4th December, 2013

This Week At The Seren Christmas Pop-Up Shop…

We have a great line-up of authors reading at the Seren pop-up shop in the run up to Christmas. The shop in Castle Arcade, Cardiff, has already hosted readings by novelists, poets and essayists including Francesca Rhydderch (Rice Paper Diaries), David Llewellyn (Ibrahim and Reenie) and Kate Hamer, author of the Seren Short Story of the Month ‘1976’, which is available to read on the Seren website.
This week we are welcoming Wales Book of the Year winner Rhian Edwards on Wednesday at 2pm, and on Thursday photographer Phil Cope tells us about the ancient myths and magical tales behind the sacred wells on the English/Welsh border.
Friday the thirteenth sees poet Ivy Alvarez read from her new collection Disturbance and on Saturday we have our second festive fiction event with short story readings from Maria Donovan (Pumping up Napoleon) and Mary-Ann Constantine (All the Souls) at 2pm.
And in the week before Christmas take a break from shopping with readings from Grahame Davies, Damian Walford Davies, Peter Finch and Dai George. And stick around after Dai’s event for a couple of readings from Parthian’s Rarebit anthology. Parthian books are also available from the shop from this week.
The shop is open every day from 10am – 5pm. Look out for  in store discount codes on our Facebook and Twitter accounts
Author Events @ The Seren Christmas Pop-Up Shop:

Thursday 12th December – Phil Cope, 11am
Phil Cope will be in to tell us about the ancient myths and magic tales behind the sacred wells in the disputed Borderlands between England and Wales. Beautifully illustrated in colour throughout, the wells from Cheshire to Monmouthshire, from the Dee to the Severn are displayed in all their glory, be they in remote countryside or city centre.
Friday 13th December – Ivy Alvarez, 2pm
Ivy will be reading from her debut collection Disturbance, a novel in verse that chronicles a murder case, in which the family was gunned down by its patriarch. Each poem plays out like a piece of evidence, slotting together to give us the full case. We hear from the family, the neighbors and the authorities who all could have acted to avoid this tragedy.
Saturday 14th December – Short Story Season, 2pm
Maria Donovan and Mary-Anne Constantine will be reading from their short story collections on the 14th. These bite sized stories are perfect for reading in a spare 15 minutes with a cup of coffee and a biccie. Pop in and join us for a minced pie.
Monday 16th December – Grahame Davies, 11am
Grahame will be stopping by the shop at 11am on the 16th for a meet and greet. Grahame is the author of several books including, The Dragon and the Crescent, Everything Must Change, Real Wrexham, The Chosen People and Lightning Beneath the Sea as well as co-editing The Big Book of Cardiff with Peter Finch.
 Wednesday 18th December – Peter Finch, 2pmReal Cardiff  series author Peter Finch will be reading from his latest book Edging The Estuary, Taking us on a journey from Maisemore to Worms Head on Gower, taking in villages and cities, power stations and fishermen, castles and caravans, leg-aching walks and deckchairs on the beach, along some of the most beautiful coastline in Britain,
 
Friday 20th December Damian Walford Davies, 11amDamian will be signing copies of his latest poetry collection Witch. With the narrative pull of a novel and the vibrancy of a play for voices. Witch offers a thrilling portrait of a Suffolk village in the throes of the witchcraft hunts of the mid-seventeenth century.
Saturday 21st December – Dai George, 2pm
Dai George will be calling in to the pop up shop at 2pm. His brilliant début poetry collection, The Claims Office, mixes straightforward narrative with elaborate and strange textures and imagery. This rich surface is undercut by an interesting attitude: a mix of rebellious energy and unflinching satire. His ‘nature’ poems are often anti-nature poems, there are lively pieces about London and New York and skewed love poems.