The view from the woods
Had to share this -- a lovely photo posted by Viv Bishop on Facebook. Carningli in the distance, seen from the woodland of the Clydach valley..........
Begging bowls and gravy trains
I've been around long enough to have rather a lot of contacts in the writing and publishing community -- and I was intrigued by a message today from a friend (Catrin Collier) who is one of the most successful writers in Wales (1). Catrin referred to the "perception that corruption -- real or imagined -- exists in our profession", and drew my attention to an old adage often repeated in commercial publishing houses: "When English writers write a book they look for a publisher - Welsh writers look for a bursary". I have been saying this for quite some time in this blog and in letters to the powers that be (2) -- but I had not realised that this was a common perception among the publishing houses based in London and elsewhere. If this is true -- and I am prepared to trust Catrin in this — we should be very worried indeed. For what it means is that Welsh writers who do have real talent and deserve to get a break in the world of commercial publishing -- or w...
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