For Hay, see England?
Reflection — By Bethan Jenkins AM on June 7, 2010 7:00 am
Laura Marling: Goodbye England (hello Hay-on-Wye)
“HAY-ON-WYE is the epitome of middle England,” says Norman Stone, Margaret Thatcher’s former adviser and academic.
“I’ve been touring in America, and it feels very English being here in Hay,” says Laura Marling, a folk singer-songwriter whose star is very much in the ascendancy at present.
I didn’t hear many Welsh accents until day three of my visit to the Hay Festival. I was starting to consider whether I should check where Hay-on-Wye was on the map, after overhearing conversations on my campsite between two women about their experiences of boarding school; of spotting pens with English flags on sale in local shops; and paying London prices for everything, including the fish and chips.
As an outsider, you would not have known this festival was in Wales – a tourism disaster for “brand Wales”, and a missed opportunity to encourage wealthy visitors to explore other, picturesque parts of our country. You can bet the Scots would never accept such a situation. The locals call it “rip off fortnight”. It’s difficult to disagree, unless you can find a local haunt where tourists choose not to enter, or cannot find.
Maybe it was just the events I chose to attend, but many of the panels centred their discussion on England or Britishness, which severely narrowed the scope of the debate. For example, Norman Stone was there to talk about his personal experiences of the Cold War but did not do so, choosing instead to indulge in a PR exercise for English imperialism. He talked about England when referring to Britain, as “that’s what everyone thinks when we refer to Britain, anyway”. He went on to say that Scottish nationalism was “ridiculous”, that Europe in times of peace was “boring” to write about, and that 1870s Britain was nothing but successful and wealthy, despite scores of writers of the time testifying to the contrary. There was no hint of anything remotely negative associated with Margaret Thatcher’s Prime Ministership. Writing about that time was “fun” – easily said if you enjoyed the comfortable surroundings of rural Oxfordshire.
The discussion on public vs the private sector, arranged by the New Economics Foundation, centred on England and English policies, with one audience member citing devolution and the Barnett Formula as the reason why English nurses are underpaid. It was, however, interesting to hear the NEF’s ideas of a Post Bank, and from the academic Richard Sennett who emphasised that the bankers received £6 billion in bonuses before Christmas while the Government has now chosen to make in year cuts of £6billion in the public sector. Why we should pay for their failures, and why the public sector should suffer became the theme of the discussion.
It was enlightening to hear from Anne Maccaig, from Cafe Direct, about how her company has a triple bottom line of making profits, of helping communities and their social infrastructures. She suggested that more companies should be doing this in order to give back to communities that are dripped dry of their natural resources for our consumption. Nonetheless, an hour did not provide enough time for ideas to develop, especially those from Sennett, who suggested that failing businesses should be nationalised, and how the government now needs to put the social ethic back into work and the workplace.
I tried to balance out the political events by also attending a literary events, too. I went to see Rachel Trezise, a Rhondda author, in conversation with Mario Basini about Welsh literature and my home town of Merthyr Tydfil (Rachel has written a book called Dial M for Merthyr, about the now disbanded Midasuno, while Mario has penned Real Merthyr). It was, however, dismaying that this event was held at Hay Library, miles from the festival site. I had expected the event to be on the main site – so do did Rachel herself, who confessed to me that she had gone there looking for where she was supposed to be speaking.
I found myself wandering around Hay, trying to find the library, which I eventually found down a narrow back street, with no signs telling me where to go until I got there. The event was held in the library itself among the book shelves, and there were very few seats available. The National Library of Wales organised it, and it may have a perfectly logical reason as to why it was held so far away from the main site, but it seemed to me that once again, Wales and all things Welsh had been shoved to one side, like a battered second hand book of the kind that has made Hay-on-Wye but which figures only slightly when the festival is in town.
Nonetheless, the discussion was engaging. Rachel read from her new book, Sixteen Shades of Crazy, which I am now avidly reading, and Mario Basini read from Black Parade, by Jack Jones, a Merthyr writer. Rachel talked about her experiences as a writer and the concept of ‘Valleys writers’. She stated that she hadn’t read anything from such authors until she had published her first novel, and that she was pleased about this fact, as it would have been a burden upon her. Rachel also said that she has encountered criticism for being judgemental about the Valleys, but that now she doesn’t really care about it. She writes about what she knows and sees. Rachel is a quiet, shy character, but her writing is exceptional, and I was annoyed that the festival did not respect her more by ensuring that she was on a main event stage, where she could have taken some of the Festival goers out of their deckchair-bound, middle class comfort zones.
