Postgraduate Conference / Cynhadledd ar gyfer Ol-Raddedigion

Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales

New Research in Welsh Studies
Graduate Conference
Thursday 26 and Friday 27 May 2011
Arts and Humanities Conference Room
James Callaghan Building

An opportunity for M.Phil. and PhD students working on Wales to come together to discuss their research.

Call for Papers:
The Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales seeks paper proposals from postgraduate researchers (M.Phil. and PhD) working in any discipline on subjects that concern or relate to Wales.


Papers will be of 20 minutes’ duration and will be presented within a multi-disciplinary forum. Presenters should be aware that the audience will be interested, but not necessarily expert, in their own specific field of research. Some thought should therefore be given to exploring the context (theoretical, methodological etc) in which the research has been designed, in order to maximize points of contact and opportunities for comparison across subject areas and disciplines.
Papers might present an overview of the research project as a whole, or of one or more parts of it. The focus might be (for researchers in the early stages) on the research question and involve some speculation as to how best to resolve it. For researchers nearing completion it might be more appropriate to concentrate on outcomes and possibilities for further research beyond the qualification currently aimed at.
Please send proposals (no longer than one side of A4) for papers (in either Welsh or English) to Dr. Daniel Williams, Department of English, Swansea University
daniel.g.williams@swansea.ac.uk

Closing date for proposals: 5 May 2011

Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton

Ymchwil Newydd ym maes Astudiaethau Cymreig
Cynhadledd i Fyfyrwyr Ôl-raddedig Dydd Iau 26 a dydd Gwener 27 Mai, 2011 Ystafell Gynhadledd y Celfyddydau a'r Dyniaethau
Adeilad James Callaghan
Galwad am Bapurau:
Mae Canolfan Astudiaethau Cymreig Richard Burton yn galw am bapurau gan ymchwilwyr ôl-raddedig (M. Phil. a PhD) sydd yn gweithio mewn unrhyw ddisgyblaeth ar bynciau sy'n ymwneud â Chymru.

Bydd y papurau yn para 20 munud, ac mi fyddant yn cael eu cyflwyno mewn fforwm rhyngddisgyblaethol. Ni fydd holl aelodau’r gynulleidfa felly yn gwbl hyddysg yn y gwahanol feysydd, a dylid rhoi peth sylw i gyd-destun damcaniaethol y gwaith er mwyn galluogi cysylltiadau rhwng meysydd gwahanol. Gall y papur gynnig trosolwg o'r prosiect ymchwil yn ei gyfanrwydd, neu ganolbwyntio ar un neu fwy o rannau ohono. Gall fanylu ar un cwestiwn ymchwil gan archwilio’r dulliau mwyaf addas i ymwneud â’r cwestiwn hynny, neu edrych ar bosibiliadau ar gyfer ymchwil pellach.
Anfonwch gynigion (dim mwy na un ochr A4 o hyd) ar gyfer papurau (yn y Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg) at Dr. Daniel Williams, Yr Adran Saesneg, Prifysgol Abertawe. daniel.g.williams@abertawe.ac.uk
Dyddiad cau: 5 Mai 2011

Lawnsio Detholiad o faledi Huw Jones ‘Llymgi penllwyd Llangwm’

Cefnogodd Ganolfan Richard Burton lansiad o ddetholiad o hanner cant o faledi Huw Jones o Langwm, un o faledwyr mwyaf adnabyddus a mwyaf cynhyrchiol y ddeunawfed ganrif, yn y Bala nos Wener 3 Rhagfyr 2010. Golygwyd y casgliad gan Dr Alaw Mai Edwards (o Ganolfan Uwchefrydiau Cymreig a Cheltaidd Prifysgol Cymru yn Aberystwyth) a Dr A Cynfael Lake (o Adran y Gymraeg yn Academi Hywel Teifi). Ffrwyth prosiect a ariannwyd gan Fwrdd Gwybodau Celtaidd Prifysgol Cymru yw’r gyfrol.

Diolch i nawdd y Bwrdd cyflogwyd Dr Edwards am flwyddyn i gasglu ac i gopïo holl faledi Huw Jones, ryw ddau gant ohonynt i gyd. Er mai ar gyfer cynulleidfa o Gymry uniaith yn y ddeunawfed ganrif y lluniwyd y baledi, y mae llawer o’r pynciau a drafodir yr un mor gyfoes heddiw. Fel yr esboniodd Dr Lake, ‘Byddai baledwyr y ddeunawfed ganrif yn lleisio pryderon eu cyd-Gymry am ferched sy’n cael plant y tu allan i briodas ac yn disgwyl i’r gymdeithas eu cynnal, ac am y bobl hynny yr oedd yn well ganddynt ddiogi na gweithio. Dyma bynciau sydd yn y newyddion ar hyn o bryd wrth i’r Llywodraeth gwtogi ar wariant cyhoeddus ac ar y gwasanaeth lles yn benodol’.

Yn ystod y lawnsio, clywyd y ddau olygydd a Dr Ffion Mair Jones (o’r Ganolfan Uwchefrydiau) yn sôn am faledi Huw Jones, a bu Dr Ffion Mair Jones yn datgan rhai o’r baledi .

