Arachne 10th Anniversary – the Authors – a short series part 3

I thought it would be useful to give you all a bit more detail about the authors who have put together our amazing, eclectic anniversary events.

15th January and our second Sunday, and we have two events.

First at 11am we have 14 great pickup lines, a poet’s guide to sonnets presented by Jennifer A McGowan

Jennifer A McGowan

Jennifer has been published by us consistently, from a single poem in our very first poetry anthology The Other Side of Sleep,  to her first full poetry pamphlet With Paper for Feet and her most recent collection, How to be a Tarot Card, (or a Teenager) which we published in October. Jennifer lives in Oxfordshire. She has been a semi-professional mime and performed in five countries as well as more traditional work as researcher, editor, and writer for a strategic management company. She has taught both at several universities, in subjects as varied as English, history, and heritage studies. Jennifer is also an historical re-enactor who disappears out of the 20th Century for weeks at a time. Jennifer was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome at age 16, and has had long covid for most of the past 2 years, and can still come up with a snappy and beguiling title for a workshop!

Later in the day at 3pm, we have Barddoniaeth Cymraeg Gweithdy Cyfieithu Welsh Poetry Translation Workshop with Lowri Williams.

The root cause of our bilingual anthology, A470 Poems for the Road/ Cerddi’r Ffordd was realising there were Welsh poets writing (beautifully) in English, who weren’t confident enough in their Welsh to write poetry in their native language. If ever there was an overhang of English cultural imperialism, there it was staring me in the face, and I was outraged. You can’t get specific grants for translation into Welsh, only out of it. I was more outraged! So I decided to do something about it.  So this workshop is very much in the same mode of enabling people in their goddess given right to write in their native language. My welsh is limited to Diolch (Thank You) Bore da (hello)  and what I read on road signs – appropriately – and I’m very grateful to Lowri for taking it on!

Lowri is a Creative Writing graduate from MMU, nature writer, and bilingual poet for BRAG magazine. She loves the sea and spends her spare time surfing at Porth Neigwl. During the evenings she’s a cocktail bartender who enjoys drinking Margaritas with her aunt. Lowri’s poem in A470 proved very useful when I was driving up and down that very road, touring the book to bookshops and libraries – here’s why. I pretty sure she’ll be great company for the workshop!

Arachne10 Anniversary Festival Week 2

Week 2 of the festival, continuing our author-led readings discussions and workshops, and this week we have online events on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon and evening.

Please register via Eventbrite to attend!

Fri 13/01/2023
7.30pm
Three Takes on Place
readings and discussion from
Diana Powell, Melissa Davies & Sherry Morris
free/donation details and tickets

Saturday 14/01/2023
11:00-13:00
Tales of Transformation: Bisclavret workshop
Elizabeth Hopkinson
£8 details and tickets

and at 3pm
Joy//us – LGBTQ poetry reading, open mic and discussion
Jeremy Dixon, Rick Dove & Cherry Potts
free/donation details and tickets

Sunday 15/01/2023
11:00-12:30/13:00
14 great pickup lines, a poets guide to sonnets workshop
with Jennifer A McGowan
£10 details and tickets

and at 3pm
Barddoniaeth Cymraeg Gweithdy Cyfieuthu/ Welsh poetry translation workshop
with Lowri Williams
participatory workshop on translating Welsh poetry into English
Nod y gweithdy hon yw cyfieuthu cerdd Cymraeg i fewn i’r Saesneg, drwy trafodaeth/cyfieuthu mewn steil grwp
pay what you can £3/5/8 details and tickets

A470 on the road day 5 National Library of Wales Videos

Nowhere near the A470 of course, but such a prestigeous venue!

And such lovely people, Pedr ap Llwyd, the librarian (National Librarian, I suppose!), said

it was an amazing, warm, friendly, enriching event and the book is a treasure trove of excellent verse.

and then there was such a gorgeous view over the town and the sea!

view from the library

Our Next A470 event is Sunday 10th July 3:30pm, , £5 part of Gŵyl Arall Festival, Caernafon. Editors Ness Owen & Sian Northey will be joined by Sion Aled, Sara Louise Wheeler, and Lowri Williams to read and talk about the book.

Intro from Cherry Potts

 

Ness Owen

 

Rae Howells (I am authorised to report that the patient survived)

 

Siôn Aled

 

Gareth Writer-Davies & Sandra Evans

 

Diana Powell

 

Pat Edwards and Siôn Aled

 

Sara Louise Wheeler

 

Rhys Owain Williams & Sian Northey

 

Sian Northey

at this point I realised I was running out of space on the camera, so things got a bit hairy…

Jeremy Dixon and Siôn Aled (sorry, I clipped the beginning)

Lowri Williams (Just in Welsh as the camera ground to a halt)

Did you hear the coverage on the book on Classic FM and on BBC6 Music?

And see the coverage in the Guardian?

 

A470 On the Road:Day 4 – Machynlleth – VIDEOS

Videos for day four of our A470 Tour, at Sennedd-dy Owain Glyndŵr in Machynlleth, hosted by galeri a siop lyfrau pen’rallt.

Poet Lowri Williams and editors Sian Northey and Ness Owen read their own and other poems  talk about how A470 came about, the process of creating a bilingual book and the translation decisions they had to make, reading some of their favourite poems from the book in English and Cymraeg, on the way.