Next came a discussion between Neel Mukherjee, the author of A Life Apart, and Rose Tremain, who has written novels such as The Long Road Home and her new novel Trespass. The tent where the event was held was scorching in the Hay heat, and many of us were fanning ourselves continuously for fear of fainting. Rose Tremain read a few extracts from Trespass, and explained how she goes about writing a novel. Many were shocked that she does not plan the endings of her books, but instead follows the flow of her characters, watching how they develop. She talked about how she must research her novels to ensure the detail is correct, but that she also lets “her mind do the walking”, mixing the invented and fact so that the reader cannot differentiate between them. Rose Tremain regards writing as a journey, and this is why so many of her protagonists go on journeys in her novels, beginning in turmoil and conveying the development of the character along that journey. This was an insightful session for aspiring writers, looking for tips, as well as for fans of Rose Tremain.
And so to the evening entertainment. I went to one musical event on the main festival site, and that was to hear Laura Marling, the folk singer from Hampshire. I was really looking forward to hearing her play, as I have a few of her tracks on my iPod, and because I am a huge fan of female singer songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Suzanne Vega, and Thea Gilmore (who, incidentally, was playing at Hay earlier on in the week). Many of her songs were haunting and the band, including a cello, adding to the atmosphere of the traditional folk songs. Nonetheless, I was disappointed that she only played a three-quarter hour set, and that her onstage presence was so poor. She sounded apologetic every time she spoke, and she would have benefited from explaining what some of her songs were about in order to engage the packed tent. I thought it was quite ironic, that after she had said how quintessentially English Hay-on-Wye was that there was a power cut during a song called Goodbye England (Covered in Snow). It all added up to a poor facsimile of Joni Mitchell, and I probably wouldn’t go and see her live again.
If this sounds altogether negative, I should point out that I had a lovely, relaxing time. If you are not a great camper, then I suggest that the Hay Festival should be your pilot trip. It’s a very civilised experience compared to Glastonbury. What I love about the Hay Festival is that it is an event for book lovers. Inspiring people to enjoy reading is something which we all need to do more of. Seeing so many children line up in long queues to meet Jacqueline Wilson, clasping their books like lost treasure, was inspiring to see. There wasn’t a Nintendo DS in sight.
It has encouraged me to read more, and to start writing stories again, like I used to enjoy doing when I was a teenager. But one thing is certain, Welsh people always lack confidence in what we do. Let’s consign this to the past, starting with the Hay Festival, by telling people that Hay is in Wales, and that Welsh people can write, too.
Tags: Bethan Jenkins, Hay-on-Wye, identity, literature, music, National Library of Wales, tourism
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80 Comments
Daniel – Bethan did name Black Parade. Somehow, it got edited out of the version we published, an oversight for which I must take complete blame. It has been rectified now – thanks for pointing it out.
I am very interested in the work of CREW. I am coming down to Swansea next week to meet with one of your colleagues. Please email me on duncan@waleshome.org if you would like to discuss it further.
Also, if you haven’t already read it, please have a look at Patrick McGuinness’ excellent piece on this subject that we published earlier this year:
http://waleshome.org/2010/01/culture-in-a-vacuum-welsh-arts-coverage-in-the-english-language-media/
Best wishes.
“While I understand Rachel Trezise’s belief that reading other Rhondda writers would have been a ‘burden’, her view is indicative of a wider malaise. The desire that many of us (across the political spectrum) have for fostering a sense of an informed, civic, Welshness (in all its diversity), is seriously undermined by an educational system that teaches very little Welsh literature in English at secondary school level. The WJEC offer ‘Welsh’ options for English literature students at GCSE and A-level, but few English literature teachers take this up as they have never been taught or have never studied the literature themselves. This of course is not a problem for students of ‘Cymraeg’. This is not a call for a ‘narrowly nationalist’ curriculum, but it’s hard to believe that English speaking students wouldn’t benefit from reading about the experiences, thoughts, feelings and desires of other people who have lived, loved and imagined on this same patch of land.”
