Thursday 22 December 2011

NAASWCH Extended Deadline

North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History
(NAASWCH)

International Conference on Welsh Studies
Bangor University
Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales
26-28 July, 2012

Call for Papers
The NAASWCH Program Committee seeks diverse perspectives on Wales and Welsh culture – as well as proposals focused on the Welsh in North America – from many disciplines including: history, literature, languages, art, social sciences, political science, philosophy, music, and religion. NAASWCH invites participation from academics, postgraduate/graduate students and independent scholars from North America, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.
Those wishing to present a paper suitable for a 20-minute reading may submit an abstract (maximum one-page). Proposals for thematic sessions, panel presentations, or other formats are also welcome. Please include a brief (one-page) c.v. with your abstract submission. The abstract-proposal deadline is 2 January 2012 but early proposals are encouraged. Participants will be notified by mid-February. E-mail submissions are welcome and will be acknowledged promptly. If you have not received confirmation of your electronic submission within one week, please resend the document.

NAASWCH works to promote scholarship on all aspects of Welsh culture and history; to develop connections between teachers and scholars in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who are committed to the study of Welsh culture and society, history, language, and literature; to provide an intellectual forum in which scholars and teachers of Welsh culture may share their research and teaching experience, and to provide support for the study of Welsh-North American history and culture.

Please see the NAASWCH website for additional information: www.naaswch.org
Please submit abstracts or session proposals by no later than 23 January--PLEASE NOTE EXTENDED DEADLINE--(electronically if possible) to Professor Tony Brown, School of English, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2DG (els015@bangor.ac.uk) and Dr Andrew Edwards, School of History and Welsh History, Bangor University (a.c.edwards@bangor.ac.uk).
Those who are not submitting proposals but would like to receive conference information should contact Linda Jones, Conference Administrator, College of Arts and Humanities, Bangor University l.c.jones@bangor.ac.uk; tel. +44 (0)1248 383881.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Penyberth@75


Seminar i nodi 75 mlynedd ers i Saunders Lewis gael ei ddiarddel o Brifysgol Abertawe

A Seminar to mark the 75th anniversary of Saunders Lewis’s dismissal from Swansea University

Gyda / With
Simon Brooks, Pyrs Gruffudd, Tudur Hallam a Robert Rhys

4pm Llun, 12 Rhagfyr 2011
Ystafell Gynhadledd y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau B 03, Adeilad Keir Hardie

4pm Monday 12 December, 2011
Arts and Humanities Conference Room B03, Keir Hardie Building


This is a Welsh event with simultaneous translation into English


Am wybodaeth bellach / For further details please contact Daniel Williams daniel.g.williams@abertawe.ac.uk


Yn 1936, collodd Saunders Lewis ei swydd fel darlithydd ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe yn sgil llosgi’r ysgol fomio ym Mhenyberth gyda DJ Williams a Lewis Valentine. I nodi’r digwyddiad hwn a‘i arwyddocâd i hanes, llên a gwleidyddiaeth Cymru mae Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton yn cynnal seminar a thrafodaeth gyda rhai o’r arbenigwyr mwyaf blaenllaw ar waith a syniadaeth Saunders Lewis.


In 1936, Saunders Lewis lost his job as a lecturer at Swansea University as a result of having set fire to a military instillation at Penyberth along with D J Williams and Lewis Valentine. To mark this event the Burton Centre is hosting a seminar and discussion with some of the foremost experts on the work and ideas of Saunders Lewis.

Friday 25 November 2011



Monday 28 November, 4.00 pm
Conference Room (B03), Basement Floor, Callaghan Building

Dydd Llun 28 Tachwedd, 4.00 pm
Ystafell Gynadledda (B03), Llawr Isaf, Adeilad Callaghan

Dr Martin Johnes
(Swansea University)
‘The death of Johnny Owen: Stories of a Postindustrial Hero’

Sunday 13 November 2011

RICHARD BURTON CENTRE SEMINAR SERIES
SEMINARAU CANOLFAN RICHARD BURTON




Prof. / Yr Athro John Koch




Wales and India, Welsh and Sanskrit, Indo-European and Celtic Studies


Monday 14 November, 4.00 pmConference Room (B03), Basement Floor, Callaghan Building
Dydd Llun 14 Tachwedd, 4.00 pmYstafell Gynadledda (B03), Llawr Isaf, Adeilad Callaghan