[The Richard Burton Centre supported the launch of Dr. Cynfale Lake's new edition of the Ballads of Huw Jones, Llangwm]

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE' - a report

Liza Penn-Thomas writes:

Wednesday 16 March, 1pm – 2pm. Callaghan Lecture Theatre


Michael Bogdanov’s reputation for controversial and groundbreaking theatre made his recent lecture series at Swansea University highly anticipated, with organiser D.J.Britton promising “vivid insights drawn from an illustrious career stretching back over almost half a century”. We had already been afforded opportunity to hear Bogdanov speak in ‘INVISIBLE BULLETS – Shakespeare the Subversive’ and ‘DEUTSCHLAND UEBER ALLES – Simply the Best?' the latter of which looked particularly at Shakespeare’s welcome into the German canon of theatrical performance, as if he were a German himself. Of course, as we all knew after the third and final lecture in the series, Shakespeare was not German at all... but a Welshman.
Entitled ‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ the final event was delivered with Dr Daniel Williams in the chair as host. It was the Welsh presence in the plays of Shakespeare that was to be considered. Though an international figure, Bogdanov is by blood and birth a Welshman. He has also been a major contributor to the cultural life of Wales and specifically the staging of Shakespeare for a Welsh audience. The first fact established was that claims for a Welsh Bard in Stratford could certainly hold true if he were a rugby player, as his paternal grandmother was Welsh. Alys Griffin is often credited, along with his Welsh school master Thomas Jenkins, for passing on to the young William lyrical language and Celtic folklore that found its way into his dramas. The significance of Wales within the creative imagination of Shakespeare is recognised but it is in the interpretation of such representations that opinion becomes divergent.
Bogdanov saw the dramatist’s treatment of the Welsh as a sympathetic reflection of his humanism not as negative stereotyping. He disagreed with the frequently held view that Shakespeare was racist or misogynistic and asserted that Shakespeare was assuredly not Anti-Semitic. Daniel Williams wasn’t wholly convinced and suggested that the Welsh seemed to be used as benevolent characters that stood as worthy examples to England’s belligerent Scottish and Irish neighbours. Wales, as in much English thought, was being assigned a symbolic role of future unity within the isles under an English crown.
It will be interesting to see whether this most English icon who wrote under the patronage of English royalty will receive continued suspicion in Wales and be kept at arm’s length, acknowledged for his great writing but consigned to the role of a curriculum staple and open-air novelty. Or if, as a result of increasing political devolution, we in Wales will be able to embrace the plays of Shakespeare, as the Germans have, for our own artistic and cultural expressions.

Bogdanov and Gwilym ap Shakespeare

Theatre, television and film director,

Dr Michael Bogdanov

will be giving a series of public lunchtime lectures at Swansea University.

The lectures will be hosted by leading academics from Swansea University, and will take a conversational format with time for questions and answers. The final lecture in this series will be on Wednesday 16 March, 1pm – 2pm.

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ will be hosted by Dr Daniel Williams, Director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales. In it, Michael Bogdanov will consider the Welsh presence, both notional and physical, in the plays of Shakespeare.

Callaghan Lecture Theatre

Swansea University

Everyone is welcome and admission is free



For further information:

email: riah@swansea.ac.uk / tel: 01792 295190

For details of the full programme, see

www.swan.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/riah




Bydd y cyfarwyddwr theatr, teledu a ffilm,

Dr Michael Bogdanov

yn rhoi cyfres o ddarlithoedd cyhoeddus yn ystod amser cinio ym Mhrifysgol Abertawe

Bydd y darlithoedd yn cael eu cynnal gan academyddion blaengar o Brifysgol Abertawe, gan ddilyn fformat sgyrsiol gyda chyfle i holi ac ateb. Cynhelir y ddarlith derfynol yn y gyfres hon ddydd Mercher 16 Mawrth, 1pm - 2pm.

‘GWILYM AP SHAKESPEARE – Shakespeare and the Welsh’ - cynhelir gan Dr Daniel Williams, Cyfarwyddwr Canolfan Richard Burton ar gyfer Astudio Cymru. Yn hwn, bydd Michael Bogdanov yn ystyried y presenoldeb Cymreig, yn ddamcaniaethol a chorfforol, yn nramâu Shakespeare.

Narlithfa Callaghan

Prifysgol Abertwe

Mae mynediad am ddim ac mae croeso i bawb

Am ragor o wybodaeth:

ebost: riah@abertwe.ac.uk / ffôn: 01792 295190

Am fanylion ynghylch y rhaglen yn llawn gweler

www.swan.ac.uk/artsandhumanities/riah

Creative Writing News and Achievements

In the Welsh Bardic tradition, Creative Writing is thriving at Swansea University and in the city at large.  In addition to the successes of our esteemed staff - Stevie Davies, Nigel Jenkins, D.J. Britton, Fflur Dafydd, Alan Bilton, John Goodby, and others - our students are making their mark on the writing scene today.

Here is a brief listing of some recent and past successes of Swansea University's creative writing students:

This week, Another Country: Haiku Poetry From Wales, is being launched at The Dylan Thomas Centre, (with another launch in Aberystwyth next week). This anthology is co-edited by our own, Nigel Jenkins, and includes the work of many current and former Swansea writing students: Sarah Coles (MA '09), Rhys Owain Williams (BA '09, MA '10), Alan Kellerman (MA '07, PhD '11), Stephen White (MA '11), Leslie McMurtry (MA '07), Eloise Williams, amongst others.

Rebecca John (BA, 2011) has just this month been announced as the winner of The Jones Prize, for her short story collection, Clown's Shoes, which will be published later this year.

Roshi Fernando's (PhD, 2011) novel, Homesick, won the 2009 Impress Prize for New Writers (awarded to a Creative Writing student at a British University), and her short story The Flourescent Jacket, was shortlisted this past weekend for The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.

Susie Wild's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, The Art of Contraception, was published by Parthian last year.

Gemma June Howell's (MA, 2007) collection of short stories, Inside the Treacle Well, was published by Hafan Books in 2009 as part of a series to benefit Swansea Asylum Seekers.

Clint Van Winkle (MA, 2007) - His Gulf War memoir Soft Spots, published by MacMillan, was very well received across the pond in the United States, where he continues to do media appearances on the subject.