List Of Writers

AITHIE, PATRICIA

10 Kyveilog Street, Cardiff CF11 9JA
Tel:  029 20236879
Email: ffotograff@easynet.co.uk
Website: www.ffotograff.com

Writer, photographer and painter, Patricia Aithie has twenty–five years experience of living and travelling in the Middle and Far East and beyond. She specialises in travel, culture and faith. She is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, and elected a fellow of The Royal Geographical Society and awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1993 for ’Travel Writing and Biography’ related to Southern Arabia.

Born in Cardiff in 1957, Patricia studied at Cardiff High School where she was a member of the Literary and Debating Society, co-organiser of the Photographic Society and Head Girl. She studied English, Art & Architecture during the summer of 1976 with Griselda Pollock and Nick Boulting, at Villiers Park, Oxford and then went to study at Cardiff and Canterbury Colleges of Art, where she gained a BA Hons in Fine Art and a 1st and commendation in The History of Art.

Apart from business and travel writing courses, Patricia also undertook a six month part time course with the Glamorgan School of Journalism. She has written for both local, (e.g. The Western Mail and Wales on Sunday, Planet), national (e.g. The Observer Magazine, The British Yemeni Society Journal) and international newspapers, magazines and publishers (e.g. Focus Magazine, United Arab Emirates) and for eighteen years has run her own business, an independent photolibrary, supplying pictures and text to editors around the world. She has exhibited her photography and painting internationally, often working with artists from different cultures, sometimes writing art catalogues and lecturing extensively. She led courses on the History of World Art and Culture in the United Arab Emirates and has lectured at The Royal Institute of British Architects, London. She has written six books and photographed about thirty.

Her work is also in private and public collections around the world including the National Library of Wales and she has served on many committees including The Arts Council of Wales and Ffotogallery where she was chair, and has initiated, advised and supported cultural festivals and centres. Patricia has exhibited photographs and paintings in numerous venues and has many private and public collectors. She presently exhibits her painting through The Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff.

Patricia has had a wide experience of broadcasting including Womens Hour, Mal Pope, BBC News 24, The Afternoon Shift, Five Live, talking about travel writing and photography. This includes a half hour Kaleidoscope Feature ’Rebuilding On the Roof of Arabia’ BBC Radio 4 with producer Anthony Denselow. ’Journey’s Through Dust’, a BBC Wales Television 60 minute documentary, as associate producer, presenter and script writer. Producer/Director was Dafydd Llyr James. ’From Tiger Bay to Steamerpoint’ and ’From Steamerpoint to Tiger Bay’ BBC Radio Wales. Researched, wrote, and presented two half hour programmes. Producer - Alison Quinn. Broadcast three times.

Selected Publications:
Exploring Churches (Lion Publishing, 1993)
Glamorgan/Morgannwg (Sutton Publishing, 2000)
The Wisdom of Wales: A Collection of Proverbs (UWIC Press, 2001)
The Burning Ashes of Time: From Steamerpoint to Tiger Bay (Seren Publishing, 2005)

Contributed to:
Cardiff and Beyond/Caerdydd A Thu Hwnt (with Charles Aithie) (Sutton Publishing, 1994)
Scotland, Highlands and Islands (contributor) (OS/AA Publishing, 1996)
Yemen: Jewel of Arabia (with Charles Aithie) (Stacey International, 2001)



The Burning Ashes of Time: From Steamerpoint to Tiger Bay (Seren Publishing, 2005)

Patricia Aithie relays the results of her research on the links between the Middle East and Cardiff after discovery of a traditional Welsh blanket in the palace of the former ruler of Yemen. It recounts a tale of strong links between the Welsh and Yemeni communities dating back to the age of steam. This is an amazing and timely account of the way in which two cultures unexpectedly touch one another.

Click on the cover to purchase the book from gwales.com



Yemen: Jewel of Arabia (with Charles Aithie) (Stacey International, 2001)

Written by Patricia and her husband Charles, this is the ultimate traveller’s gyide to Yemen. The writers are deeply knowledgable on the country’s landscape, cities, history, art and archaeology and have produced a thorough and engaging work which is beautifully illustrated using the authors’ own photographs. Both the country and the book open the mind to new understandings of the growth of Middle Eastern civilisation and the many levels of influence that the past has on the present.

Click on the cover to purchase the book from amazon.co.uk