Our next date is this coming Thursday 30th June at 7pm, at The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth details and free tickets

buy the book in print or ebook

A470 on tour, Hen Bost, Blaenau Ffestiniog

Videos for day three of our A470 Tour, at Siop Llyfrau Hen Bost in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Simon Chandler, Sara Louise Wheeler, Haf Llewelyn, Lowri Williams and Sian Northey read their poems in English and Cymraeg, Cherry Potts (in English only) and Sian Northey (both) talk about getting the book together, and the accidental joys of GoogleTranslate (Don’t worry, we had professional translators…)

Our next date is this coming Thursday 30th June at 7pm, at The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth details and free tickets

buy the book in print or ebook

Cherry Potts

Sian Northey

Haf Llewelyn

 

Lowri Williams

 

Sara Louise Wheeler

Simon Chandler

A470 on the Road – Pontypridd Videos

Videos from our stop at Pontypridd, at Storyville Books.

Thanks to Jeff for hosting (and excellent cakes…)

Captioned versions ( in English) will be shared on social media as we finish them, but here’s the whole thing in the raw, featuring Siôn Aled, Des Mannay, Jeremy Dixon, Nicholas McGaughey, Stephen Payne, clare e potter and the work of Sian Northey and Ness Owen read by Cherry Potts and Siôn Aled

A470 Lay-by Storey Arms Pass

Gareth Writer-Davies performs his A470 poem Lay-by Storey Arms Pass in the very lay-by that inspired it, although not in the same weather!

and in Welsh, (translation by Sandra Evans)

Buy a copy of the book – Print or ebook

Poetry Road Trip – Join us on the A470

This spring and summer we’re taking A470: Poems for the Road / Cerddi’r Ffordd on the road! Join us at one of the bilingual events below, as we visit libraries and bookshops up and down the A470 (and surrounding areas…).

Past

  •  28th May: Cardiff Central Library Hub
    Readings from Kevin Mills, Tracey Rhys, Mike Jenkins, Nicholas McGaughey, Morgan Owen, Christina Thatcher, Jeremy Dixon, Sian Northey, Sîon Aled, Lowri Williams and Des Mannay. watch the video


  •  30th May: Storyville Books, Pontypridd
    Nicholas McGaughey, Jeremy Dixon, Stephen Payne and Sîon Aled read from A470 in an evening of poetry, with music and nibbles too! watch the videos

  • 31st May: Siop Lyfrau’r Hen Bost, Blaenau Ffestiniog
    Simon Chandler, Sara Louise Wheeler, Haf Llewelyn, Lowri Williams and Sian Northey read from A470  in Blaenau Ffestiniog. watch the videos

  • 1st June: Owain Glyndŵr’s Parliament House, Heol Maengwyn, Machynlleth, SY20 8EE
    Pulling up outside Senedd-Dy to stretch their legs and catch their breath, editors Sian Northey and Ness Owen talked with Poet Sara Louise Wheeler about how A470 came about, the process of creating a bilingual book and the translation decisions they had to make, reading some of their favourite poems from the book on the way. Watch the video
  • 30 June: The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
    An evening of bilingual poetry readings and conversation with Ness Owen, Sian Northey, Pat Edwards, Diana Powell, Sara Louise Wheeler, Siôn Aled, Jeremy Dixon, Rhys Owain Williams, Rae Howells, Lowri Haf Williams, Sandra Evans, Gareth Writer-Davies.
  • 10th July  Gŵyl Arall Festival, Caernafon
  • Editor  Sian Northey was joined by Sion Aled, Sara Louise Wheeler, and Lowri Williams to read and talk about the book.
  • Thursday 21st July: The Hours Cafe & Bookshop, Brecon, VIDEO
    Readings and conversation with Gareth Writer-Davies, Clare E Potter, Diana Powell, Sian Northey and Stephen Payne.
  • 24th July: The Poetry Pharmacy, Bishop’s Castle,
    Nipping over the border into Shropshire for Readings from Sian Northey, Gareth Writer-Davies, Jeremy Dixon, Ness Owen, Pat Edwards and Stephen Payne at the world’s first walk-in Poetry Pharmacy.

You can track all our events on our interactive A470 map too.

If you’d like more information about any of these events, please email outreach@arachnepress.com

 

 

A470 launches

Eat your heart out Route 66, we’ve got the A470, and the poems to prove it!

We are holding a bilingual ONLINE launch for A470 on 3rd March (World Book Day) at 7pm.

Line up: Adele Evershed, Cas Stockford, Ness Owen, Sian Northey, Angela Graham, KS Moore, Rae Howells, Becky Lowe  Siôn Aled, David Mathews, Seth Crook, Simon Chandler, and Sammy Weaver.

free tickets, and copies of the book

2pm Saturday 23rd April 2022/ 2pm Dydd Sadwrn, 23ain Ebrill, 2022
Our first in person event/ Ein digwyddiad cyntaf â phawb mewn ystafell
Bilingual readings by poets/ Darlleniadau dwyieithog gan feirdd
plus open mic

Caffi Soar
Canolfan Soar, Pontmorlais,
Merthyr Tudful, CF47 8UB
Line up: Nicholas McGaughey, Des Mannay, Gareth Writer-Davies, Sian Northey, Matthew MC Smith, Mike Jenkins, David Mathews, and provisionally, Sara Louise Wheeler and Becky Lowe.
free, just turn up

Mamiaith Book Launch videos part 4

Final videos of the launch of Mamiaith by Ness Owen, held at Canolfan Ucheldre in Holyhead.

Ness reads a pair of political poems in her second set – a bit of history, and a brilliant metaphor for the silencing of women, in Welsh and English.

and some of the musical interlude from Caine and ‘Caine’s dad’-

 

 

You can buy Mamiaith direct from our webshop or ask your local bookshop to stock it!

Caine and Aled Jones-Williams perform Titrwm Tatrwm, an ancient Ynys Môn folk song.