It’s been one year since Writing Wales was officially launched and today seems like a good opportunity to pause for just a moment and reflect. When I sat down to write this it struck me that it is almost impossible to sum up an entire year in a few hundred words, so instead I offer you just a few thoughts about the last twelve months.
What is rapidly becoming evident is the need for positive role models to counter the damage to culture and good taste which certain companies seem determined to inflict on consumers. Last year saw the launch of MTV’s already infamous TV show The Valleys, which has been widely criticised within Wales for its exploitation of young Welsh people and the appallingly distasteful content it features. Thankfully Welsh writers including Rachel Trezise were quick to join opposition campaigns such as the Valleys are Here, designed to counter the ridiculous image of the area projected by the TV show.
It’s a problem which is not restricted solely to Wales; Vice magazine’s decision to publish a fashion feature which took female writers and suicide as its theme stunned many of us into momentary silence. What the shoot has done is highlight the vital need to offer young people, in particular women, a positive alternative to such images, which is where literature can come to the fore in Wales.
Projects are underway in many parts of Wales to increase literary engagement. To mark 100 years of British printing in Merthyr Tydfil and the South Wales Valleys, the Stephens and George Print Group have founded a Charitable trust with the aim of ‘empowering young people through literature’. Literature Wales are also in the process of launching their Developing Dylan project, designed to inspire the young people of Wales. The project is funded by the Welsh Government and Writing Wales will be following the progress of the event very closely over the coming months. Such positive schemes will hopefully prove fruitful over the coming months and years.
On a personal note, helping to organise the Constructing Identities and Changing Spaces in Wales postgraduate symposium at Cardiff University has been a particularly positive experience. The diversity of research and sheer enthusiasm of the postgraduates involved in the day was an excellent sign of things to come. For Writing Wales, a number of new features have been launched an d over the next year there will be more instalments in the new series of Welsh writing group profiles and plenty more news and events listings through the Writing Wales Weekly E-Newsletter.
All in all, the past year has been interesting, prosperous, exciting and, at times, something of a challenge. A sincere thank you to everyone who has been featured, offered support, advice or just generally taken the time to comment on Writing Wales so far. I’m very much looking forward to meeting more of you and sharing Welsh literary news and ideas over the coming year.
What is rapidly becoming evident is the need for positive role models to counter the damage to culture and good taste which certain companies seem determined to inflict on consumers. Last year saw the launch of MTV’s already infamous TV show The Valleys, which has been widely criticised within Wales for its exploitation of young Welsh people and the appallingly distasteful content it features. Thankfully Welsh writers including Rachel Trezise were quick to join opposition campaigns such as the Valleys are Here, designed to counter the ridiculous image of the area projected by the TV show.
It’s a problem which is not restricted solely to Wales; Vice magazine’s decision to publish a fashion feature which took female writers and suicide as its theme stunned many of us into momentary silence. What the shoot has done is highlight the vital need to offer young people, in particular women, a positive alternative to such images, which is where literature can come to the fore in Wales.
Projects are underway in many parts of Wales to increase literary engagement. To mark 100 years of British printing in Merthyr Tydfil and the South Wales Valleys, the Stephens and George Print Group have founded a Charitable trust with the aim of ‘empowering young people through literature’. Literature Wales are also in the process of launching their Developing Dylan project, designed to inspire the young people of Wales. The project is funded by the Welsh Government and Writing Wales will be following the progress of the event very closely over the coming months. Such positive schemes will hopefully prove fruitful over the coming months and years.
On a personal note, helping to organise the Constructing Identities and Changing Spaces in Wales postgraduate symposium at Cardiff University has been a particularly positive experience. The diversity of research and sheer enthusiasm of the postgraduates involved in the day was an excellent sign of things to come. For Writing Wales, a number of new features have been launched an d over the next year there will be more instalments in the new series of Welsh writing group profiles and plenty more news and events listings through the Writing Wales Weekly E-Newsletter.
All in all, the past year has been interesting, prosperous, exciting and, at times, something of a challenge. A sincere thank you to everyone who has been featured, offered support, advice or just generally taken the time to comment on Writing Wales so far. I’m very much looking forward to meeting more of you and sharing Welsh literary news and ideas over the coming year.