Wildlife

Hello Blog I've been  terribly neglectful / very very busy / away / in  love / writing. I'll catch up with some back dated stuff soon. News in brief: I am still working for Parthian Books, now as Publishing Editor... some of the books and authors I am working with can be seen here: http://www.parthianbooks.com/node/1609  including Carole Burns, Susmita Bhattacharya, Richard Owain Roberts, Michael Oliver-Semenov, Gee Williams, Tony Bianchi, Sion Tomos Owen, Lloyd Markham, the Welsh Writers Trust, Gwenno Dafydd and Rebecca F. John. I spent December running the pop-up bookshop with Amy Wack from Seren and Penny Thomas from Firefly Press. Here's a nice snap that Noel Dacey took of me doing that... I am also still with the University of Glos, teaching prose to their students on the MA in Creative and Critical Writing, and I have been guest lecturing here and there including Aberystwyth University and Cardiff MET. Feb 10th: Favourite question from a stud...

Don’t miss the chance to fall in love during Dinefwr’s ‘speed dating’ event with Parthian and Seren writers on Saturday 21st June! [This post is mostly taken from www.parthianbooks.com ] For the second year, amid the magical and mythical surroundings of Dinefwr Park and Castle, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, the Dinefwr Literature Festival will take place on the weekend 20-22 June. This bilingual festival (Welsh-English) is a celebration of words in all their different forms – poetry, prose, history, stand-up comedy, song lyrics – and  it offers an amazing programme of national and international writers, award-winning poets and emerging literary talent, among which Parthian and Seren are represented rather nicely! All the events are situated in a stunning 17th century property, Newton House, and in the Old Laundry, on Saturday 21st June at 8.15 pm, the Speed Dating Writers event will take place, featuring three novelists, two poets and a Canadian on a high-octane...

I had a splendid time at the Hay Festival this year. On my first trip up we were celebrating Parthian's 21st birthday with a cabaret style evening of readings, mini q&a sessions and an amazing birthday cake made by one of the fab Hay crew. Rich and I hosted and evening that featured readings from Tyler Keevil, Rachel Trezise, Sion Tomos Owen, Jemma L. King, Carly Holmes, Holly Muller, Dan Tyte, and Joao Morais, and an interview with Rarebit's illustrator John Abell. Here are a few photos... Books, Books, Books: Including the first outing of new books Tonypandemonium by Rachel Trezise and The Undressed by Jemma L. King Let Them Eat Cake Autograph Corner Deckchairs and Wine Me + Hay Loot The Parthian Dance Troupe? With many thanks to the Queen of Hay Street Style Rebecca Pescod for taking these! We all had rather a lot of fun and we hope you did too... Rebecca is Never Underdressed Bethan Elfyn (L) and Viv Albertine (R) on a...

Catch me airing a mix of new and old poems at The Back of the Pub Poetry Club in The Fountain Inn on the Friday Night of the Dylan Poetry Weekend (2-4 May 2014) in Laugharne, along with Mab Jones and pals. My dearest friend Rhian Edwards is on at 7pm that very same night. Loads of other great people doing proper turns on the rest of the bill, and some brilliant theatre bits and bobs too. I will also read a couple of poems at the Bare Fiction event on the 30th of April at Gwdihw in Cardiff. The Arabic translation of my short story 'Aquatic Life' appeared in Albataka Review: Brush with Fate - Voices From Wales along with other stories in translation by Rachel Trezise, lloyd robson, Nigel Jarrett, Jon Gower, Tristan Hughes and Lewis Davies.

Hello long-neglected blog. So, I've made it to the other side of teaching my first semester on the MA in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Gloucs (and some undergrad bits and pieces there and at Cardiff MET)... and also to the other side of organising Griff Rhys Jones' Cardiff Cameo Club Book Launch, The Welsh Cultural Embassy at The Wheatsheaf, and trips to both Laugharne (Take 1) and London Book Fair almost intact, bar a sprained ankle - damn you rainy road potholes. Time for some R&R and a bit of a Spring shake up in between seeing friends and family. BUT first for two updates... ONE: THE WORK & STUFF UPDATE Lots of the books I - and my brilliant authors - have been working on over my last year at the editorial helm of Parthian have recently been, or will soon be, launched into the world and I've been meeting with my 2015 authors too. Congratulations to Craig Hawes who has been longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for his d...

Lots to report, lots to report... 1. Rarebit , my anthology of 21 illustrated short stories to celebrate Parthian's 21st birthday launched on National Short Story Day - 21/12/2013 and is currently Welsh Book of the Month in Waterstones for January 2014. Contributor Dan Tyte wrote a fab blog about the launch so I don't have to . I'm pleased as punch with all involved, especially that John Abell for all the amazing artwork, and Team Parthian for lots of help in many other ways. Here's a little anecdote from my weekend: On Saturday I ran into a friend outside the pasty shop, as you do. 'I've just bought Rarebit ,' she said, quickly adding 'for a friend' as if it were a dangerous book to be caught buying for yourself. 'I saw it because it was on the Book of the Month table in  Waterstones Cardiff . Actually, the person in the queue behind me was buying it too.' Here's a snap of the display of Rarebit s in Waterstones after this conver...

So only one sleep to go until Do Not Go Gentle kicks off and I'm been gathering all my books together and getting excited about all the wonderful writers I'll be chatting to around and about (mostly in Dylan Thomas' old house in Uplands). I thought I could get you a little bit excited too... so here are some lines or paragraphs from their latest books and some links... book your tickets, see you there! FRIDAY 1ST NOVEMBER On Friday we'll be opening the festival with Dylan Thomas' granddaughter Hannah Ellis at 5 Cwmdonkin Drive at 5pm. At 6pm we'll be previewing Parthian's special 21st birthday anthology Rarebit , with 4 new talents from the 21 writers involved reading their stories. Here are the first couple of lines from each of these... 'Onwards' by Dan Tyte:  You take a left at the bar nobody could ever remember the name of, the one where the waiting girl wore her hair up and her guard down, where the pool table sloped into the top ri...

A pleasant nod from Natalie Holborow in her review blog of her National Poetry Day jaunt at Dylan Thomas' birthplace: '   Susie Wild followed with an impressive collection of poems and a glowing stage presence, speaking to the audience with an intimacy that brought the room closer together and maintaining the cosy atmosphere.' Read the blog in full here:  http://thesirenswansea.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/on-not-going-gentle-for-national-poetry-day-at-5-cwmdonkin-drive-review/ Come join us for more intimate literary events at Do Not Go Gentle, 1-3 November.

Hello It's been a while, hasn't it? This is what happens when you get a proper job, see. So... I've been up to some things. Things like editing beautiful books for Parthian Books.   Craig Hawes  brilliant collection of short stories The Witch Doctor Of Umm Suqeim  has been printed. I think I am beaming like a proud Mum out of shot. On general release from October 1st! We had a little launch party with family and friends at Monkey in Swansea on Sunday evening. Craig said some nice things, I blushed. His book is on general release from 1st October. Craig and I were also joined by Sian Preece to talk about how to win short story competitions in our session at the Rhys Davies Short Story Conference the day before. There were lots of fab people on the bill including Will Self, Clare Keegan, Cynan Jones, Alex Clark and the brilliant Edna O'Brien -- If I am that awesome at 82 I'll be happy, and it is good to remember that if I my long life line tells the ...