One of the best comments I have read on this thread so far. Bullseye.
“And you still haven’t addressed my point about Welsh-born people who bear a far greater cultural similarity to incomers (and Patrick, let’s not be pernickety – we all know what was meant) than they do to those immersed in Welsh-speaking culture. Why pick out the incomers and not this section of society?”
Adam – I wasn’t being pernickety, I hope, I was making the point that I don’t recognise non-Welsh speaking Welsh people as being ‘more like’ their English counterparts or ‘less like’ their Welsh-speaking compatriots simply because they don’t speak Welsh.
There have to be better ways of talking about cultural and national identity – the two are not the same, despite the inability of some commentators to tell the difference – without talking about huge swathes of people in such abstract terms as we now seem to be doing.
Daniel Williams’s comment is , as Marcus rightly says, excellent.
“Attempts to defend Britishness from outsiders are rightly scorned and derided as exclusive. Why is it that we are supposed to accept that attempts to defend Welshness from outsiders are commendable and inclusive?”
Because ‘Britishness’ is the presumed culture of an empire that occupied most of the planet at one point, and had no qualm with enslaving foreign peoples and wiping out foreign cultures.
And ‘Welshness’ is a minority culture, and a stateless nation within a much larger post-imperial nation-state.
I’d say it would be entirely defensible to oppose the preservation of empire whilst supporting the preservation of an undermined and culturally subjugated concept of Welshness.
Adam – But the opposite is true isn’t it, New Labour brought rules in to force incomers to the UK to learn English, the media warmly welcomed this. But if a guy quite reasonably asks people moving into Wales, particularly the Welsh speaking heartlands, ask note, not force, to try and learn Welsh, to become bilingual i.e. to be able to speak both of our languages, he is immediately vilified and accused of being all sorts of things as your prejudiced over the top reaction to DH comments show. Speaking as a Welsh learner myself, not fluent but getting there, learning the lingo has opened up a new way of life for me, and I’m glad I’ve made the effort, I just wish more would do the same.
Stone the crows. The handbags have really come out today. Oh I can’t wait for the Ryder Cup…
Rob
I’m bemused. I didn’t answer the way you clearly wanted me to, but you decided to respond as if I had done. To be clear, how “the media” responded to Labour’s citizenship test (which wasn’t even just a requirement to learn English, by the way) is not for me to defend.
Luke
You’re a smart bloke, so I can only assume you’re being tongue-in-cheek. I can’t believe that anyone would actually try and seriously claim that Britain lacks legitimacy but Wales doesn’t because of imperial legacy. National identity is what we make it now – nothing more. If someone wants to identify themselves as British, you have absolutely no right to tell them that is less legitimate than someone who want to self-identify as Welsh.
Patrick
Fair enough. I’m conscious that I’ve already been at least partially responsible for taking this thread off-topic, and I’m anxious to return to the discussion that the likes of Marcus and Daniel are having. So I’ll say one more thing, and then we can perhaps park this sub-strand for another day.
You’ve put your finger on it when you assert that culture and national identity are distinct. People from Wales – both Welsh and English-speakers – share a vast and rich cultural hinterland, not just with their English neighbours, but with peoples all over the world. This is not something to be bemoaned (nor indeed uncritically celebrated); it is a cast-iron fact of being Welsh in the 21st century. Yet when it comes to the issue of national identity we are somehow supposed to suddenly believe that this shared heritage either does not exist, or is alien and therefore bad. All of a sudden, being Welsh is reduced down to a tiny fragment of our overall cultural inheritance – and that, I’m sorry to say, is nearly always about the Welsh language or about a willingness to embrace what is defined as Welsh-language culture. In short, if you don’t do this, then your claim to Welsh citizenship is held to be suspect or invalid.
This is a poisonous enough position on its own, but it is also cowardly in that criticism is nearly always directed at the poor bloody incomer, who often comes to Wales, lives among his neighbours in much the same way as they do but is then singled out for “not integrating”. In fact, the incomer is most often very highly integrated – and was before moving in – but just not in a way that fits the above prescription. The real villains of the piece are those Welsh-born folk who, in the eyes of a select few, live without adopting the correct national cultural nostrums. But of course nobody would ever have a pop at this lot, so the stereotypes of boorish Brummies, loud-mouthed Lancastrians and spirit-soaked surreyites are dredged up instead – because we can all agree that it’s the immigrants who are ruining things, right? It’s lazy, despicable scapegoating and we should have no part in it.
