Poet Kim Moore has chosen a poem from Katrina Naomi’s new collection, The Way the Crocodile Taught Me, for her Sunday Poem. Read it below.
Sunday Poem – Katrina Naomi
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Spring into a New Series: discover New Stories from the Mabinogion
The sun has started to shine, flowers are blooming, so why not ‘spring’ into a new series?
If you haven’t yet discovered our New Stories from the Mabinogion series, then now is the perfect time. Until 14 April, the first book in the series, White Ravens by Owen Sheers, is only 99p in the Kobo Spring into a New Series sale.
The eleven stories in the Mabinogion come from two medieval Welsh manuscripts, with roots dating back many centuries earlier. They bring us Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and their own view of the Island of Britain. There is enchantment and shapeshifting, conflict, peacemaking, love and betrayal. In this series commissioned by Seren, the old tales are at the heart of the new. Each author reinvents a story in their own way: creating fresh, contemporary tales that speak to us as much of our own world as of events long gone. Based on ‘Branwen, Daughter of Llyr’, White Ravens is a haunting novella from an acclaimed writer.
“a gripping contemporary story… brilliantly absorbs the magical elements of the original” The Guardian
So what are you waiting for? If you have an e-book reader then don’t hesitate – go to the Kobo store and purchase your eBook copy for only 99p. And if you would prefer a paperback, you can find all eleven stories on our website.
Spring into a new series: White Ravens by Owen Sheers only 99p on Kobo
If you haven’t yet discovered our New Stories from the Mabinogion series, then now is the perfect time. Until 14 April, the first book in the series, White Ravens by Owen Sheers, is only 99p in the Kobo Spring into a New Series sale.
The eleven stories in the Mabinogion come from two medieval Welsh manuscripts, with roots dating back many centuries earlier. They bring us Celtic mythology, Arthurian romance, and their own view of the Island of Britain. There is enchantment and shapeshifting, conflict, peacemaking, love and betrayal. In this series commissioned by Seren, the old tales are at the heart of the new. Each author reinvents a story in their own way: creating fresh, contemporary tales that speak to us as much of our own world as of events long gone. Based on ‘Branwen, Daughter of Llyr’, White Ravens is a haunting novella from an acclaimed writer.
“a gripping contemporary story… brilliantly absorbs the magical elements of the original” The Guardian
So what are you waiting for? If you have an e-book reader then don’t hesitate – go to the Kobo store and purchase your eBook copy for only 99p.
Enter our poetry books giveaway to win two new collections
We are celebrating the launch of two fantastic new books, Crowd Sensations by Judy Brown and Masculine Happiness by David Foster-Morgan, by giving you the chance to win a copy of each! All you have to do is sign up to our newsletter here before 1st May 2016 and you’ll be entered into the prize draw.
Read below to find out more about the book launch as well as the books themselves…
Join Judy Brown and David Foster-Morgan at The Yorkshire Grey for a dual poetry book launch, celebrating the release of both Judy’s Crowd Sensations and David’s Masculine Happiness. Both poets will be reading from their new collections, and there will be opportunities to ask questions and request signed copies of the books. The event will take place between 19:00 and 21:00 on Tuesday 19th April, 2016 at The Yorkshire Grey in London. You can find more details on our website.
Crowd Sensations, Judy Brown
Poet Judy Brown’s new collection is a worthy follow-up to her Forward Prize-nominated debut, Loudness. Brown is a poet of dazzling contrasts, of thoughtful paradox, intimate confidences and precise evocations.
Read more
Masculine Happiness, David Foster-Morgan
The provocative debut poetry collection this Cardiff-based poet. Born and based in Wales, Foster-Morgan has long been a presence in the poetry world, having had poems published widely in magazines and with appearances at workshops, festivals, and events.
Read more
One lucky winner will be chosen at random from all our subscribers on 1st May 2016, so if you would like a copy of each of these lovely poetry collections in your bookcase then hurry and sign up for our newsletter before the end of the month.
Friday Poem – Flamingos
Our Friday poem is from the Costa Award-winning book of poetry, My Family and Other Superheroes, by Jonathan Edwards. It is titled ‘Flamingos’ and is being turned into a dance! The humor of the poem makes for an ideal April Fools’ Day piece for all to enjoy.
My Family and Other Superheroes introduces a vibrant and unique new voice from Wales. The superheroes in question are a motley crew. Evel Knievel, Sophia Loren, Ian Rush, Marty McFly, a bicycling nun and a recalcitrant hippo – all leap from these pages and jostle for position, alongside valleys mams, dads and bamps, described with great warmth. Other poems focus on the crammed terraces and abandoned high streets where a working-class and Welsh nationalist politics is hammered out. This is a post-industrial valleys upbringing re-imagined through the prism of pop culture and surrealism.
