It is lovely to see Letters from Wales: Memories and Encounters in Literature and Life by Sam Adams on Wales Arts Review’s Best Welsh Non-Fiction Books of 2023 list!
‘This is writing in time and over time; the author’s horizons widen as he goes, his impressions change... What is revealed is the generous deep-rootedness of the author’s cultures.’ – Michael Schmidt
‘His writing respects writers, respects the past and, because of this quality, it continuously offers readers something surprising and new.’ – Jonathan Edwards
'with Letters from Wales Sam Adams has created what has become one of my favourite books dealing with the histories and cultures of our homeland. Nominally concerned with a country’s literatures, packed with praise and puzzlement, Adams’s ‘Letters' is a vastly wide-ranging collection of personal engagements. Those who know Sam Adams's own poetry will be delighted by the self-revelations that create a delicious seam throughout this work. For example, the editor singles out a depiction of a miner’s lamp. Brilliant, poignant. Originally a series of columns in PN Review, Letters from Wales can now be enjoyed in one indispensable volume.' – Robert Minhinnick
'This collection of Sam Adams’s pieces, written over the years for PN Review, is a literary journey in the company of writers and writings of Wales, and beyond. Sam Adams was there at the start, when a few believers sparked a renaissance of Welsh writings in English, when Poetry Wales, The Anglo-Welsh Review, the Triskel Press were launched, slim volumes were published, and for the first time the TLS reviewed poetry from Wales. I will return to it again and again, to learn, and to remember our story.' – Gillian Clarke
'Drawing on decades of experience as a writer at the heart of Welsh literary life, Adams has treated readers of PN Review to short, intimate commentaries on the cultural sector in Wales as it has evolved around him... Letters from Wales stands alone as an invaluable guide to Welsh writing.' – Sam Young, Wales Arts Review
'In these columns, as impressive for their depth as they are for their intellectual breadth, Adams analyses the work of acclaimed Welsh writers such as Gillian Clarke, R. S. Thomas, and Rhian Edwards with scholarly panache' – Joshua Rees, Buzz Magazine
'This is a huge book which serves to demonstrate the no less enormous contribution made by Sam Adams to Welsh literary life... Adams is consistently the most amiable and urbane of companions, illuminating and entertaining as he intelligently surveys the world of letters from a Welsh perspective.' – Jon Gower, Nation.Cymru
'Adams writes with magisterial clarity as if for the general reader from outside Wales, but it’s sometimes when describing ourselves to others that we learn most. Informative, great for dipping into, and testimony of a lifetime of service to this country.' – Christopher Meredith, Wales Arts Review
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