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In the lead up to Pride Month, award-winning writer and LGBTQ+ activist John Sam Jones made the journey back to his home country to celebrate and discuss the #WALESBOOKOFTHEYEAR2022 THE JOURNEY IS HOME: NOTES FROM A LIFE ON THE EDGE. Journeying from south to north Wales JSJ joined libraries and bookshops who hosted bilingual discussions on both his short-story collections and his powerful memoir of life as a gay man in Wales, the United States and now Germany.  JSJ reads to an audience at Conwy Library    "...an incredibly important insight into the lives of individuals who had to inhabit the far less hospitable and...

The Half-life of Snails - April 12, 2023 Whilst the weather today might be wet and windy, safely indoors we are celebrating the breaking news that The Half-life of Snails by Philippa Holloway is on the longlist for the 2023 Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Ondaatje Prize. The annual RSL Ondaatje Prize is awarded to a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, which evokes the spirit of a place. To get on such a prestigious longlist is an outstanding achievement. We caught up with Philippa to find out how it feels to discover that The Half-life of Snails has been longlisted....

  Since Ironopolis was published five years ago, there have been many celebratory moments. The author, Glen James Brown, was not only shortlisted for the 2019 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction but also the 2020 Portico Prize for his debut. Additionally, Glen has enjoyed the rather enviable position of Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library. This month, there are further celebrations as we launch a new edition of Ironopolis, complete with an exciting new cover. Aside from some tremendous career highlights for Glen, Ironopolis also garnered rave reviews. The Bookseller called Ironopolis ‘An edgy and arresting debut novel.’ Meanwhile, in...

The Lake - March 28, 2023 When we recently discovered that The Lake, authored by Bianca Bellová and translated by Alex Zucker, had been shortlisted for the EBRD Literature Prize, we could not have been more delighted. As a compelling piece of Czech literature in English translation, The Lake is a natural contender for this award, which aims to illustrate the importance of literary translation and introduce a variety of voices to an English-speaking global audience. Bianca and Alex are no strangers to awards and nominations, with both author and translator having varying accolades between them. The Lake also previously won the Magnesia...