Monday 17 October 2011

The first of this semester’s Richard Burton Research seminars takes place on:

Monday 17 October, 4.00 pm
Conference Room (B03), Basement Floor, Callaghan Building

Dr Michael J Franklin
(Swansea University)
‘Cambrian Bard on Calcutta Bench’


Mike Franklin is a leading expert on colonial representations of India and their various interfaces with Romanticism. He has edited Representing India: Indian Culture and Imperial Control (2000), and The European Discovery of India: Key Indological Sources of Romanticism (2001), and authored a series of articles on the Hastings circle which forms the current focus of his research. His latest books are Romantic Representations of British India, ed. Michael J. Franklin, (London: Routledge, 2006); and Phebe Gibbes, Hartly House, Calcutta, ed. Michael J. Franklin (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2007).

He is currently on a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, and his most recent monograph on William Jones (OUP) has been warmly received. This review is from the Spectator:http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/7288698/the-radical-imperialist.thtml




Mae’r cyntaf o seminarau ymchwil Canolfan Richard Burton yn cymryd lle ar

Ddydd Llun 17 Hydref, 16:00
Ystafell Gynhadledd y Dyniaethau (B03), Llawr Isaf, Adeilad Callaghan

Dr Michael J Franklin
(Prifysgol Abertawe)
'Cambrian Bard on Calcutta Bench'


Mae Mike Franklin yn arbenigwr ar lenyddiaeth trefedigaethol yr India a pherthynas amlweddog y llenyddiaeth yma a Rhamantiaeth. Astudiaeth ar waith a bywyd William Jones (OUP) yw ei gyfrol ddiweddaraf. Dyma adolygiad o'r Spectator:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/7288698/the-radical-imperialist.thtml

Thursday 29 September 2011

Dana Polan on Raymond Williams and Film

October 5th. Kier Hardie Room 216. 4pm.
Professor Dana Polan, New York University
‘Raymond Williams and Film’.

Dana Polan is Professor of Cinema Studies at the Tisch Centre for the Arts, New York University. He is the author of 8 books in film and media and approximately 200 essays, reviews, and review-essays. He is a former president of the Society for Cinema Studies, the professional society for film, and a former editor of its publication, Cinema Journal. He has been knighted by the French Ministry of Culture for contributions to cross-cultural exchange, and in 2003, was selected as one of that year's two Academy Foundation Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Recent books include Scenes of Instruction: The Beginnings of the U.S. Study of Film (UC Press, 2007), The Sopranos and The French Chef (Duke University Press). He has done 7 DVD commentaries including, most recently, The Third Man (Criterion Collection), and is the translator of Deleuze and Guattari, Kafka; Towards a Minority Literature.

*Please note: The lecture will be followed by a reception to welcome people back, to welcome new people, and to mark the appearance of the Raymond Williams Archive Online (made possible by a donation form the Amiel-Melburn Trust, secured by Alan Finlayson, PCS).*



Hydref 5ed. Kier Hardie Ystafell 216. 4:00.
Dana Polan, Prifysgol Efrog Newydd
'Raymond Williams a Ffilm'

Mae Dana Polan yn Athro Astudiaethau Sinema yn Nghanolfan Tisch ar gyfer y Celfyddydau, Prifysgol Efrog Newydd. Mae’n awdur 8 o lyfrau ar ffilm a'r cyfryngau a thua 200 o draethodau, adolygiadau ac yn y blaen. Mae wedi cael ei urddo'n farchog gan Weinyddiaeth Diwylliant Ffrainc am ei gyfraniadau i hybu perthnasau traws-ddiwylliannol. Ef yw cyfieithydd cyfrol Deleuze a Guattari, Kafka: Towards a Minority Literture, sydd wedi bod yn ddylanwad ar ysgholheigion Cymraeg fel Angharad Price a Simon Brooks. Mae hefyd wedi cyhoeddi cyfrol yn ddiweddar ar gyfres deledu Y Sopranos.

