News Archive

The Laugharne Weekend 2008

Friday 28 March - Sunday 30 March 2008

The second annual Laugharne Weekend will be taking place in March this year. Once again, the lineup is a mixture of notable musicans and literature figures that will transform this sleepy village into a hubub of liveliness for one weekend only. Taking part in the festival this year will be:

PATTI SMITH
Patti Smith is a writer, artist and performer. Her albums
include Horses, Easter and Gone Again. Her artwork
has been exhibited worldwide, most notably at the Institute
of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Haus der Kunst, Munich
and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Her
books include Babel, The Coral Sea and Auguries of
Innocence. On July 10th 2005 she received the Commandeur
L’Ordre des Artset des Lettres, the highest grade awarded
by the French Republic to eminent artists and writers.

DBC PIERRE
DBC Pierre’s first novel Vernon God Little won the
Booker Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award for Comic Writing
in 2003. His second book Ludmila’s Broken English
confirmed his place in the ranks of today’s most original
storytellers.
"One of the most original and seriously funny narrative
voices in recent times" - The Observer

PATRICK WOLF & EDWARD LARRIKIN
2007 has seen singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf become a
major artist with the release of his third album The Magic
Position and two sold out shows at the Shepherds Bush
Empire in December. He has also been nominated for best
solo artist in the NME Shockwave Awards
"2008 will be the year of the Wolf" - The Guardian
Edward Larrikin’s new music project The Pan I Am has
been described by the NME as "more than just music - it’s
an epiphany". Tonight will see the performance of his one
man play Camusflage Krokodial. Set in a symbolic square
of humanity the one character MAN acts as the conductor of
a sustained attack/defence of humankind

WILLY VLAUTIN
Willy Vlautin’s debut novel The Motel Life was published
in 2005. He is also the singer and main songwriter of the
band Richmond Fontaine. The Times said that his latest book
Northline is a portrait of small town America imbued with a
sense of yearning and empathy from a novelist and songwriter
praised for his compassion and warmth
"The Dylan of the dislocated" - Independent on Sunday

ROGER MCGOUGH
Roger McGough is one of Britain’s best known poetry voices.
He has been captivating adults and children alike with his
unique blend of heart and wit for more than four decades.
He was awarded a CBE for services to literature in 2004.
"McGough does for poetry what champagne does for weddings"
- Time Out
"The patron saint of poetry" - Carol Ann Duffy

KEITH ALLEN
Llanelli born actor Keith Allen currently playing the Sheriff of
Nottingham in the BBC’s Robin Hood will read from his
autobiography Grow Up.

WILL SELF
Will Self has earned his reputation through a body of innovative
work: there’s nobody quite like him writing today. He has written
novels, novellas, collections of short stories and non-fiction works.
As a journalist he has contributed to a plethora of publications
over the years, he is also a regular broadcaster on television and
radio.
"Vivid, visceral and breathtakingly ambitious" - GQ
"Will Self’s world is all his own" - Martin Amis

LIONEL SHRIVER
Lionel Shriver has written eight novels with the latest being The
Post Birthday World. Her novel We Need To Talk About Kevin
won The Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. She has written for The
Wall Street Journal and The Guardian and is a regular contributor
to Newsnight Review on BBC2
"Powerful, gripping and original" - The New Statesman
"Awesomely smart and stylish" - The Independent

TWIN TOWN
Last year’s magnificent finale will be repeated with the cast of Twin
Town doing a script reading of the classic Welsh film

I SING OF A MAIDEN
I Sing Of A Maiden is a conversation between the ancient and the
contemporary with folk songs from Charlotte Greig interspersed
with Rachel Trezise’s incisive and funny monologues with the teenage
girl being played by Laugharne actress Carys Eleri. This play has recently performed several sell out shows at the Chapter Arts Centre
in Cardiff.

MIKE JOYCE
Legendary drummer of The Smiths will show their dvd Inside
The Smiths and answer questions afterwards.

BYRON ROGERS
Byron Rogers was recently awarded the James Tait Black Memorial
Prize for his biography of RS Thomas The Man From The West.

HOWARD MARKS
Howard Marks has written two best selling books Mr Nice and
Senor Nice dealing with his life as a drug smuggler and his life
afterwards.
"Howard Marks has huge charisma. He sounds like Richard Burton
and looks like a Rolling Stone". - The Daily Mail

RICHARD JAMES
Carmarthen born and bred Richard James is a former member of
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynki and has released a stunning solo album in
The Seven Sleeper’s Den. His next album is due in spring 2008.

JON RONSON
Cardiff born Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary
maker. He is the author of two bestsellers: Them: Adventures With
Extremists and The Men Who Stare At Goats, and two collections,
Out Of The Ordinary: True Tales Of Everyday Craziness and What I
Do: More True Tales Of Everyday Craziness.
"He is compelling" -Times Literary Supplement
"Frank, searching and highly amusing" - Western Mail

NIKITA LALWANI
Nikita Lalwani was born in Rajasthan, India but was one when her family relocated to Cardiff. After studying English at Bristol University she went on to work for the BBC, directing factual television and documentaries. Her first novel Gifted was longlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize and shortlisted for The Costa First Novel Award.
"Accomplished and confident" - The Times
"Beautiful, brilliant" - Stephen Merchant

NIALL GRIFFITHS
Liverpool born and Aberystwyth based, Niall won Welsh Book Of The
Year for his novel Stump and was described by Time Out as "one of
Britain’s most talented writers"

HELEN WALSH
Helen Walsh was born in Warrington in 1977 and the publication of
her first novel Brass in 2004 saw her being described by Arena as
a "female Irvine Welsh". Her latest book is Once Upon A Time In England
"Spellbinding and utterly unique" - The Independent

AMBER MARKS
Formerly a barrister, Amber Marks currently researches and teaches law at King’s College London. Her first book Head Space deals with the murky world of the surveillance industry and asks who stands to benefit from a surveillance society.

DAN RHODES
Dan Rhodes was chosen by Granta as one of their Best British
Novelists in their once in a decade list in 2003. His last book Gold
was set in Wales and published in 2007.
"Funny, original, unforgettable" - Jenny Colgan

TESSA HADLEY
Tessa lives in Cardiff and teaches English and Creative Writing at
Bath Spa University. She has published two novels Accidents In The Home and Everything Will Be Alright and one short story collection Sunstroke

ROBERT LEWIS
Robert Lewis’ two Welsh crime novels The Last Llanelli Train and Swansea Terminal are darkly funny and quite brilliant - equal parts Raymond Chandler and Samuel Beckett

STRADEY STORIES
As the era of Stradey Park comes to an end author Alun Wyn Bevan will reminisce with tales of the hallowed ground and converse with a couple of former Llanelli players

JACK HENDERSON
Jack Henderson was born in Fife and after 6 years playing with cult American band Over The Rhine has released a new solo album called Fragile Skin.
"Achingly soulful" - Americana UK

THE EDGE OF LOVE (awaiting final confirmation)
The Dylan Thomas biopic The Edge Of Love starring
Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Matthew Rhys and Cillian
Murphy will have it’s premiere at the Hurst House cinema
and the film’s director John Maybury will be interviewed
and take part in a Q & A session.

For more information go to the festival’s website:
www.thelaugharneweekend.com

Supported by Academi