I’m really looking forward to an event at the Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea, this evening. There’s a performance of prose, poetry and music by Fflur Dafydd and Owen Sheers. The event is part of the annual Dylan Thomas Festival which spans the anniversaries of both his birth and death. Read more
It took me a long while before deciding to cave in and read this book because I was convinced that it would turn out to be over-hyped and a disappointment.
This has been on the increasingly towering to-be-read pile ever since Barack Obama’s inauguration in January this year but finally got bumped up the list with his recent Nobel Peace Prize win.
Along with Simon Armitage, Don Paterson has to be one of my favourite living poets. I absolutely loved his collection, Landing Light, which I keep handy to dip into every now and then.
So I was delighted to wake up on this National Poetry Day, which happily coincides with my birthday this year, only to discover that he has won the Forward Prize for the second time with Rain, his most recent collection. Read more
Is it wrong to admit that I wanted a book I haven’t yet read to win the Man Booker prize? If it is, then I apologise (especially to the other five authors, whose shortlisted books I haven’t read either) but I’m nonetheless ecstatic that Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize for the first time last night. She is such an incredible writer and fully deserves the recognition that winning such a prize will undoubtedly bring. Read more