Flamingos
Who spray-painted the swans? You dilly–dally,
shilly-shally in the shallow end
on Meccano legs, your day a foot massage,
curve your neck into a clothes hanger
for your rose-hue tutu and your feather boa.
You’re every little girl’s dream, a shock, a flock
of neon signs, advertising candyfloss.
Why do you blush so much? Each time you eat,
you have to kiss the you-shaped bird who floats
in the lake surface, steal food from its throat.
February. Outside’s a place of grey
line managers, timetabled rain, the bus.
But with your silly-billy,Vegas waitress,
camouflage-for-a-world-of-joy body,
Fuck that, you say, let’s all be fabulous.
Buy your copy now.
Rhian Elizabeth wins Second Prize Story Award in Terry Hetherington Young Writers Award 2016
Rhian Elizabeth has won the Second Prize Story Award in the Terry Hetherington Young Writers Award 2016, for her short story ‘The Runners’.
The Terry Hetherington Young Writers Award celebrates the talent of young writers of poetry and prose.
There will be an awards ceremony on Friday 24th June at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, 7:00 pm. There will be a selection of young writers from past winners, and 2016 entries. Last year’s winner Natalie Ann Holborow will present this year’s winners with their cheques. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Your Easter egg from Seren: 30% off books
Happy Easter everyone! We have a special Easter egg on the website for you: 30% off books across the Seren store.
The Easter holiday carries with it the message of new beginnings, so why not begin a new book? Our 30% offer includes our gorgeous poetry, fiction and non-fiction titles, so there is something for everyone.
We hope you find something new to bury your nose in this Easter.
Offer ends midnight, Monday 28th March.
Owen Sheers wins Culture Award, St David Awards
Owen Sheers has won the 2016 Culture Award in the St David Awards, which annually recognise and celebrate the exceptional achievements of people in Wales.
The First Minister said:
“What a fantastic group of winners – congratulations to everyone who’s won an award this evening.“I know there are fantastic people doing exceptional things here in Wales. I’m lucky as I travel across the country, to see first hand the efforts people make, day in day out to make Wales as great as it is.“I’d also like to congratulate all of the Finalists, who made the award’s shortlist, you also should be extremely proud of your achievements.”
The awards are great marks of distinction and the highest accolades that Welsh Government confers on its citizens nationally.
Terroir by Graham Mort longlisted for Edge Hill Prize 2016
Congratulations to Graham Mort, whose short story collection Terroir has been longlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in its tenth anniversary year.
This is the second time Graham has had a collection on the Edge Hill Prize list – Touch went on to win the prize in 2011.
Ailsa Cox, Professor of Short Fiction and organiser of the Short Story Prize said: ‘We are excited to be able to mark the tenth anniversary of our prize with such a strong longlist of authors from across the UK and Ireland. It is fitting that in our anniversary year a previous winner features in the list – Graham Mort (Winner 2011) – as well as two previously shortlisted authors – Helen Simpson and Ali Smith. We face a tough task in the judging stages, but our tenth anniversary prize will truly showcase some of the best talent in the genre.’
See the full longlist here.
About Terroir:From England to Europe, Africa to South America, these stories from prize-winning short story writer Graham Mort explore relationships: father and child; man and wife; man and his environment.
A rising star of wine making understands his terroir, but oversteps the boundaries; a father taking his son on a day out finds himself in unexpectedly terrifying circumstances; an aid worker in Uganda finds himself treading in his father’s footsteps…
All these stories are sensitively told and beautifully written, bringing fresh perspectives to our place in the world around us.
About the Edge Hill Short Story Prize:The Edge Hill Short Story Prize it is the only UK award that recognises excellence in a published collection of short stories and has attracted established names competing alongside relative newcomers for the £10,000 main prize, a £1,000 Readers’ Prize and an additional category worth £500 acknowledging rising talents on Edge Hill University’s own MA Creative Writing course.
Jaki McCarrick in The Irish Times: the success of the Irish Short Story
Read Jaki McCarrick’s article in The Irish Times, where she asks: what is the story behind the success of the Irish Short Story?
Irish writers have excelled at the short story. But is it due, asks writer Jaki McCarrick, to the Irish oral tradition, Catholicism’s drama, an acute sense of place, an accident of history or because writing is the last free art?
Jaki’s critically acclaimed short story collection The Scattering was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize, 2014.
The Scattering is a collection of nineteen stories, many set on the Irish border, where this London-born author currently lives. These stories explore states of liminality: life on the Irish border, dual identities, emigration, being between states – certainty and doubt, codependency and freedom. Some explore themes of catastrophe and constraint. All explore what it means to be alive in a fraught and ever-changing world. This first collection from prizewinning author and playwright, Jaki McCarrick explores the dark side of human nature, often with a postmodern ‘Ulster gothic’ twist.
