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"At the age of seventy-eight Max Boyce has become a cultural icon. He has been a cultural phenomenon since his career took off with his surprise-hit, best-selling Album Live at Treorchy in 1973. It was a moment for which his particular genius was made: an instance of historical triumph poised between the successful miners’ strikes of 1972 and 1974 whose significance, the first national victories since 1912, he understood in his bones." Dai Smith reflects on the life and career of Max Boyce for Wales Arts Review. You can read the full article here. Information on Max's book signing tour,...

On the third day of our author insights, I had the honour of discussing Philippa Holloway’s entry for the 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award, ‘A Cloud of Starlings’, with the author herself. Philippa is a writer and an academic whose short fiction and non-fiction writing has previously been published worldwide in several literary journals and magazines. Philippa has won prizes in various awards and been shortlisted for many other competitions. With a passion for exploring the relationship between people and place, she is currently working with Parthian Books on her 2022 debut novel The Half-Life of Snails. In Philippa’s...

Day two of our Rhys Davies Short Story Award author insights! Today we interviewed Kate Lockwood Jefford, who was shortlisted for her story, ‘Conditions for an Avalanche’. Born and raised in Cardiff, Kate has trained as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist with an interest in writing and performing, including stand-up comedy. She has also completed an MA in creative writing at Birkbeck. Kate has written many short stories which have featured in collections such as the Brick Lane Bookshop 2020 Prize Anthology and the Fish Publishing & Bristol Prize Anthologies 2021. Her short story, Picasso’s Face, won the 2020 VS Pritchett...

As 2021 draws to a close, Team Parthian thought it would be nice to hold an actual in-person event. Please see the schedule below for NUTS II, and keep the date free!     Saturday 11th December at the Media Point Room, Chapter Arts Centre, Canton, Cardiff, CF5 1QE 11am: Publishing Wales/Cyhoeddi Cymru reception for the new organisation representing publishers in Wales (Tickets £1, available here.) 1pm: Just So You Know. A reception with editor Durre Shahwar and guests to mark the publication of this engaging anthology of essays, one year on. (Tickets £1, available here.) 2.15pm: 'Fact or Fiction'...

To celebrate the lead up to Christmas, we at Parthian thought we’d publish a series of author interviews with the writers who were shortlisted for The 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award, continuing from where we left off with Naomi Paulus. Today we are kicking this series off with Elizabeth Pratt, who shared her experience writing the short story, ‘James, In During’. Elizabeth Pratt, who also writes under Elizabeth Ardith Aylward, is an enthusiastic short story and flash fiction author. Having previously won the HE Bates Short Story Competition in 2018, the Frome Festival Short Story Competition in 2020, and...