Seren will release a book of unique images of Wales’ rugby team at the World Cup 2011, from official tournament photographers, GettyImages. Heads Held High is a must have memento for all Wales rugby fans: fantastic Christmas gift. With the Foreword by Phil Bennett and the Afterword by Max Boyce. Available 24th November 2011
For two weeks in October, Wales held its breath. In the Rugby World Cup, with an influx of young players and probably the most exciting rugby played in the competition, Wales had negotiated a difficult qualifying group to reach a quarter final against an unbeaten Ireland side.
Ireland were despatched 22:10; next up was a France side which had misfired throughout the tournament. In New Zealand and at home, Wales believed: over 60,000 people watched the game at the Millennium Stadium. But injuries to key players, missed kicks, and the sending off of skipper Sam Warburton meant that Wales came up just short in a grippingly tense match they dominated. And defeat against Australia in their last game left Wales fourth. Yet this was still a time for celebration. Wales had lost to three of the world’s top sides by a collective margin of five points. It couldn’t have been closer, and the Wales squad could return home confident for the future and with their heads held high.
Max Boyce is a comedian, singer and cultural icon, closely associated with Wales’ national sport. Phil Bennett is one of Wales’ most famous fly-halves. He played for Llanelli, Wales, the Barbarians and the British Lions. He is now a television commentator and newspaper columnist.
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‘Heads Held High’ Wales’ Rugby World Cup 2011 journey in pictures
Heads Held High: Wales’ Rugby World Cup 2011
Foreword by Phill Bennett, Afterword by Max Boyce
For two weeks in October, Wales held its breath. In the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the Wales team had negotiated a difficult qualifying group to reach a quarter final against an unbeaten Ireland side which had already disposed of Australia. Wales had done it with an influx of young players and probably the most exciting rugby played in the competition. And if the rugby was at times electrifying, so was the effect at home.
Ireland were despatched 22:10; next up was a France side which had misfired throughout the tournament. In New Zealand and at home, Wales believed: over 60,000 people watched the game at the Millennium Stadium. But injuries to key players, the controversial sending off of skipper Sam Warburton, missed kicks and a France team which now remembered how to defend meant that Wales came up just short in a grippingly tense match they dominated. The final everyone wanted to watch – New Zealand vs Wales – wasn’t to be.
And defeat against Australia in their last game left Wales fourth in the competition. Yet this was still a time for celebration. Wales had lost to three of the world’s top sides by a collective margin of five points. It couldn’t have been closer, and having won new admirers around the world with their style of rugby, the Wales squad could return home confident for the future and with their heads held high.
Max Boyce is a comedian, singer and rugby icon. His career took off during the seventies when Wales dominated northern hemisphere rugby, and his passion for the game and his rugby-related songs seemed to define the Welsh rugby fan. ‘Hymns and Arias’ is sung at Wales international matches today, and rugby (including the 2011 World Cup campaign) is a feature of his songwriting still.
Phil Bennett is one of Wales’ most famous fly-halves. He played for Llanelli, masterminding their famous victory over the All Blacks in 1972, and for Wales between 1969 and 1978, who he also captained in the final years of his career. A regular with the Barbarians, he toured with the British Lions in South Africa in 1974 and captained their 1977 tour to New Zealand. He is now a television commentator and newspaper columnist.
£16.99 available at www.serenbooks.com (join the online book club and get 20% off this book) Date available 24th November 2011
Seren authors at The Dylan Thomas Festival
Monday 7th November 9pm: Patrick McGuinness and Richard Gwyn in discussion. Celebrated poet Patrick McGuinness’s debut novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011 with his debut novel The Last Hundred Days. Poet and novelist Richard Gwyn’s most recent book is the acclaimed memoir, The Vagabond’s Breakfast. £6 Concessions: £4.20 Swansea PTL: £2.40
Catherine Fisher named Young People’s Laureate
Catherine Fisher, Seren poet and author of award winning fantasy novels for children, has been named Wales’ first Young People’s Laureate. Literature Wales said the Young People’s Laureate post is the first of its kind in the UK and aims to inspire young people in Wales to become involved with reading and creative writing. Her appointment was announced by singer Charlotte Church.
A full-time writer specialising in myth and history, Fisher’s futuristic novel Incarceron was optioned last year by 20th Century Fox. Her novel The Oracle, which blends Egyptian and Greek elements of magic and adventure, was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children’s Books prize, and the trilogy has been printed in more than 20 languages. In 1989 she won both the Welsh Arts Council Young Writer’s Prize and the Cardiff International Poetry Competition. For the full story visit the BBC website www.bbc.co.uk
Forthcoming Events
Wednesday 19th October 7pm: Horatio Clare continues the Mabinogion launch in Crickhowell. Horatio will read from The Prince’s Pen The Bear Hotel, Crickhowell.
