Patrick Hannan, Broadcaster and Journalist, 1941-2009

The great Welsh broadcaster and journalist Patrick Hannan sadly died on October 11th. An obituary can be found here.

His most recent book, A Useful Fiction: Adventures in British Democracy, was published in May of this year.

This issue's Prize Draw

This issue's prize draw is Welsh Furniture 1250-1950. A sumptuous two-volume work from Saer Books covers a cultural history of craftsmanship and design from the perspective of Welsh furniture.

Beautifully illustrated throughout and meticulously researched, subjects range from chairs, chests and cradles to church screens, clocks and the Welsh dresser. This comprehensive study is by Richard Bebb, the recognised authority on the subject. The book is the result of sixteen years’ worth of research, and attempts to explain furniture history to those who have an interest in all things Welsh, and Welsh culture and history to those interested in furniture.

This unique and lovely work is worth £150.

The prize is open to New Welsh Review subscribers. To enter, simply email admin@newwelshreview, or write or phone, by the closing date of November 27th, and the book could be yours. Good luck!

Dylan Thomas Prize goes annual

The Dylan Thomas Prize is to run annually from next year onwards. A smart decision, I think.

Dylan Thomas Festival 2009

A reminder that I'll be in conversation with Stevie Davies on October 29th as part of the 2009 Dylan Thomas Festival which runs from 26th October to 9th November. This year's festival also includes Cerys Matthews, Fflur Dafydd, Dannie Abse, Owen Sheers, Peter Finch, a conference on Lynette Roberts and a celebration of Yeats, among other treats. I do hope you'll be able to join us this year and also sample some of the other excellent events.

This link will take you to the festival site. The online brochure-book may take a few seconds to load.

Machen in the Guardian

A blog on Machen in yesterday's Guardian online by Damien G. Walter.

Do check out New Welsh Review's summer issue (published back in May), with a tribute to Machen by bestselling horror and fantasy writer Tim Lebbon.

On the Machen-championing front, I am pleased to say that Machen's classic works The Hill of Dreams and The Great God Pan will be widely available in spring 2010 from the Library of Wales series, published by Parthian in highly affordable paperback editions. Great news for Machen, and those who've yet to come across his work.

Up Close and Personal

A couple of weeks ago I went to the launch of Blown, a new magazine for the culturally intelligent (or so it says on the tin) in the National Museum in Cardiff. Ric Bower, the editor, had commissioned me to interview Sarah Waters and while I liked the idea of meeting her again (the last time was a while back when she was writing The Night Watch) I didn’t want to repeat the process I’d gone through before... re-read the previous novels and discuss her approach to the current one. So, Ric suggested I try writing it ‘Gonzo-style’ – an idea I found simultaneously terrifying and intriguing. After my usual period of procrastination, I decided to invite Sarah to the movies. In retrospect, I should have had the guts to go to Leicester Square and see The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 or even something sensibly gripping like Burn After Reading, both of which were out at the time, but I lost my nerve. Instead we met up at the BFI and watched a motley selection of films made by the GPO. My plan had been to have an intelligent conversation about what we’d seen and then write up the interesting bits. Okay, not that Gonzo but hey – it was a Friday night out in London - that counts for something, doesn’t it?

Things didn’t go quite to plan... By the time I met Sarah late last September (we’d made the arrangements in June) the wheels were coming off bits of my life and instead of conducting a clever discussion about the merits of pre-war short films, we drank Campari and soda and then we drank a bit more. Luckily I remembered to switch the recorder on at some point or the whole evening would have turned into The Lost Weekend. Which brings me to my point. How much of yourself should you reveal when interviewing someone or writing a book about them? What is appropriate or, more importantly, vaguely interesting to the reader? I confess to being torn between irritation and curiosity when I watch Nick Broomfield’s documentaries, for instance, but am always desperate to know more about the writers I love. Reading Simon Gray’s The Smoking Diaries led me back to his plays with more enthusiasm than I had for them in the first place and, Susie Boyt’s My Judy Garland Life (purchased purely for the title) has given me a somewhat unhealthy obsession with all things Susie. Reading the article in Blown, nearly a year after I wrote it, felt a bit like hearing a snatch of a song that once meant something, almost visceral yet strangely remote. I haven’t watched The Wire for a year now, either.

Sarah Waters on Booker shortlist

Sarah Waters is Booker-shortlisted for her latest novel, The Little Stranger, which is reviewed in depth by Lucie Armitt in the current issue of New Welsh Review.