A new Merthyr Tydfil anthology of short stories and poetry was launched on 23rd October at Rhymney Brewery. The book, titled Merthyr Writing features 14 short stories and 25 poems by 26 different writers with a strong Merthyr link, including established literary figures like Des Barry, Phil Carradice, Mike Jenkins, Michael Arnold Williams and Anthony Bunko together with Welsh Learner of The Year Finalist Jenny Henn, Bernard Harrington, Ken James, Rita Jones, Roy Morgan, Eira Williams, Martyn Williams, Abby Soroko and a host of others.
Merthyr Writing uses Merthyr’s people and places as a general theme, but has a wide variety of poetry and prose, from Mike Jenkins’ use of local dialect in his poem “Elvis In The Dic”, describing an overheard conversation from an Elvis lookalike, as the river Taff turns blue, alongside Anthony Bunko’s tale of woe and the dangers of joyriding, or be taken along a poetic journey with Jenny Henn, through her favourite places in “Fy Hoff Le”, or take a short step back in time with Martyn Williams in his domestic adventure on the kitchen floor in “1966: When Wales Won The World Cup – The Georgetown Subbuteo World Cup That Is”.
Merthyr Writing uses Merthyr’s people and places as a general theme, but has a wide variety of poetry and prose, from Mike Jenkins’ use of local dialect in his poem “Elvis In The Dic”, describing an overheard conversation from an Elvis lookalike, as the river Taff turns blue, alongside Anthony Bunko’s tale of woe and the dangers of joyriding, or be taken along a poetic journey with Jenny Henn, through her favourite places in “Fy Hoff Le”, or take a short step back in time with Martyn Williams in his domestic adventure on the kitchen floor in “1966: When Wales Won The World Cup – The Georgetown Subbuteo World Cup That Is”.
To our knowledge Merthyr is the only local authority in Wales and possibly the UK to provide such a scheme, where local writers get the opportunity to appear in a professional publication alongside writers with a national or even international profile.
This project is now in its third year, with two previous publications focusing only on short stories; All Roads Lead To Merthyr and Never Mind The White Socks Here’s Merthyr Tydfil, and has been popular with readers and writers alike.
The launch began with an "Authors Reception" at Rhymney Brewery where the authors from the book met, with friends and guests to begin the launch event, which was opened by Leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council, Jeff Edwards, who gave a short speach and congratulated the authors for their contributions. The launch event was completed with an Open Mike Night at The Imperial Hotel, with readings from book contributors: Mike Jenkins, Bernard Harrington, Tony Fyler, Martyn Williams, Ken James, Nigel Roberts, Anthony Bunko, Michael Arnold Williams, Roy Morgan and Viv Protheroe. Jamie Bevan from Menter Iaith and the book's cover star Paul Black also read poetry from Bernard Harrington and Anthony Bunko. Future Open Mike Nights at the Imperial Hotel welcome authors David Johnson on 20th November and Graham Hartill on 11th December.
The launch began with an "Authors Reception" at Rhymney Brewery where the authors from the book met, with friends and guests to begin the launch event, which was opened by Leader of Merthyr Tydfil Council, Jeff Edwards, who gave a short speach and congratulated the authors for their contributions. The launch event was completed with an Open Mike Night at The Imperial Hotel, with readings from book contributors: Mike Jenkins, Bernard Harrington, Tony Fyler, Martyn Williams, Ken James, Nigel Roberts, Anthony Bunko, Michael Arnold Williams, Roy Morgan and Viv Protheroe. Jamie Bevan from Menter Iaith and the book's cover star Paul Black also read poetry from Bernard Harrington and Anthony Bunko. Future Open Mike Nights at the Imperial Hotel welcome authors David Johnson on 20th November and Graham Hartill on 11th December.
The book retails at an affordable £4.99 and is available from Merthyr Libraries, WHSmith, Flammin' Sevens Tattoos and online at http://www.gwales.com/ among other places.
ISBN: 978-0-9555306-2-3
ISBN: 978-0-9555306-2-3
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