Thursday 20th October 6.30pm: Tony Bianchi and Grahame Davies discuss the art of translating novels. The Literature Lounge, St David’s Shopping Centre, Cardiff
Friday 21st October: Eoghan Walls launches his new poetry collection The Salt Harvest at No Alibi’s book shop in Belfast. (Botanic Avenue)
Seren’s Birthday Bash and Launch of our Lastest Mabinogion Stories
Seren Books celebrates its 30th birthday with the launch of two more
books in the ‘New Stories from the Mabinogion’ series on Tuesday 18th October 2011 7pm at Chapter Arts Centre. Fflur Dafydd’s The White Trail is a twenty-first-century quest for love and revenge: while in Horatio Clare’s The Prince’s Pen, England is a defeated archipelago, but in the far west insurrection is brewing.
Featuring contributions by Owen Sheers, Russell Celyn Jones, Niall Griffiths and Gwyneth Lewis.
The Guardian has called the series “the greatest service to the Welsh national epic since Lady Charlotte Guest”.
Following the launch, join Seren for a glass of wine to celebrate three decades of award-winning writing. Seren are currently toasting Patrick McGuinness, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize with The Last Hundred Days. The launch will be attended by the First Minister Carwyn Jones AM.
Tickets £5 including buffet and 2 glasses of wine.
Call Chapter Arts Centre on 02920 30 4400 for tickets and further information. Or you can email Seren at [email protected]
Books will be on sale throughout the evening – if you can not make this launch visit www.serenbooks.com to purchase copies of the books.
Mabinogion Launch and Seren’s 30th Birthday Celebrations
Seren Books celebrates its 30th birthday with the launch of two more books in the ‘New Stories from the Mabinogion’ series on Tuesday 18th October 2011 7pm at Chapter Arts Centre. Fflur Dafydd’s ‘The White Trail’ is a twenty-first-century quest for love and revenge: while in Horatio Clare’s ‘The Prince’s Pen’, England is a defeated archipelago, but in the far west insurrection is brewing.
Featuring contributions by Owen Sheers, Russell Celyn Jones, Niall Griffiths and Gwyneth Lewis.
The Guardian has called the series “the greatest service to the Welsh national epic since Lady Charlotte Guest”.
Following the launch, join Seren for a glass of wine to celebrate three decades of award-winning writing. Seren are currently toasting Patrick McGuinness, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize with ‘The Last Hundred Days’. The launch will be attended by the First Minister Carwyn Jones AM.
Tickets £5 including buffet and 2 glasses of wine.
Call Chapter Arts Centre on 02920 30 4400 for tickets and further information. Or you can email Seren at [email protected]
Books will be on sale throughout the evening – if you can not make this launch visit www.serenbooks.com to purchase copies of the books.
Cafe Writers Open Poetry Competition 2011, Judged by Pascale Petit
Pascale Petit is the sole judge of the Café Writers Open Poetry Competition 2011
Closing date 30th Nov 2011 Prizes: 1st £1000, 2nd £300, 3rd £150 , Five Commended Prizes of £50
Entries should be sent to: Café Writers Poetry Competition, 168a Silver Rd, Norwich NR3 4TH, UK or enter by email online at www.cafewriters.awardspace.com/competitionsCompetition rules are on the website.
Seren: The warmth of the spotlight
This year’s Man Booker long list was notable for its inclusion of first novelists and small publishers. In this piece on the Book Brunch website, Mick Felton, Publisher of Bridgend-based indie Seren, reflects on a sudden appearance on a lot of radars. Full interview on www.bookbrunch.co.uk
A FREE read for Seren’s birthday
To celebrate our 30th birthday, we’re giving people in Bridgend Borough the chance to read a Seren book for free.*
White Ravens is “a spellbinding fable about male self-destructiveness and the effects of the war on those who return home”. (FT) by award-winning author, Owen Sheers.
One of Seren’s series of New Stories from the Mabinogion, it is set partly in World War Two, in the recent past.
“Fuses Welsh myth and modern macabre into a superb, bewitching whole.” (Sunday Times)
“Sheers writes with dazzle and poetic economy.” (The Times)
“…a gripping contemporary story that brilliantly adsorbs the magical elements of the original.” (Guardian)
Get hold of your copy* for your local library, or contact Seren on 01656 663 018 or [email protected].
Read the book, pass it around your friends, review it on Amazon or send your comments to Seren’s Facebook Page.
* one coy per person, subject to availability