* Noder: Bydd y ddarlith yn cael ei ddilyn gan dderbyniad i groesawu pobl yn ôl i Ganolfan Burton / CREW, i groesawu pobl newydd, ac i nodi’r ffaith bod Archif Raymond Williams bellach ar-lein. (Gwnaed hyn yn bosibl drwy nawdd gan Ymddiriedolaeth Amiel-Melburn, a sicrhawyd gan Dr Alan Finlayson, PCS) .*

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Call for Papers: Association of Welsh Writing in English Conference 2012

CFP AWWE conference 2012

Performing Wales: Theatre, Art, Identities

The Association of Welsh Writing in English invites submissions for conference presentations and performances for its twenty-fourth annual conference, which is to be held at Gregynog Hall, Newtown, between 30 March and 1 April 2012.

Questions around performance permeate notions of identity and culture in Wales in fundamental ways. The most often-quoted passage in Gwyn A. Williams’s When was Wales? (1984) already gestures towards an understanding of identity as socially and culturally constructed. Williams writes that “[t]he Welsh as a people have lived by making and remaking themselves in generation after generation, usually against the odds, usually within a British context. Wales is an artefact which the Welsh produce. If they want to. It requires an act of choice.” Or, as Bron, one of the characters in Ed Thomas’s play Gas Station Angel (1998) has it: “to be Welsh at the end of the 20th century you got to have imagination.” A decade into the 21st century, Wales is now widely performed as a multiplicity of such imaginings, for example in the two national theatres in Wales.

This conference asks how identities in Wales have been constructed and contested in and through performance, in the past and in the present. We are adopting a deliberately broad definition of performance. We would particularly like to encourage paper submissions on drama and theatre, but we are also interested in non-text-based performance, performance art, performance poetry, the performativity and performance of identity in cultural contexts etc. We would like to encourage submissions of academic conference papers as well as creative performances. All submissions should, however, focus on an aspect of Welsh writing in English or Welsh culture mediated through the English language. Comparative approaches are encouraged.

We would like to receive papers dealing with topics such as (but not limited to):
 Performing cultural, racial, gender or sexual identities in Wales
 Performing Welshness in global or transnational contexts
 Mediated performances of Welshness – Wales in the media
 Historical performances of Welshness – performance of history in Wales
 National theatres and shifting conceptions of identity
 Performing place in Wales
 Re-enacting cultural pasts in the context of museums and heritage and beyond
 Comparative approaches to Welsh drama in English
 Postdramatic Theatre in a Welsh context
 The National Drama Movement(s)
 Translating texts – translating identities
 Participation and Relation: Performances of Wales and their audiences
 Community theatres

Please submit a brief abstract (ca. 300 words) and a biography (50 words) to Dr Alyce von Rothkirch, Department of Adult Continuing Education, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, a.v.von.rothkirch@swansea.ac.uk and to Dr Heike Roms, Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3AJ, hhp@aber.ac.uk. [Please send your proposal to both convenors.] The deadline for submissions is 15 November 2011.

Please let us know which category your paper/presentation falls under: academic paper (20 mins), short presentation/performance (20 mins) or long presentation/performance (45 mins). Presentations/performances will be held in seminar rooms, so please keep them as simple as possible. A list of technical requirements is essential.

Darlith Flynyddol Richard Burton Annual Lecture


This year's Richard Burton Annual Lecture takes place at 6pm on October 4th at Port Talbot's Princess Royal Theatre. It will be delivered this year by John McGrath, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. We are e delighted that John has agreed to deliver the lecture this year. He will look back over the first year of National Theatre Wales, which climaxed of course with Michael Sheen's Passion in Port Talbot.

Admission is free. All welcome.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Bydd Darlith Flynyddol Richard Burton yn cael ei gynnal am 6 o'r gloch ar 4 Hydref yn Theatr y Princess Royal, Port Talbot. John McGrath, Cyfarwyddwr Artistig National Thetare Wales, yw’r darlithydd eleni. Rydym yn falch iawn bod John wedi cytuno i gyflwyno'r ddarlith. Bydd yn edrych yn ôl dros flwyddyn gyntaf y National Theatre, a gyrhaeddodd uchafbwynt gyda Michael Sheen yn cyflwyno’r Pasiant ym Mhort Talbot.

Mynediad am ddim. Croeso i bawb.

