Wildlife

It is  National Short Story Week . WooHoo. I love short stories.  Sophie has written a very informative blog  about events packed with tips and linkage (see below), isn’t she lovely? As such  I thought I’d celebrate the week  by giving you my recommendations for top short story writers and collections written by women in or from Wales. In no particular order these are the books I have loved most: Jo Mazelis has written two great collections,  Circle Games  and  Diving Girls , the latter of which was shortlisted for the Best First Book Award in the Eurasia Commonwealth Writers Prize and for Welsh Book of the Year 2003. You can read her list of  the top 10 short story collections on the Academi site . Margiad Evans  The Old and The Young Anna Wigley  Footprints Maria Donovan   Pumping Up Napolean Imogen Herrad  The Woman who Loved an Octopus and Other Saint’s Tales Gee Williams  Blood Etc   - shortlist...

NOVEMBER 2010 Happy National Short Story Week The short story  is having something of a resurgence of late. I am not complaining, having written a book of them , and I am sure Tyler isn’t either, as Parthian are publishing his short story collection sometime in the future. Anyway, as such there are all sorts of fab celebrations of the short story form going on this month and next. This week is  National Short Story Week . There are events across the country, and short stories to read for free on the website including my story  Aquatic Life . I’ve also taken part in the short story challenge and contribute 150 words or so to the collaborative short story  Consequences . I will be guest editing the site for a month in 2011. I am going to be writing  a Mslexia blog  on why I love short form and my fave short story writers soon, possibly this afternoon. Sophie has written  a very informative one about events and resources for short story readers and writ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cardiff/2010/nov/16/undeb-velopmement-undeb-theatre-cardiff-milgi-review?INTCMP=SRCH Undeb celebrate first birthday with Undeb-velopment – review Undeb Theatre celebrated their first birthday with more exciting, spirited new theatre -  Susie Wild  reviews Share Comments ( 0 ) Undeb have been making a name for themselves as purveyors of exciting, spirited new theatre in innovative venues across Cardiff over the past twelve months. Undeb-velopment by Tom Cullen, Alexander Vlahos Milgi Lounge,  Cardiff Until 13 November Uundeb theatre website The youthful company was set up by Royal Welsh College graduates Tom Cullen and Alexander Vlahos because they were frustrated at the lack of theatre available that spoke to them. Today, they develop new writing, acting and directing talent in the city and put on accomplished, relevant theatre. Undeb-velopment this weekend showcased early script-in-hand performances of their current work in celeb...

THE DARK PHILOSOPHERS | THEATRE REVIEW BY  SUSIE WILD   ⋅  NOVEMBER 15, 2010  ⋅   POST A COMMENT Photo: Gareth Phillips Fri 12 Nov 2010 The Riverfront, Newport ★★★★ ‘Don’t have dark thoughts,’ so repeats Gwyn Thomas’s father to the young lad as he hands him lemonade outside the onstage pub, before disappearing back through the door. This didn’t deter  Gwyn Thomas  the great Welsh storyteller though, who is the star in  Told By An Idiot’ s expressionist, physical interpretation of  The Dark Philosophers . Those die-hard fans of The Other Thomas should not expect a literal adaptation of his three novellas. Instead in their eighth (and best-yet) production  National Theatre Wales  have managed to do something quite remarkable, in not just representing the words of the extraordinary writer, in all their deliciously dark quirks, but in also capturing the spirit of Thomas, his world, his cracking humour and his sharp mind.  Once as...

I’m not sure where time goes. One minute it was midsummer and I was performing in fields in wellies. The next people are asking me what my plans for the festive season are. I don’t plan that far in advance. Although if the rain keeps on falling then hibernating under blankets with a pile of good books and my laptop seems most likely. I do have a novel to complete, after all. Hopefully, though, the rain will stop falling, I will be coaxed out for the whoosh-bang fun of a postponed Fireworks display and the weather will return to a glitter of frost, snug layers and I-can-see-my-own-breath cheap thrills. There are many reasons to hope for this, including the luxury of having finished my own book tour and being able to enjoy other people’s literary performances and some top new theatre. First up, I must congratulate the  Seren poets  Pascale Petit and John Haynes who   have both been shortlisted for the T S Eliot Prize . They join Simon Armitage, Annie Freud,...

NOVEMBER 2010 The end of the BYT launch tour. Sob, sob. Susie and Tyler model the Bright Young Things goodie bags at BayLit festival. Hawlfraint / Copyright: Academi / John Briggs Having Wil as a fellow BYT must have rubbed off, look at Tyler and I doing our catalogue model pose above. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Yes, Saturday saw the end of the BYT tour SOB SOB. We were appearing as part of  BayLit Shock of the New  festival because we are shocking and we are new. Only 50% of the BYTs were on stage but it was still an ace event. The busy Havannah Bar audience were treated to a double helping of readings from both Tyler and myself, a BYT quiz, and a kazillion chances to win prizes. We missed Wil and James though, and both read little bits of their book to the audience to make up for their absence. A couple of pals who have been to more than one of the BYT events said they still weren’t bored as each one had been so different, and they’d noticed our confidence growing along the way so that...