Britain’s youngest city as you’ve never seen it before. Just another Victorian port or an Elizabethan maritime centre? A featureless South Wales town or a growing city on the verge of massive and original redevelopment? The “new Seattle” (Paul Flynn) or a haven for single mothers working the system (John Redwood)?

From the splendour of Tredegar House to the towering presence of the Celtic Manor Resort, from the bland sixties shopping centre to the bizarre centenarian Transporter Bridge, from the decline of the football team to the continuing proud tradition at Rodney Parade, it’s a place full of contradictions and characters. Join Ann Drysdale in her offbeat exploration of Newport – old and new – and its people.

“The prose is often laugh-out –loud, the poetry is always excellently crafted. Versatile in traditional forms, Drysdale has some great pastiche and some wryly moving pieces; it’s a successful contrast with the experimental poetry in Peter Finch’s Real Cardiff books … Drysdale’s book is so essential for anyone wanting to know anything at all about Newport, and such an enjoyable read, that some may hesitate to go there, lest their sojourn prove less amusing and instructive. To Newportians it must be a revelation.”

Tom Cheesman, New Welsh Review, December 07

'Real' Series Editor: Peter Finch