I went to Y Gelli Gandryll yesterday and was asked by an English bookshop owner for help with some Welsh as he wanted to talk to his child who was learning Welsh at primary school and using it at home.
That’s got nothing to do with the issues raised in the article but what ho.
Wales doesn’t appear often under the UK spotlight so the very least we should get out of the festival at Hay is a certainty amongst anyone that is aware of it that it is held in Wales and also that our writers etc get a decent opportunity to be promoted/ scutinized.
Gwyl Y Gelli Gandyll
. If Mariella Fostrup is reading I’m available as a pronounciation coach.
Since a conversation between a small group of people handbagging each over what constitutes being Welsh or British.
I did a worldcat search on Rachel Trezise’s book “Dial M for Merthyr” I found the nearest Public Library (and only) to me in Kansas that held it was New York Public Library.
Why is that? She is described in the Times one of the leading young writers.
Now interestly enough Trezza Azzapardi’s “Hiding Place” and John William’s “Cardiff Dead” is in my library so not is all lost.
How do we remedy that? Its simple do what I did in Colorado and order Welsh authors at my local library. Its time for us in the US and do our bit, and from small beginnings we can fix that deficit.
Dont wait for the WAG be proactive they aint interested!
In fact what a great topic for a post!
Mike,
The most simple way forward:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rachel+trezise&sprefix=Rachel+Tre
I’ve read all of her books except Loose Connections and you won’t regret the investment.
Regarding the Welsh Government, what is has done is invest in re-issuing a host of English language books by Welsh authors as part of the Library of Wales range:
http://www.libraryofwales.org/
I have read four of these, all from my local library, in the past two weeks, and none of them have been duffers (and I bore easily). Raymond Williams’ Border Country is, for my money, one of the finest books ever written and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Take my word for it and put it on your bucket list if you haven’t read it already. Next up, Cwmardy & We Live.
Adam, I’m still waiting to hear anything positive you have to say about Welsh language culture? still waiting to hear any positive ideas or proposals from you for promoting Welsh. Still waiting…..
Again I repeat, I did not demonise incomers that’s the truth. I have obviously touched a nerve with you, but at no point did I insult anyone, as I have said I have friends who have moved to Cymru, but you believe what you want Adam. I say again just because other people who have lived here all their lives don’t speak Welsh doesn’t mean my friends don’t have too either, what have people got to lose of learning another language, nothing.
Bethan…
Hay-on-Wye is English!
I gave a German a lift from Hereford to Hay-on-Wye and as we crossed the border I said to him, ‘We are in Wales now.’ He said, “The colour of the grass is the same.”
I thought it a timely corrective. Patriotism can develop into Nationalism and the Germans know the danger of that.
Hay-on Wye is English because for a very long time they have been closely associated both economically and socially with Herefordshire, England. Their accent is rural and extends from the Forest of Dean to south Cheshire. Many of the people you heard speaking had a ‘Welsh’ accent, but not yours – nor mine, but a Welsh accent nevertheless. Wales is not Cardiganshire, nor Glamorganshire nor anywhere else within the Principality, it is where the people are and if they speak with a Herefordshire accent, that’s for them.
I like the Hay-on-Wye accent. I liked the way my Uncle spoke.
Duncan,
I think you might have missed my point slightly. which was not just for my own entertainment (ta for the link though)
But for us ex pats to do our parts to make great literature like Rachel’s available in the US the best way we can. By ordering from our local libraries and bookstores.
I think Amazon is the Walmart of the book world and will not do business with it.
Its terrible that works by Cordell, Gwyn Williams are not easily available. One favorite of mine was Jack Jones “River Out of Eden” the story of the Bute’s, Cardiff Docks and all, out of print Link text Link text
God, where to begin?
“Hay-on-Wye is English”
No it isn’t. Look on any map and you’ll find it is in Wales. By a mile or 100 miles does not matter, it is administered within Wales. Accents count for nothing.
