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Frequently
Asked Questions:
You
write in Welsh and English - which comes first?
I have always been bilingual. My parents were Welsh-speakers, and although
English was the main language of my home and community, Welsh was also
used, and Welsh was the language of my schooling from age eight to 16.
I first learned to write poetry in Welsh and that was the sole language
of my creative work until 1999, when, in the wake of the publication of
my first book, Adennill Tir, in 1997, I began to get requests to
provide English translations. That led to an increasing ability to write
in English and, eventually, to the ability to compose original work in
that language. Now I write in both. Which language comes first sometimes
depends simply on who I'm writing for, and for what occasion, commission
or audience. Sometimes it depends in which language the first lines occur
to me. Sometimes I write a poem in two languages in the same sitting;
they're intertwined.
Where can I buy your books?
Not all my books are in print, but those which are available can be obtained
directly from the publishers, Seren,
Gomer and Barddas,
or from the Welsh Books Council's website, Gwales,
or, of course, from Amazon.
I want to be a writer -will you help?
Here is some good
advice for aspiring writers. As for looking at your work specifically,
I do have to be careful how much I take on, of course. But let
me know what you have in mind.
We need a judge for a literary competition -are you available?
I've judged many literary competitions, from major ones that take a year
to read all the books, to small ones with half a dozen poems. Again, let
me know what you have in mind.
You have written a lot about Jewish subjects - are you Jewish?
I'm afraid not. I have no Jewish family background. I became interested
in Jewish subjects in the early 1990s when studying for my doctorate.
One of the writers I was studying, the French philosopher Simone Weil,
was Jewish, and in seeking to better understand her views, I started researching
Judaism. That led, in 2002, to me publishing a book, The Chosen People,
about the Welsh relationship with the Jewish people, and to three visits
to Israel and Palestine, and to a host of contacts and friendships and
interests in the Jewish world.
How did you get interested in Islam?
This grew out of the Jewish studies. The trips to Israel and Palestine
brought me into contact with Muslim people, and this made me aware of
references to Islam in Welsh literature. These researches led to another
book about the Welsh relationship with Islam, The
Dragon and the Crescent, published in 2011, and, again, to a host
of contacts and relationships.
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