News Archive

BayLit 2007

17–21 April 2007
Cardiff Bay

BayLit is back this April with a great line up for those who love literature in all its forms. Poetry, prose, performance, debates and reviews all make an appearance at the festival. As we build up to the big weekend in Cardiff Bay, Academi will be showcasing individual writers and events from the festival in this newsletter. However, we won’t keep you waiting too long to find out which events you will be attending. Here is a brief overview of the programme:

17 April 2007

• A Night for the Unpublished - The Norwegian Church - 7.00 pm, £3 / £2

Are you an unpublished writer living in South Wales? Are you eager to get your work heard and to practice your performance skills in front of a live audience? Well, if you are, then our Night for the Unpublished is for you. As part of BayLit, Academi is giving you the unpublished writers of South Wales the chance to step into the limelight. Be amongst the first to hear exciting, original work by writers who may soon be taking centre stage in the literary scene in Wales. Your MC for the evening will be Lloyd Robson.

To book your slot on A Night for the Unpublished contact Academi on 029 2047 2266 / post@academi.org

19 April 2007

• Taliesin Launch (Welsh-language Event) - Glanfa, Wales Millennium Centre – 7.30 pm, Free Entry

Come and hear the best of Welsh-language literature: poetry, prose, essays and a wide range of reviews. The launch of issue 130 of the Welsh-language literary magazine Taliesin promises to be a feast for the ears.

20 April 2007

• Gwyn Thomas and Andrew Motion in Conversation - Function Room 1, Wales Millennium Centre - 7.30 pm, £6 / £4.50

Gwyn Thomas the National Poet for Wales and Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, meet on stage for the first time to debate what it is to be an official bard, and how national identity plays its part in that role. This lively and never before witnessed discussion will be chaired by a poet who knows the subject only too well, the first National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis. Wales versus England. National Poet versus Poet Laureate. Neighbours from hell or perfect fellow travellers? This is a meeting of two incredible poetic minds that is not to be missed.

21 April 2007

• Lost in Translation? Welsh and Catalan Translation Workshop - Glyn Jones Centre, Wales Millennium Centre – 9.30 am, £4 / £3

Five poets, two hours and two poems to translate: Welsh to Catalan, Catalan to Welsh. Will they succeed? Aspiring and experienced literary translators are welcome to join in this cultural exchange and contribute to poetry in the making.  In association with Welsh Literature Abroad and Institut Ramon Llull.

• Parallel Voices / Veus Paralleles - Glanfa, Wales Millennium Centre - 2.30 pm, Free Entry

Following the success enjoyed by Welsh poets visiting Barcelona, we bring you the second stage of this project in association with Institut Ramon Llull. Witness a feast of Welsh and Catalan poetry celebrating the national saint day of Catalonia, La Diada de Sant Jordi or is that St. George’s Day? Representing Catalonia are Albert Mestres, Francesc Parcerisas and Júlia Zabala and for Wales Alan Llwyd, Mererid Puw Davies and John Fitzerald.              

• Catalan Connections - Seligman Room, Wales Millennium Centre – 4.30 pm, £4 / £3

Jordi Coca is one of Catalonia’s leading fictional voices. His novel, Under the Dust (Parthian, 2007), has become one of the most read novels in recent Catalan literature. Aneurin Gareth Thomas is a Welshman who has spent the last fifteen years in Spain working as a teacher, writer, and translator, Luggage from Elsewhere (Parthian, 2007) is his first book. Aneurin and Jordi will be interviewed by writer, editor and critic Dr Montserrat Lunati.

• Wales Book of the Year 2007: Meet the Longlisted Authors - Seligman Room, Wales Millennium Centre
  7:30 pm English-language Long List
  8:30 pm Welsh-language Long List
  £4 / £3 each or £6 / £5 for both Book of the Year events

Learn more about the writers behind the Long List titles.  In the first of two intimate events, Francesca Rhydderch, Editor of the New Welsh Review, will be interviewing Daniel G. Williams, Merryn Williams and Jeremy Hooker. Following a brief break, Ion Thomas, author and literary critic, will be interviewing Catrin Dafydd, Llwyd Owen and Herbert Hughes.

Tickets

BayLit tickets will go on sale on Monday 19 March.

TicketLine: 08700 131812

For more information on BayLit events and speakers visit the Academi website.