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It's been superlong in the making, but here it is as last, the third and final part in my little series about Allen Raine, her #WelshRevival novel and a discussion of #LiteraryLandscape and #music

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/allen-raine-soft-power-rebel-part-3/

#Wales #WelshWritingInEnglish #Literature #LitStudies #Novel

illustration of the Revival minister Evan Roberts speaking to a small crowd from the open window of a chapel.

If you enjoyed this trip through six early short stories from #Wales, I've now bundled them up and made them available as an #OpenAccess collection in the shape of a PDF: "Wanderings in Wales" by Thomas Richards.

I'm also playing with the idea of providing an epub. Let me know whether you'd be interested in that.

https://works.hcommons.org/records/havkt-j1d73

#Literature #ShortStory #Gothic #RomanticPeriod #RomanticLit #WelshWritingInEnglish

Cover of the story collection "Wanderings in Wales" by Thomas Richards. The selected cover image shows a handcoloured engraving of a view up a winding country road in the very rural, very romantic Mawddach valley in the early 19th century. A handful of Welsh peasants are standing in the foreground, some of them sitting down for a picnic.

It took a little longer than anticipated, but here is the final of six stories, 'The Snow Storm' by Thomas Richards (1800-1877). The story tells the adventurous escape of a cattle trader from the hands of a murderous band of robbers one stormy winter night.

This completes my little project of creating the first freely available, #DigitalEdition of this set of stories by Richards, a shamefully neglected early contributor to the #WelshWritingInEnglish school during the late #RomanticPeriod.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/the-snow-storm/

#Wales #RomanticFiction #ShortStory #Literature #OpenAccess

The rural town of Welshpool as it would have appeared in the late 18th century. A small church to the right and a handful of timber-framed and thatched-roof cottages. All is calm.

The pen-ultimate part of the 'Wanderings in Wales' short story series by Thomas Richards is now available on my website. 'The Gipsies of Mowddwy' tells the story of cold-blooded murder without any redemption or remorse.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/the-gipsies-of-mowddwy/

#Wales #WelshWritingInEnglish #RomanticFiction #ShortStory #Literature #DigitalEdition #OpenAccess

A rider and horse on wooded mountain road snaking its way through a slope in the foreground. In the background a sunny valley behind which semi-wooded mountains are rearing into the sky.

Hot off the digital press: the fourth of six short stories by Thomas Richards.

'Anna of Llynn' tells the sad tale of two young lovers' happiness spoilt by a third jealous heart.

This story comes with a content warning about descriptions and portrayals of mental illness.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/anna-of-llynn/

#Wales #WelshWritingInEnglish #RomanticFiction #ShortStory #Literature #CW #DigitalEdition #OpenAccess

Inkwash drawing of a fine two-storey house surrounded by trees and shrubs. Two men are standing on the lawn outside the house.

The third story in the series of 'Wanderings in Wales' is now up on my website. Frankly, 'The Spectre of Pont Vathu' is my personal favourite from the whole set. It's a thoroughly creepy story that knows exactly when and where to stop.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/the-spectre-of-pont-vathu-2/

#Wales #Literature #RomanticFiction #Gothic #Ghosts #WelshWritingInEnglish #ShortStory

A woodcut of a sea monster attacking a woman. Nipple slip, big waves and much weather. This image has absolutely nothing to do with the story linked to, but it's thoroughly Gothic. Much spook, very scream!

Hot off the digital edition press, the second of six short stories. Follow Thomas Richards for a tale of a 'Sunrise from Cader Idris'.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/sunrise-from-cader-idris/

#Wales #Literature #WelshWritingInEnglish #ShortStory #Gothic #Folklore

A view of the verdant Mowddwy valley flanked by the steep and rugged sides of Cader Idis as it looms large in the background.

Following my own panel (and paper) and book launch yesterday afternoon and evening, we're back this morning with the first of the last three sessions. Robert Minhinnick exploring the underscapes of poetry (possibly including his own, time depending) and Neil Gower sharing his illustration practices with us.
Colin unfortunately has technical troubles this morning and sadly can't join us.
#AWWE2025 #WelshWritingInEnglish #literature

Our first panel this morning takes us to overlooked amateur poets farming communities and hidden selves. We got the WiFi working for all our remote attendants and the windows wide open for the in-person audience to make sure nobody is getting roasted already this early in the morning.
#AWWE2025 #WelshWritingInEnglish #Literature

After a round of carbs for dinner, we're enjoying our first creative keynote this weekend with Philip Gross talking about his poetic writing journeys. We have just been tantalised by the poetic promise of a transcendental visit to IKEA.
#AWWE2025 #WelshWritingInEnglish #literature

Obligatory room lottery picture from #AWWE2025.
We're just about to kick off procedures with the first panel presented by Mary-Ann Constantine, Liz Edwards and their merry band of Curious Travellers.
#WelshWritingInEnglish #literature

Presentation for #AWWE2025 this weekend is go.
This has got to be the closest I've ever finished putting together my paper and presentation ahead of a conference.