Wednesday 25 May 2011

2nd Annual Post-Graduate Conference / 2il Gynhadledd Flynyddol


The Second Annual Post-Graduate Conference
Yr Ail Gynhadledd Flynyddol i Ôl-Raddedigion

New Research in Welsh Studies
Ymchwil Newydd ym maes Astudiaethau Cymreig


Arts and Humanities Conference Room
Ystafell Gynhadledd y Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau
26 / 27 May / Mai 2011



Programme / RhaglenDay 1 / Diwrnod 1

Thursday 26th / Dydd Iau

10.15 Daniel Williams Welcome / Croeso

10.30 – 11.30
Liza Penn-Thomas Taking Tea With Yeats- The Verse drama of Vernon Watkins as modernist or national drama

Ritchie Wood Welsh Miners and Tunnellers in World War One

11.30 – 12.00 Discussion Session

Leanne Wood AM A Greenprint for the ValleysDownload / Lawrlwythwch: http://www.english.plaidcymru.org/uploads/Articles_and_reports/Greenprint_Cynllun_Gwyrdd.pdf

12.00 – 1.00 Lunch (Buffet in the Foyer) / Cinio

1.00 – 2.00
Kim Madden Lessons from the Valleys: Learning from research activity in the communities of South Wales

Amina Mehta Exploring the journeys of older people with cancer in South West Wales

2.00 – 3.00
Kieron Smith, The ‘Organic Mosaic’: John Ormond’s Documentary Practice

Charlotte Jackson ‘Crossing Borders’ - A comparison between Raymond Williams's Border Trilogy and Louise Erdrich's North Dakota saga3.00 – 3.30 Coffee / Coffi

3.30 – 4.30 Creative Writing Session

Emily Vanderploeg "Speechless: Examining Wales and Canada via Dialect and Dialogue".

Alan Kellermann 'Columbus Day, or How to go from Here to There Without a Compass'?4.30. Close / Diwedd



Day 2 / Diwrnod 2
10.45 Daniel Williams Welcome / Croeso
11.00 – 12.00
Amanda Milburn The Economic Role of Women in Iron- Working Districts: Merthyr Tydfil and the Shropshire Coalfield 1841 – 1881

Carys Howells Domestic Service in South Wales, 1851-1921- Overview of Main Themes and Questions

12.00 – 1.00 Lunch (Buffet in the Foyer) / Cinio

1.00 – 2.00 [Welsh language session with translation]

Alun Rhys Chivers Criced, Iaith a Hunaniaeth
[Cricket, Language and Identity]

Rowan O’Neill 'Dawns y mewnfudwr': cynnig cyd-destun i ymarfer artistig y diweddar Cliff McLucas
[The Dance of Immigrants: contexts for the artistic practice of Cliff McLucas]

2.00 – 3.00
Sarah Morse A de-industrial revolution? Ron Berry’s reinhabitation of his post-industrial environment

Georgia Burdett Disability in the Short Stories of Ron Berry

3.00 – 3.30 Coffee

3.30 – 5.00 Discussion: Debating Welsh Culture and Politics (and getting published)
Gwen Davies. Editor, New Welsh Review.
Emily Trahair. Assistant Editor, Planet: The Welsh Internationalist
Duncan Higgit. Co-editor, Wales Home (http://waleshome.org/)


5.30 Peter Lord Launch of Between Two Worlds: The Diary of Winifred Coombe Tennant 1909 – 1924

The launch will take place in the James Callaghan Lecture Theatre
and will consist of a lecture by Peter Lord and readings from the
diaries.


6.30. Closing Buffet Reception.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Darlith Carwyn Jones Lecture

First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, gave his first lecture to staff and students at Swansea University on Monday, March 28 as part of a year-long series of talks organised by the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales.

Entitled ‘Global Wales’, the lecture sponsored by the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities, addressed the challenges that Wales faces in pursuing various agendas of internationalisation as well as ways in which global interdependence have impacts on Welsh economic and social development.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Richard B Davies, warmly welcomed the First Minister and the address was chaired by Dr Jonathan Bradbury, head of the Department of Political and Cultural Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities. In the hour long lecture, the First Minister discussed issue such as global warming, transport, renewable energy and nurturing business and entrepreneurship in Wales.