“Patriotism can develop into Nationalism and the Germans know the danger of that.”
You can’t make comments like that without realising that they are inflammatory. It comes close to comparing Welsh nationalism with Nazism. Whether you were aware of it or not, it’s out of order. And completely out of context.
Again, can we return to matters surrounding the promotion of Wales within the Hay Festival, and issues involving the promotion of indigenous writers?
Duncan – yes, the LIbrary of Wales series will in coming years be seen as one of the defining examples of devolved government’s cultural investment, but as Daniel Williams says, it needs to be backed up by the creation of a readership at school level, for whom these books are natural reference-points. At the moment it’s unnatural that they’re not reference-points, and at some level culturally disenfranchising.
It’s wrong to expect Hay on Wye to be anything other than itself, i.e. a hugely entertaining, varied, often celeb-led, but basically serious *international* celebration of books. That’s what it is, has developed into, and what makes it great.
But it isn’t too much to ask why it doesn’t pay more heed to Welsh writing. What’s most puzzling from my point of view is how close HoW actually is to the places and locations of major anglo-Welsh novels and poems, but you wouldn’t know it from a day out there. To make such a point is nothing to do with nationalism (whatever that word means after it’s been massacred by internet trolls), it’s about making the most of places and heritage, about exercising a bit of curiosity about one’s surroundings and contexts, and thinking in a joined up way about what constitutes a culture in the sense meant by Raymond Williams.
Could the answer from more Welsh input would help with a big Welsh sponsor?
Duncan
People are made up of where they live and who they are. Hay-on-Wye, as I pointed out, is geographically in Wales but the people think English – some of my close family are from there. They have a natural affinity with Herefordshire. Why would we want to deny or refuse them the allegiances of their choice. There are many in the Marches counties who would be more comfortable in an administrative arrangement with the bordering counties than Cardiff.
When we have a complaint by a representative of Plaid bemoaning the accent of the local people, it does seem to me that patriotism has drifted into nationalism. I took the point the German made seriously. We must not impose, in the name of the culture of the national state, our views and practices on others.
The Hay-on-Wye festival is a great success for Wales because it is a great success for Hay-on-Wye. It doesn’t have to have an economic impact on Cardiff or anywhere else for that matter to be considered a success. If the hotels, rental cottages, pubs and restaurants of Hay are full and making money…success enough. And why should a locally organised book festival be subjected to the literary opinions of the great and mighty of elsewhere. If others want an international literature festival of books hardly any one reads, why don’t the critics of Hay organise their own?
I look forward to not attending it.
“I’m still waiting to hear anything positive you have to say about Welsh language culture?”
I’ve said plenty about how to draw the divisiveness out of the issue – something that would be a more positive step for the language than just about anything else. I’ve also said I don’t want this thread to remain off-topic.
Clearly, you want to ignore both.
Generally, I think this is a well written personal account of Bethan Jenkins observations of the Hay Festival. Moreover, I think anything which encourages people to read “old fashioned” books, in whatever language, is a positive step forwards for an educated and critical middle class. The gods know I should read more books.
I understand and share the thrust of Bethan’s critique that the festival could be more positively marketed and branded as a Wales festival, while also highlighting the international profile that the festival attracts. This does link to our discussion of a lack of Anglo-Welsh media based in Wales which would provide a Wales platform for Anglo-Welsh writers. Thank you Duncan for linking Patrick McGuiness article “Culture in a vacuum: Welsh arts coverage in the English language media”. It is important that English speaking Welsh have a platform and patronage which speaks to their experiences.
http://waleshome.org/2010/01/culture-in-a-vacuum-welsh-arts-coverage-in-the-english-language-media/
Though I am generally a Plaid supporter, I do have to admit that the statement about a “lack of Welsh accents” at the festival is a regrettable choice of words. I do not know the statistics specific for Hay-on-Wye, but according to the 2001/2002 Labour Force Survey 86-88 per cent of the residents of Powys claimed a Welsh national identity- results I expect to be duplicated once the question of identity is asked on the next census. Len Gibbs, It seems to me that the Powys residents know exactly where Hay-on-Wye is- and that they are indeed Welsh, despite how similar they may be to those living in Hereford… in the “near-abroad” of England.
