landscapes which inspired three writers:Raymond Williams (1921-1988), Alun Lewis(1915-1944) and Margiad Evans (1909-1958).The tours reached a predominantly newaudience for Academi. The series wasled by Academi co-chair Dr John Pikoulisjoined en-route by guest historians andlecturers including Dr Ceridwen Lloyd-Morganand Professor Dai Smith. In Novembera successful tour was also organised onAnglesey. This looked at the wealth ofliterature around the island and wasguided by Dewi Jones.Academi continued its popular series ofNights for the Unpublished and Showcaseevenings throughout <strong>Wales</strong>. The Society’sWriters of <strong>Wales</strong> list now details more than600 writers many of whom may be unfamiliarto readers and organisers. The Showcaseseries aims to put that right. 2008 Showcasesfeatured Robert Nisbet, Nick Fisk, EmilyHinshelwood, Harrison Solow and GaryRaymond (at Llanelli); Anne Cluysenaar,Mab Jones, John Evans, Tony Lewis-Jones,Dylan Moore and Jane Blank (Monmouth);Kathryn Gray, Zoë Brigley, Tom Anderson, JoeDunthorne, Louise Walsh and Meirion Jordan(Cardiff). Well attended Nights for theUnpublished ran at Mold, Haverfordwest andCardiff. The Cardiff events were preceded byClare Potter and Martin Daws performanceworkshops held at the Glyn Jones Centre.In September 2008, in conjunction with Dahland Dahl Ltd, Academi celebrated RoaldDahl Day posing the question, How Well DoYou Know Dahl? Pupils from local CardiffPrimary Schools attended a packed eventat the National Museum of <strong>Wales</strong>. Childrenhad the opportunity to see speciallycommissioned films showing unseen archivefootage of the author.Academi continued to work with The PoetrySociety, Scottish Poetry Library, PoetryArchive and other partners across theUK to plan and promote the 15th annualNational Poetry Day on 8 October 2008.A National Poetry Day website was relaunchedfeaturing the 2008 theme of Workand included activities and resources forteachers, event organisers and attendees. AnA3 poster was also produced and distributedthroughout the UK. This had information andadvice for schools, libraries, individuals andevent planners on how to get involved andparticipate in National Poetry Day. Academisupported a wide range of National PoetryDay events throughout <strong>Wales</strong> through itsfunding schemes. Welsh language highlightsincluded Mei Mac and Iwan Llwyd at Galeriand Gwyn Thomas working with pupils atPlas Tan y Bwlch.The annual Academi writing retreat in theMountains & Islands series returned tothe coast. Paul Henry and Jo Mazelis ledworkshops at Manorbier Youth Hostel on thecliffs opposite Caldey Island.Bazm-e-Adab, the Urdu Poetry Group, isCardiff’s oldest literature performance group.They meet monthly throughout the year andnow have regular nights with leadingWelsh-language writers – Gwyneth Glynwas the most recent guest reader. TheArabic Cultural Society organised a studyafternoon at the <strong>Wales</strong> Millennium Centrebased on the work of Naguib Mahfouz, theEgyptian novelist who won the Nobel Prize for<strong>Literature</strong> in 1988.In association with Borders bookshopAcademi presented an evening in thecompany of three of <strong>Wales</strong>’s leading prosewriters: James Hawes, John Williams andDuncan Bush. Chair was Des Barry. Theauthors read extracts from and discussedJames Hawes’ Excavating Kafka (Quercus,2008) and My little Armalite (Jonathan Cape,2008); John Williams’s Michael X (Century;Paperback edition, 2008); and DuncanBush’s novel Now All the Rage (ColophonBooks, 2008).Generous support from BBC Children inNeed enabled Academi to run an ambitiousMother Tongue project in four Cardiffprimary schools. Visiting writers ChomanHardi (Arabic, Khurdistani and Persian),Ghias Aljundi (Arabic), Mir Mahfuz (Bengali),Mohammed Sheikh Ibrahim, Ishmael Awadenand Yusra Warsama (Somali) worked withpupils and teachers in mother tonguelanguages as well as English giving childrenthe confidence to express themselves in theirown first languages.
The Welsh AcademyAnnual Report11Carol Ann DuffySimon Armitage