Mr Jones said: I’m happy to be here at Swansea University this evening to speak to staff and students about the international opportunities and challenges facing Wales over the next few years. Wales’ reputation as a place to do business, visit or study is increasing and our growing political confidence, as demonstrated by the recent Referendum result, is key to building our international role. Hosting the Ryder Cup helped to raise Wales’s profile around the world and as a result, recently in the same week, we hosted visits by the Ambassadors of the USA and China as well as the Indian High Commissioner to build business and cultural links – another sign of Wales’ international reputation. Globalisation is happening, we can’t stop it and we need to tell the world that Wales is here if we want to be part of the fully globalised world.

Dr Daniel Williams, Director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales said: “It is an honour to have First Minister Carwyn Jones contributing to our Richard Burton Centre seminar series on ‘Global Wales’. As this month’s referendum demonstrated, there are significant cultural and political changes occurring within Welsh society, and in the ways in which the Welsh think of their place in the world. Drawing on a range of disciplines, from economics to literature, history to human geography, our series aims to analyse, understand, and even contribute to these changes. It is important to us to hear the First Minister’s thoughts on Wales’ position in the world."

If you missed the event and but would like to see it, please click here.


Rhoddodd Prif Weinidog Cymru, Carwyn Jones, ei ddarlith gyntaf i staff a myfyrwyr ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe ar Dydd Llun, 28 Mawrth fel rhan o gyfres blwyddyn o hyd o sgyrsiau a drefnir gan Ganolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton.

'Cymru’r Byd' oedd teitl y ddarlith a noddwyd gan Sefydliad Ymchwil y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau. Aeth y Prif Weinidog i’r afael â'r sialensau sy'n wynebu Cymru yn sgil newidiadau economaidd, diwylliannol ac amgylcheddol byd eang.

Rhoddodd yr Is-Ganghellor, yr Athro Richard B Davies, groeso cynnes i'r Prif Weinidog, ac fe gadeiriwyd y sesiwn gan Dr Jonathan Bradbury, pennaeth yr Adran Gwleidyddol ac Astudiaethau Diwylliannol yng Ngholeg y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau.

Dywedodd Mr Jones: ‘Rydw i'n hapus i fod yma ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe heno i siarad â staff a myfyrwyr am y cyfleoedd rhyngwladol sy'n wynebu Cymru dros y blynyddoedd nesaf. Rhaid i ni ddatblygu enw da Cymru fel lle i wneud busnes, i ymweld, ac i astudio. Mae ein hyder cynyddol gwleidyddol, fel y dangosodd canlyniad y Refferendwm diweddar, yn allweddol i adeiladu ein rôl ryngwladol’.

Dywedodd Dr Daniel Williams, Cyfarwyddwr Canolfan Richard Burton: "Mae'n anrhydedd i gael Prif Weinidog Cymru, Carwyn Jones, yn cyfrannu at ein cyfres o seminarau eleni ar ‘Gymru’r Byd’. Fel y mae refferendwm y mis hwn wedi dangos, mae newidiadau diwylliannol a gwleidyddol arwyddocaol yn digwydd o fewn ein cymdeithas, sy’n mynd i ddylanwadu ar y ffyrdd y mae'r Gymry yn meddwl am eu lle yn y byd. Gan dynnu ar amrywiaeth o ddisgyblaethau - o economeg i lenyddiaeth, hanes i ddaearyddiaeth, bwriad y gyfres yw dadansoddi, deall, a hyd yn oed cyfrannu, at y newidiadau hyn. Mae sylwadau’r Prif Weinidog ar safle Cymru yn y byd wedi bod yn gyfraniad nodedig "

Os digwydd i chi golli’r digwyddiad gallwch ei wylio, a lawrlwyddio nodiadau’r Prif Weinidog yma:
http://www.swan.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/riah/researchcentres/richardburtoncentre/newscentre/latestnewsandevents/firstministerofwalesgivesfirstlecturetostaffandstudentsatswanseauni.php

Friday 25 March 2011

Postgraduate Conference / Cynhadledd ar gyfer Ol-Raddedigion

Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales

New Research in Welsh Studies
Graduate Conference
Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May 2011
Arts and Humanities Conference Room
James Callaghan Building

An opportunity for M.Phil. and PhD students working on Wales to come together to discuss their research.

Call for Papers:
The Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales seeks paper proposals from postgraduate researchers (M.Phil. and PhD) working in any discipline on subjects that concern or relate to Wales.


