on: - submitting to agents and publishers - writing non-fiction and fiction across different genres and formats - poetry, plays, broadcast media and illustration - marketing and self-publishing - legal and financial information - writing prizes and festivals. Revised and updated annually, the Yearbook includes thousands of industry contacts and over 80 articles from writers of all forms and genres, including award-winning novelists, poets and playwrights, scriptwriters for TV, radio and videogames. If you want to find a literary or illustration agent or publisher, would like to self-publish or to crowdfund your creative idea then this Yearbook will help you. New content for this edition includes articles on If at first you don't succeed ... by Jessica Irena Smith, The importance of story development by Greg Mosse, Writing for readers by Rachel McLean, Creating a poetry comic by Chrissy Williams, Ghosting: writing other people's stories by Gillian Stern, Romantic motifs by Sue Moorcroft, How a publicist can help you by Hannah Hargrave, Writing across forms by Rob Gittins, Pitching your travel ideas by Jen & Sim Benson, The hybrid author by Simon McLeave. 'The wealth of information is staggering.' The Times




Wales


Book Description

Jan Morris's magnificent book celebrates Wales and all things Welsh. Written as a deeply personal study, it reflects the rich bilingual literature and folklore of Wales, the buildings and wonderfully varied landscapes, the national character and humour, the historical predicaments and the political condition of this small but extraordinary country. Jan Morris is a distinguished historian as well as being one of the world's leading travel-writers. Her passionate love of Wales makes this a unique evocation.




A Hospital Odyssey


Book Description

A Hospital Odyssey is an outrageously imaginative voyage through illness and healing. Drawing on the most recent biomedical research into stem cells and cancer, the poem is a journey through the body's inner space and the strange habitats created by disease, including the chimeras people see when they're unwell. Maris, whose husband, Hardy, has been diagnosed with cancer, is separated from him. Her mythical journey leads though a surreal landscape, peopled by true and false physicians, god-celebrities, rabid statues, diseases hunting healthy bodies and a microbes holding their annual ball. The Otherworld is located in the hospital's basement. In her desperate search Maris meets and converses with Aneurin Bevan, founder of the NHS. Immensely readable, "A Hospital Odyssey" is a modern epic: "Dr Who" meets "Paradise Lost". The poem asks: what is health? And what does it mean to care for someone who's ill? Gwyneth Lewis's dramatisation of A Hospital Odyssey was broadcast as Radio 4's Afternoon Drama on 26 June 2014.




Writers' Retreats


Book Description

Featuring over 50 writers and their getaways--get a glimpse into the creative habits of some of the greatest writers of the last two centuries. From Henry David Thoreau's famous cabin at Walden Pond and James Baldwin's 'Welcome Table' in Provence, to Roald Dahl's garden hut and Toni Morrison's sunrise-lit couch at dawn, Writers' Retreats reveals the quirky, private, and sometimes curious places where literary magic has happened. Each location is brought to life through illustration and the writer's own words on what made that place so perfect for creating. An exploration of famous literary writers of past and present, from Emily Dickinson and Marcel Proust to Margaret Atwood, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Alice Munro, this is the perfect bookish gift for both writers and booklovers to feed their fascination with what ignited the creativity behind their favorite works of literature.




Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2023


Book Description

'A definitive guide, in here you'll find everything you need' S. J. Watson With over 4,000 industry contacts and over eighty articles from a wide range of leading authors and publishing industry professionals, the latest edition of this bestselling Yearbook is packed with all of the practical information, inspiration and guidance you need at every stage of your writing and publishing journey. Designed for authors and illustrators across all genres and markets, it is relevant for those looking for a traditional, hybrid or self-publishing route to publication; writers of fiction and non-fiction, poets and playwrights, writers for TV, radio and videogames. If you want to find a literary or illustration agent or publisher, would like to self-publish or crowdfund your creative idea then this Yearbook will help you. As well as sections on publishers and agents, newspapers and magazines, illustration and photography, theatre and screen, there is a wealth of detail on the legal and financial aspects of being a writer or illustrator. Includes advice from writers such as Peter James, Cathy Rentzenbrink, S.J. Watson, Kerry Hudson, and Samantha Shannon. Additional articles, free advice, events information and editorial services at www.writersandartists.co.uk




All That Is Wales


Book Description

Wales may be small, but culturally it is richly varied. The aim in this collection of essays on a number of English-language authors from Wales is to offer a sample of the country’s internal diversity. To that end, the author’s examined range – from the exotic Lynette Roberts (Argentinean by birth, but of Welsh descent) and the English-born Peggy Ann Whistler who opted for new, Welsh identity as ‘Margiad Evans’, to Nigel Heseltine, whose bizarre stories of the antics of the decaying squierarchy of the Welsh border country remain largely unknown, and the Utah-based poet Leslie Norris, who brings out the bicultural character of Wales in his Welsh-English translations. The result is a portrait of Wales as a ‘micro-cosmopolitan country’, and the volume is prefaced with an autobiographical essay by one of the leading specialists in the field, authoritatively tracing the steady growth over recent decades of serious, informed and sustained study of what is a major achievement of Welsh culture.




The Welsh Girl


Book Description

A WWII-era Welsh barmaid begins a secret relationship with a German POW in this “beautiful” novel by the author of A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself (Ann Patchett). Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Set in the stunning landscape of North Wales just after D-Day, this critically acclaimed debut novel traces the intersection of disparate lives in wartime. When a prisoner-of-war camp is established near her village, seventeen-year-old barmaid Esther Evans finds herself strangely drawn to the camp and its forlorn captives. She is exploring the camp boundary when an astonishing thing occurs: A young German corporal calls out to her from behind the fence. From that moment on, the two begin an unlikely—and perilous—romance. Meanwhile, a German-Jewish interrogator travels to Wales to investigate Britain’s most notorious Nazi prisoner, Rudolf Hess. In this richly drawn and thought-provoking “tour de force,” all will come to question the meaning of love, family, loyalty, and national identity (The New Yorker). “If you loved The English Patient, there’s probably a place in your heart for The Welsh Girl.” —USA Today “Davies’s characters are marvelously nuanced.” —Los Angeles Times “Beautifully conjures a place and its people, in an extraordinary time . . . A rare gem.” —Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs “This first novel by Davies, author of two highly praised short story collections, has been anticipated—and, with its wonderfully drawn characters, it has been worth the wait.” —Booklist, starred review