And this is what I think the article really high-lights… the lack of a Wales profile on the international scene- even the British scene according to Baroness Thatcher’s former advisor. Visitors should know where the festival is being held. Though the colour of the grass is perhaps the same shade of green, the people tending that plot of grass have a unique sense of self and identity which should be respected by visitors of any stripe.
“There are many in the Marches counties who would be more comfortable in an administrative arrangement with the bordering counties than Cardiff.”
Really? I lived five miles from Hay for over six years and I never heard anybody say anything like that. In addition, I was a reporter, first for the Brecon and Radnor Express and then for the Western Mail, so I like to think I got out and about and canvassed opinion on a wide range of subjects, includnig national identity.
Like the previous guy I argued with, you’re putting forward an explanation on behalf of an alleged silent majority. So back it up. Where’s your figures? And before you tell me to do the same, let me remind you that you were the first person to claim that Hay-on-Wye is English.
“The Hay-on-Wye festival is a great success for Wales because it is a great success for Hay-on-Wye.”
Apart from contradicting your previous assertion, that isn’t the argument Bethan was making. She – and I think this is made reasonably clear – was saying that the Hay Festival is a missed opportunity for Wales to market itself to the event’s visitor. That puts the fault with us – or, rather, our marketing efforts.
The rest of your argument just sounds like uncomprehending intellectual envy and I can’t be bothered to respond to it.
“, it needs to be backed up by the creation of a readership at school level, for whom these books are natural reference-points. At the moment it’s unnatural that they’re not reference-points, and at some level culturally disenfranchising. ”
Yes. I know this might not seem so with my comments, but apparently I was a ‘bright boy’ in school. Throughout my schooling, right up until a small unit on my degree and my choice of dissertation at my masters, we never DID Wales.
It puzzles and worries me that in my adult life I am now having to read up on my own nation’s culture, its history and even it’s politics. Now despite being educated in Wales solely for 24 years, there must be a disconnect.
I believe that the notion of a Cwricwlwm Cymreig is needed. One which places Welsh history, literature and experiences at it’s centre. That I hasten to add is probably as equally about english-language Welsh culture than purely Welsh speaking culture. Is it so wrong to learn about Swansea being bombed rather than Coventry? To learn of the Mabinogi as well as Shakespeare? Owain Glyndwr as well as 1066?
Like I said, my ideas are based on not being anti anything, just pro Wales.
I agree with you Duncan. But the bottom line is that money has to be spent on advertising abroad, which is where your main market is. you may be surprised how much raising your profile can be done with a 2 minute advert on Prime time TV twice a week.
Hay sounds great but its hardly a “people’s festival”, never mind being Welsh.
Marcus My O level history was pre National Curriculum and we were taught all about the Merthyr Riots, Frost, Scotch Cattle , and the Rebecca Riots. I dont know what has happened since then, but I certainly was taught it.
Duncan I have ordered Rachel’s book for my local library, doing my bit.
I was going to let you know on FB!!
Well done, Mike. I meant to comment back last time and say I would rather choose a small bookshop over Amazon every day. I know what they pay their staff at the packing plant in Swansea.
What you do have at Hay, however, is a lot of visitors already in Wales, visitors with disposable income. They’re already here, so it seems to me a little easier to make them take a few more steps. Really – and I don’t know whether this is happening – Visit Wales could team up with the Hay Festival and send material out with tickets.
I think Len must be getting Hay confused with Ross on Wye! and Wye? because I knows
!
Marcus Warner, I agree wholeheartedly about the need for a curriculum taught from a Welsh perspective. Wales has a wealth of source material and talented professionals from which to draw from. I share your concern that there is a huge disconnect between what is taught in schools, with the emphasis on English history and English literature (rather then Anglo-Welsh literature). Far too many believe that their particular region of Wales starts with the Edwardian Conquest and Statute of Rhuddlan- and too few realise that their particular district has roots far older then the history that they are taught reveals (if they are taught about local history at all!)