Papers will be of 20 minutes’ duration and will be presented within a multi-disciplinary forum. Presenters should be aware that the audience will be interested, but not necessarily expert, in their own specific field of research. Some thought should therefore be given to exploring the context (theoretical, methodological etc) in which the research has been designed, in order to maximize points of contact and opportunities for comparison across subject areas and disciplines.
Papers might present an overview of the research project as a whole, or of one or more parts of it. The focus might be (for researchers in the early stages) on the research question and involve some speculation as to how best to resolve it. For researchers nearing completion it might be more appropriate to concentrate on outcomes and possibilities for further research beyond the qualification currently aimed at.
Please send proposals (no longer than one side of A4) for papers (in either Welsh or English) to Dr. Daniel Williams, Department of English, Swansea University
daniel.g.williams@swansea.ac.uk

Closing date for proposals: 5 May 2011









Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton

Ymchwil Newydd ym maes Astudiaethau Cymreig
Cynhadledd i Fyfyrwyr Ôl-raddedig Dydd Iau 26 a dydd Gwener 27 Mai, 2011 Ystafell Gynhadledd y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau
Adeilad James Callaghan
Galwad am Bapurau:
Mae Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton yn galw am bapurau gan ymchwilwyr ôl-raddedig (M. Phil. a PhD) sydd yn gweithio mewn unrhyw ddisgyblaeth ar bynciau sy'n ymwneud â Chymru.

Bydd y papurau yn para 20 munud, ac mi fyddant yn cael eu cyflwyno mewn fforwm rhyngddisgyblaethol. Ni fydd holl aelodau’r gynulleidfa felly yn gwbl hyddysg yn y gwahanol feysydd, a dylid rhoi peth sylw i gyd-destun damcaniaethol y gwaith er mwyn galluogi cysylltiadau rhwng meysydd gwahanol. Gall y papur gynnig trosolwg o'r prosiect ymchwil yn ei gyfanrwydd, neu ganolbwyntio ar un neu fwy o rannau ohono. Gall fanylu ar un cwestiwn ymchwil gan archwilio’r dulliau mwyaf addas i ymwneud â’r cwestiwn hynny, neu edrych ar bosibiliadau ar gyfer ymchwil pellach.
Anfonwch gynigion (dim mwy na un ochr A4 o hyd) ar gyfer papurau (yn y Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg) at Dr. Daniel Williams, Yr Adran Saesneg, Prifysgol Abertawe. daniel.g.williams@abertawe.ac.uk
Dyddiad cau: 5 Mai 2011

Lawnsio Detholiad o faledi Huw Jones ‘Llymgi penllwyd Llangwm’

Cefnogodd Ganolfan Richard Burton lansiad o ddetholiad o hanner cant o faledi Huw Jones o Langwm, un o faledwyr mwyaf adnabyddus a mwyaf cynhyrchiol y ddeunawfed ganrif, yn y Bala nos Wener 3 Rhagfyr 2010. Golygwyd y casgliad gan Dr Alaw Mai Edwards (o Ganolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymreig a Cheltaidd Prifysgol Cymru yn Aberystwyth) a Dr A Cynfael Lake (o Adran y Gymraeg yn Academi Hywel Teifi). Ffrwyth prosiect a ariannwyd gan Fwrdd Gwybodau Celtaidd Prifysgol Cymru yw’r gyfrol.

Diolch i nawdd y Bwrdd cyflogwyd Dr Edwards am flwyddyn i gasglu ac i gopïo holl faledi Huw Jones, ryw ddau gant ohonynt i gyd. Er mai ar gyfer cynulleidfa o Gymry uniaith yn y ddeunawfed ganrif y lluniwyd y baledi, y mae llawer o’r pynciau a drafodir yr un mor gyfoes heddiw. Fel yr esboniodd Dr Lake, ‘Byddai baledwyr y ddeunawfed ganrif yn lleisio pryderon eu cyd-Gymry am ferched sy’n cael plant y tu allan i briodas ac yn disgwyl i’r gymdeithas eu cynnal, ac am y bobl hynny yr oedd yn well ganddynt ddiogi na gweithio. Dyma bynciau sydd yn y newyddion ar hyn o bryd wrth i’r Llywodraeth gwtogi ar wariant cyhoeddus ac ar y gwasanaeth lles yn benodol’.