#WelshWritingInEnglish #RomanticFiction #NineteenthCentury #Literature #Wales #Tasmania

Presentation title slide. To the left: 'Excavating Bryntirion: Autobiographical elements in the writing of Thomas Richards', Rita Singer, Independent Researcher.

To the right, an early C19 engraving showing the Mawddach snaking its way through the valley. In the background mountains rise steeply from the floodplane. In the foreground peasants on a road winding its way past a small rural church.

I'm rewarding myself for sending off three things with some indulgent research. Also, because it's the hot thing to do, this is your reminder that next week's AWWE conference can also be attended virtually from afar -- which will give you all the chance to hear me talk some more about Thomas Richards, Dolgellau.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/thomas-richards-1800-1877-a-bibliography-in-progress-reloaded/

#Wales #Literature #WelshWritingInEnglish #Bibliography #Romantics #Tasmania

Early nineteenth-century view of Barmouth as seen from the beach towards the town huddled against the side of a steeply rising mountain. In the foreground a fisherman, a Welshwoman knitting a sock and three finely dressed women going for a walk between tied up boats.

Reposting my #Introduction because there's a flurry of new folks -- and I'm an eternal optimist at finding fellow Welsh writing in English peeps. So here goes:

I work as the Community Outreach Officer for the Welsh Dictionary of Biography, more collquially called the #Bywgraffiadur, at the #NationalLibraryOfWales. Our goal is to close representational gaps and set the Dictionary on a course of recording the diverse lives of historical Welsh people in all their facets. https://biography.wales/

Otherwise, I'm working on #WelshWritingInEnglish mostly from the long #C19. Other research interests include #TravelWriting, particularly illustrated accounts and the history of the #VisitorsBook. I'm also into #PublicHistory and community outreach, sometimes abt #PortHeritage, #WW1 German submarine warfare and its effects on Welsh communities.

I share longer #WiP here: https://bydbach.hcommons.org/

Toots will be mostly in #English, but occasionally also in #Deutsch and #Cymraeg.
#Histodons

Another milestone on the road to publishing day achieved: finished reading my way through the printer proofs -- 500+ pages and a few more footnotes added.

If in the meantime you'd like to find out more about this Welsh social novel from 1860, here's a link to a section from the introduction's draft version.

#WelshWritingInEnglish #BlackHistoryIsWelshHistory #BlackHistory #Literature #Writing

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/announcing-the-37th-honno-welsh-womens-classics-volume/

Mock-up covers for the e-book and paperback of Country Landlords.

Following from my earlier post about Ada Evans of Newcastle-Emlyn, here's the next part in how she became the famous writer 'Allen Raine'. In this second part, I'm sketching the scope of her work and set it in context of her own life.

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/allen-raine-soft-power-rebel-part-2/

#Literature #LitStudies #Novel #histodons #Victorian #humanities #WelshWritingInEnglish #Wales

Allen Raine -- quietly judging the airheads of the world.

It's publishing day!
If you've always wondered how the last invasion of Britain (which took place in Wales in 1797!) panned out in fiction, here's my two-cents worth in the shape of an #OA article:

"‘[A] very improbable and imaginative fiction’: Fictionalising the French invasion of Fishguard"'

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03061973241295331

#Wales #WelshWritingInEnglish #HistoricalFiction #LitStudies #Literature #histodons #OpenAccess

Detail from the Fishguard tapestry showing Jemima Nicholas and her pitchfork leading a band of captive French soldiers.

I know we're all a bit preoccupied with goings on in the States and whether they elect to remain a democracy or abolish it. But nevertheless, here's my humble attempt at a diversion.

I've just dotted the i-s and crossed the t-s for my introduction to the latest Honno Welsh Women's Classics volume. And because I'm in a celebratory mood, here's an extract from said intro in which I discuss the role of the Black servant Yarico and her significance for #Victorian literature set in rural #Wales

#WelshWritingInEnglish #BlackHistoryIsWelshHistory #BlackHistory #Literature #Writing

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/entanglements-of-empire/

cover mock-ups for e-reader and paperback

👻 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 💀
A few days ago I shared a copy of a little-known #Gothic short story by a late-Romantic Welsh author. Today I bring you the academic version of a "reaction video", aka a conference paper that I gave a few years back about "The Spectre of Pont Vathu".

Boogedy, boogedy!

https://bydbach.hcommons.org/hear-the-ghost-spirits-and-deathly-portents-in-the-short-stories-of-thomas-richards/

#WelshWritingInEnglish #Literature #weird #folklore #ghost