Dewithon - Reading Wales 2024

David, the patron saint of Wales, died on 1st March 589, so it's only fitting that March should be the month to celebrate the culture of a country whose literary tradition extends in an unbroken line from the 6th century to the present day.

Dewithon or Reading Wales, is hosted by Book Jotter, who invites everyone to write about the literature of her homeland - including fiction, non-fiction, poetry,  anthologies, essay collections, or 'any texts with a meaningful connection to Wales.' You could write about plays. radio programmes and films, you could write reviews and articles on just about any aspect of this theme - the most important things are (1) to get reading/listening/watching (2) get writing and (3) to link all of your posts back to (or acknowledge) Book Jotter in some way. 

Posts can be written in Welsh or English.

I spent some happy hours digging out books and DVDs for both Dewithon and Reading Ireland, and I was shocked to discover how much easier it was for me to find Irish books on my shelves than Welsh. Why would this be? I don't consciously buy or borrow more Irish books, I certainly don't avoid Welsh ones - and clearly, from Book Jotter's excellent lists, there are more than enough Welsh writers, past and present, to choose from. So I'm making a big effort this March to read equal numbers of Welsh and Irish books.

Here is my rather small stack of relevant books (and one DVD) - but I've also made a list of more  available from Aberdeen Libraries (two are in the selection below), so all is not lost!

I've added Derek Cooper's Snail Eggs and Samphire because this collection of writings by the creator of Radio 4's Food Programme includes an article, Coming Singing from the Sands, about traditional Welsh cooking. And on that subject, I've also found a great blog, Ross Clarke's The Welsh Kitchen.

The acclaimed travel writer Jan Morris wrote about countries as far flung as Italy, Australia, South Africa and Hong Kong - but she lived in the village of Llanystumdwy in North Wales for over fifty years. In A Writer's House in Wales she explores her home, her country, and what it means to be Welsh.

Laura Kemp's Bring Me Sunshine is the story of Charlotte, who is forced out of her job at a London's  Orbital radio and exiled to a failing station in Mumbles. Will she stay the course, or run back to the city (and her questionable boyfriend) as soon as opportunity presents itself? 

Nicola Upson has written a whole series of murder mysteries in which real life characters appear in fictitious stories. The author Jacqueline Tey is the lynchpin of the books, but in Fear in the Sunlight we also meet Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville, who are trying to persuade Tey to allow the adaptation of her book Shillings for Candles. The action takes place in Arthur Clough-Ellis's baroque Mediterranean-style  tourist village of Portmeirion, on the North Wales coast.

As for films - the only one I could find at home was How Green Was My Valley, which I vaguely remember seeing as a child.

I also hope to rewatch the brilliant Pride, set at the time of the miners' strikes and focusing on one small community in Onllwyn and another, equally challenged, group in  London. I'm also thinking about re-watching the S4C thriller series Keeping Faith.

If you'd like to join in with Dewithon 2024, Book Jotter's blog has full details - and lots of suggestions - here: https://bookjotter.com/2018/03/26/dhq-dewithon19/