Yn ystod y lawnsio, clywyd y ddau olygydd a Dr Ffion Mair Jones (o’r Ganolfan Uwchefrydiau) yn sôn am faledi Huw Jones, a bu Dr Ffion Mair Jones yn datgan rhai o’r baledi .

[The Richard Burton Centre supported the launch of Dr. Cynfale Lake's new edition of the Ballads of Huw Jones, Llangwm]

Wednesday 23 March 2011

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE' - a report

Liza Penn-Thomas writes:

Wednesday 16 March, 1pm – 2pm. Callaghan Lecture Theatre


Michael Bogdanov’s reputation for controversial and groundbreaking theatre made his recent lecture series at Swansea University highly anticipated, with organiser D.J.Britton promising “vivid insights drawn from an illustrious career stretching back over almost half a century”. We had already been afforded opportunity to hear Bogdanov speak in ‘INVISIBLE BULLETS – Shakespeare the Subversive’ and ‘DEUTSCHLAND UEBER ALLES – Simply the Best?' the latter of which looked particularly at Shakespeare’s welcome into the German canon of theatrical performance, as if he were a German himself. Of course, as we all knew after the third and final lecture in the series, Shakespeare was not German at all... but a Welshman.
Entitled ‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ the final event was delivered with Dr Daniel Williams in the chair as host. It was the Welsh presence in the plays of Shakespeare that was to be considered. Though an international figure, Bogdanov is by blood and birth a Welshman. He has also been a major contributor to the cultural life of Wales and specifically the staging of Shakespeare for a Welsh audience. The first fact established was that claims for a Welsh Bard in Stratford could certainly hold true if he were a rugby player, as his paternal grandmother was Welsh. Alys Griffin is often credited, along with his Welsh school master Thomas Jenkins, for passing on to the young William lyrical language and Celtic folklore that found its way into his dramas. The significance of Wales within the creative imagination of Shakespeare is recognised but it is in the interpretation of such representations that opinion becomes divergent.
Bogdanov saw the dramatist’s treatment of the Welsh as a sympathetic reflection of his humanism not as negative stereotyping. He disagreed with the frequently held view that Shakespeare was racist or misogynistic and asserted that Shakespeare was assuredly not Anti-Semitic. Daniel Williams wasn’t wholly convinced and suggested that the Welsh seemed to be used as benevolent characters that stood as worthy examples to England’s belligerent Scottish and Irish neighbours. Wales, as in much English thought, was being assigned a symbolic role of future unity within the isles under an English crown.
It will be interesting to see whether this most English icon who wrote under the patronage of English royalty will receive continued suspicion in Wales and be kept at arm’s length, acknowledged for his great writing but consigned to the role of a curriculum staple and open-air novelty. Or if, as a result of increasing political devolution, we in Wales will be able to embrace the plays of Shakespeare, as the Germans have, for our own artistic and cultural expressions.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Bogdanov and Gwilym ap Shakespeare

Theatre, television and film director,

Dr Michael Bogdanov

will be giving a series of public lunchtime lectures at Swansea University.

The lectures will be hosted by leading academics from Swansea University, and will take a conversational format with time for questions and answers. The final lecture in this series will be on Wednesday 16 March, 1pm – 2pm.

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ will be hosted by Dr Daniel Williams, Director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales. In it, Michael Bogdanov will consider the Welsh presence, both notional and physical, in the plays of Shakespeare.

Callaghan Lecture Theatre

Swansea University

Everyone is welcome and admission is free



For further information:

email: riah@swansea.ac.uk / tel: 01792 295190

For details of the full programme, see

www.swan.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/riah




Bydd y cyfarwyddwr theatr, teledu a ffilm,

Dr Michael Bogdanov

yn rhoi cyfres o ddarlithoedd cyhoeddus yn ystod amser cinio ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe

Bydd y darlithoedd yn cael eu cynnal gan academyddion blaengar o Brifysgol Abertawe, gan ddilyn fformat sgyrsiol gyda chyfle i holi ac ateb. Cynhelir y ddarlith derfynol yn y gyfres hon ddydd Mercher 16 Mawrth, 1pm - 2pm.

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ - cynhelir gan Dr Daniel Williams, Cyfarwyddwr Canolfan Richard Burton ar gyfer Astudio Cymru. Yn hwn, bydd Michael Bogdanov yn ystyried y presenoldeb Cymreig, yn ddamcaniaethol a chorfforol, yn nramâu Shakespeare.

