Untitled - Literature Wales

EventsLiterary events in their many forms andstyles form the backbone of Academi’s work.Literature as erudition, as expression, aselucidation, as entertainment. This section ofthe Annual Report details a selection.The Literature in Wales stand on the GuardianHay Festival site was again a collaborationbetween Academi, ACW, the National Library,the Welsh Books Council and the WelshAssembly Government. A range of leadingWelsh writers read and conversed withvisitors. The weather was appalling with theFestival actually under water at one point butliterature prevailed with the Stand emergingreassuringly as one of the focal points ofthe site.Academi worked with Arts Council Englandon a programme of activity for a group ofvisiting Chinese poets in June 2008. Followingon from the Yellow Mountain Poetry Festivalin China in October 2007, a group of poetsvisited the UK and spent a week in AtlanticCollege translating each other’s work.Academi facilitated a special performancein the Senedd, hosted by Eleanor BurnhamAM, with readings from Yang Lian, FionaSampson, Pascale Petit, Yan Li, Arthur Sze,Zang Di, Odia Ofeimun, Murray Edmund, W NHerbert. And others. The poets also attendedthe Academi Cardiff International PoetryCompetition ceremony. Other dates on theirtour of the UK included a performance at theSouthbank Centre and a workshop in Schoolof Oriental and African Studies, London.Academi pulled out all the stops for TheNational Eisteddfod in Cardiff in 2008, with acomprehensive programme of activities. The2008 Stomp broke all records, with over 500enjoying the work of 16 poets in a purposebuiltvenue on Maes C. Tickets sold out manydays before the event. In addition Academiand Tŷ Newydd organised CaerDydd a Nos,a literary and musical introduction to the city,featuring Catrin Dafydd, Gwyneth Glyn, RhysIorwerth, Owain Rhys and Heather Jones.Other events included a Young People’sWriting Squad with Ed Holden and AneirinKaradog, Tudur Dylan Jones working withart collective Trace and a first-of-the-yeargroup discussion on the Cyfansoddiadaua Beirniadaethau.Bay Lit: Shock of the New concentrated onthe young, the new and the alternative.The festival was held over four days inOctober 2008 at various venues aroundCardiff Bay. Components included the PoetryTranslation Centre’s World Poets’ Tour starringChoman Hardi, Farzaneh Khojandi and KajalAhmad; an evening of new voices introducedby Kathryn Gray featuring Zoë Brigley, MeirionJordan, Louise Walsh, Tom Anderson andJoe Dunthorne; a series of book launchesat Borders together with workshops at theGlyn Jones Centre. A bilingual evening ofpoetry and bands was one of the Festival’shighlights, as was a performance by poetrycollective, Aisle 16. The Big Gig and Poetryfilm/ Y Gig Cymysg at The Point combinedexperimental film with live readings from LoisBarrar, Rhys Iorwerth, Iwan Rhys, TiffanyAtkinson, Richard Marggraf Turley and AnnaLewis. At Is Rural the New Urban? CynanJones, Horatio Clare and Tom Bullough werein discussion while David Llewellyn posedthe question “Are we shocked yet?”. PoetryLive! filled the Donald Gordon Theatre, WalesMillennium Centre and gave GCSE pupils achance to hear performances from GillianClarke, John Agard and Carol Ann Duffy.Welsh-language events included GrymGeiriau, an event discussing politics andliterature at Tŷ Hywel, National Assembly forWales, with Dewi Prysor, Dyfrig Jones, CatrinDafydd and Betsan Powys, an evening withscriptwriters Huw Foulkes, Gwilym Dwyfor andothers, and an extraordinary experimentcombining multimedia technology andpoetry organised with the Caernarfon-basedart collective, Cymdeithas y Rhyfeddod.Under the direction of Mererid Hopwoodand working with Media Education Waleschildren from local Welsh-language writingsquads had the opportunity to put poetry totheir own short films. The programme alsoincluded workshops from Yemisi Blake andEurig Salisbury. Yemisi explained the CreativeArt of Blogging while Eurig introduced arevolutionary new take on cynghanedd.In 2008 Academi took a step into the worldof cultural tourism by organising a numberof literary bus tours around south Wales.The Writers in their Landscape series wasdesigned to introduce readers to the