Non Fiction

This cover shows a zoomed out photo of a street of terraced houses in Wrexham. The text reads: Real Wrexham Becoming the City, Sara Erddig.

Real Wrexham: Becoming the City

Sara Erddig

Series: Real Series

Category: Non Fiction, Places

Number of pages: 220

ISBN: 9781911752028

Publication date: April 13, 2026

Price: £12.99

Once a thriving industrial hub, Wrexham is perhaps best known today for the Hollywood owners of its football club. But what really makes Wrexham tick? Mixing personal experience and memory with history, topography and a dreamlike dérive, Sara Erddig explores the melting pot of communities, cultures and histories which make Wrexham what it is today.

This isn’t the first time Wrexham has been given the ‘Real Series’ treatment; Grahame Davies’ first exploration was published in 2007, but a lot has changed since then. This new off-beat guide brings the story right up to date. Presenting Wrexham through her eyes, Sara takes in everything from its Anglo-Saxon origins to the thriving arts scene, from Wrexham the town to Wrexham the city (as the county became in 2022). The result is a fascinating and varied celebration of Wrexham in its city era, and as you’ve never seen it before.

Photo of Sara Erddig sat outside. She is smiling at the camera and is wearing a blue top.
Sara Erddig

Sara Erddig (Dr Sara Louise Wheeler) writes the columns O’r gororau (Barddas) and Synfyfyrion Sara (Golwg360). She won Disability Arts Cymru’s 2022 Creative Words award (Welsh medium) with Ablaeth Rhemp y Crachach – subsequently published in Trawiad | Seizure (2023), and Tu Hwnt | Beyond (2025); this was also released in 2025 as the first single from the album Llaidloffa, by musical collaborative Troi Cerrig. Sara is an artist at Stiwdio Olivet, and a Reader for Fahmidan Journal. A Goareig Patchwork Quilt (Fahmidan, 2024) is Sara’s latest chapbook; her current projects include Fy Wrecsam Amgen | My alternative Wrexham.

Author profile

“A lot has certainly changed since my own Real Wrexham nearly twenty years ago! Sara Erddig takes us on through a community with a new status – a city now – with a revived football club, a hugely diversified population, a resurgent Welsh identity, and fresh ambition. Immersive, personal, committed and endlessly fascinated by this multi-faceted border community, this is a portrait of a place that will be sure to engage those who do not know this unique part of the world, and will surprise even those who think they know it well.”

Grahame Davies