Narlithfa Callaghan

Prifysgol Abertwe

Mae mynediad am ddim ac mae croeso i bawb

Am ragor o wybodaeth:

ebost: riah@abertwe.ac.uk / ffôn: 01792 295190

Am fanylion ynghylch y rhaglen yn llawn gweler

www.swan.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/riah

Monday 14 March 2011

Creative Writing News and Achievements

In the Welsh Bardic tradition, Creative Writing is thriving at Swansea University and in the city at large.  In addition to the successes of our esteemed staff - Stevie Davies, Nigel Jenkins, D.J. Britton, Fflur Dafydd, Alan Bilton, John Goodby, and others - our students are making their mark on the writing scene today.

Here is a brief listing of some recent and past successes of Swansea University's creative writing students:

This week, Another Country: Haiku Poetry From Wales, is being launched at The Dylan Thomas Centre, (with another launch in Aberystwyth next week). This anthology is co-edited by our own, Nigel Jenkins, and includes the work of many current and former Swansea writing students: Sarah Coles (MA '09), Rhys Owain Williams (BA '09, MA '10), Alan Kellerman (MA '07, PhD '11), Stephen White (MA '11), Leslie McMurtry (MA '07), Eloise Williams, amongst others.

Rebecca John (BA, 2011) has just this month been announced as the winner of The Jones Prize, for her short story collection, Clown's Shoes, which will be published later this year.

Roshi Fernando's (PhD, 2011) novel, Homesick, won the 2009 Impress Prize for New Writers (awarded to a Creative Writing student at a British University), and her short story The Flourescent Jacket, was shortlisted this past weekend for The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.

Susie Wild's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, The Art of Contraception, was published by Parthian last year.

Gemma June Howell's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, Inside the Treacle Well, was published by Hafan Books in 2009 as part of a series to benefit Swansea Asylum Seekers.

Clint Van Winkle (MA, 2007) - His Gulf War memoir Soft Spots, published by MacMillan, was very well received across the pond in the United States, where he continues to do media appearances on the subject.

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Global Wales / Cymru'r Byd Semester 2

Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton Centre for Welsh Studies
Cyfres Ddarlithoedd 2010 – 2011 Lecture Series

GLOBAL WALES / CYMRU’R BYD

Unless otherwise stated the seminars take place at 4pm in the Arts and Humanities Conference Room (B03), James Callaghan Building. Oni noder yn wahanol bydd y seminarau yn cymryd lle yn Ystafell Gynadledda’r Celfyddydau a’r Dyniaethau (B03), Adeilad James Callaghan

SEMESTER 2

January 31 Ionawr
Elin Royles, International Politics / Gwleidyddiaeth Ryngwladol, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
A Small Nation and the World Stage: Wales and Sub-State Diplomacy

February 14 Chwefror
Paul O’Leary, Department of History / Adran Hanes, Prifysgol Aberystwyth
Wales, the Irish Question and the British State, 1850 - 1914

February 28 Chwefror
Andre Webb, CREW, Swansea University / Prifysgol Aberatwe
Wales and World Literature

March 14 Mawrth
Cynfael Lake, Academi Hywel Teifi , Prifysgol Abertawe / Swansea University
O’r Bala i Bensylfania, ac yn ôl: Rhai agweddau ar y Faled Gymraeg yn y Ddeunawfed Ganrif
[With translation: From Bala to Pennsylvania: Welsh Ballads of the Eighteenth Century]

March 28 Mawrth
7.30. Faraday Lecture Theatre / Darlithfa Faraday
First Minister / Y Prif Weinidog Carwyn Jones
Welsh Assembly Government / Llywodraeth y Cynulliad
Global Wales

May 9 Mai
Jane Aaron, English Department / Adran Saesneg, Prifysgol Morgannwg / University of Glamorgan
Welsh Women Missionaries and Travel Writers in the Empire during the Nineteenth Century

May (dates to be announced) / Mis Mai ( dyddiadau i’w cadarnhau)
Postgraduate Conference on New Directions in Welsh Studies. Details to follow.
Cynhadledd Ôl-raddedig ar Gyfeiriadau Newydd mewn Astudiaethau Cymreig.
Manylion i ddilyn.