In the spirit of the Hay Festival and with a Welsh focus, I’d like to introduce my own guru of Welsh history, and someone I am sure a great many are already familiar with… historian Professor John Davies of the University of Wales. I read his History of Wales in 1993, and I am glad to say that it has formed the basis of my own knowledge of Wales before devolution. If you have not yet picked up his book, I highly recommend it- it will disabuse you of many preconceived notions. His History of Wales is hailed as concise and authoritive, and from my perspective, without glaringly obvious bias in any direction and one to be throughly trusted. I believe that Dr Davies should be at the head of any attempt at creating a Welsh curriculum.
Some linkies:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/lampeter/pages/johndavies.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Davies_(historian)
An interesting and well written piece by Bethan Jenkins.
Hay on Wye Festival is an international English language literary event that happens to be held in a nice part of Wales so it is not too surprising to see very little ‘Welsh’ presence. Most people will read a book because of its literary content , merit or for the story not because it is by an author from the country in which they are from. Although I am Welsh and have a declared committment to the Nationalist cause, I read and have read extremely few authors from Wales because their stories, style or topics just aren’t as interesting to me as say American or, dare I say it, ‘English’ novelists or even Japanese manga. Moreover, tales from the Mabinogion are as much interest or relevance as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Much as Rachel Trevise has progressed from a desperate Valleys background and is rightly lauded for it, her subject matter and style is just not of interest to me (yes I have read some of her work). If she wasn’t promoted heavily as a ‘Welsh author’ she wouldn’t necessarily have any profile or critical acclaim in an international arena. It’s a tough business.
One of the ways that literature is refined and author reputation progressed is through criticism and reviews in popular newspapers and magazines. It is an enduring pity that here in Wales, that there are no widely distributed/read print vehicles for book review like the Guardian or NYTimes. Cambria and Planet magazines attempt in a small way to redress this but it is hardly comparable.
Although, like anyone my age, I quite enjoy browsing in small bookshops (and have the full set of Black Books DVDs), I have only rarely found anything I want in them especially in Hay which is a giant repository of Mills&Boon bodice rippers. If I need something I now get it from the Internet and that, as often as not, is from the Amazon one click buy button. I don’t happen to think that Amazon’s presence in Swansea has been a bad development for the area or that they are a poor employer as Mr.Higgitt seems to imply.
Is having an accent and a healthy dislike for Margaret Thatcher on the must-have list of pre-requistes before you can consider yourself 100% Welsh?
Believe it or not but someone from Hay is not radically different from someone from Brilley, Kington or Hergest and that that includes their political, cultural and to some extent, national identity.
The relationship between the two countries in areas like this was extremely complex long before the trendies arrived from Ealing and Acton.
My grandfather was forced from his hill farm near Painscastle during the 1930s along with his five brothers to start a life ten miles away in England, although as far as I’m aware he didn’t change shape, colour, appearance or language when he crossed the border.
You can’t claim that because a festival is in Wales it MUST have a Welsh identity and MUST celebrate Welshness, we have the Eisteddfod for that – It was set up by an Englishman to celebrate the English Literature, surely the fact that it’s in Wales is just a coincidence.
So what is the definition of Welsh culture? It is speaking Welsh, loving rugby, supporting Plaid Cymru, cheering on anyone who plays England, singing hymms etc etc?? No it isn’t, any community or anybody who lives on our side of the border is automatically part of the Welsh culture!
A countries culture needs to be inclusive of all those who live within in it.
‘Anglicised’ areas such as Hay on Wye, Monmouthshire, Pembrokeshire etc are just as Welsh as the Valleys, Carmathenshire, Gwynedd & therefore it is insulting to suggest they have to prove their Welshness. Celebrate the Welsh identitiy yes do don’t have to prove it.
It is also equally insulting to suggest that these areas are ‘English’ when they are not. I hail from Haverfordwest the county town of Pembrokeshire ‘Little England Beyond Wales’, as far I’m concerned we are just as Welsh as any other part of Wales, and I take great offence when someone says refers to my community as ‘English’. British yes, but not English. Go to any pub here during the Six Nations & its pretty damn obvious who the punters are cheering for.
Take Bradford for example, a city with a large Asian population. Contrary to what the BNP will tell you it is just as English or British as any other English city, just as the English in Wales become part of the Welsh culture when they come here.
Apart from that I’m all for celebrating the Welsh identity, language and culture, as well as supporting further devolution.
David L,
Many thanks, as luck would have it, I am in the process of reading John Davies.