Rebecca Thomas – författare

A heartwarming story about lifelong love and loss told from the perspective of a grandfather’s favorite chair.Grampy’s chair sits in the middle of his living room and always keeps an eye on My Love. The Chair is the perfect spot for My Love to learn to read, to play games with her friends, and The Chair is always extra soft when My Love is sick. As My Love grows up, The Chair sees Grampy grow older and My Love must care for him. One day Grampy is gone, and The Chair is moved to a space with only a few things it recognizes (and a few spiders too). Will it see My Love again?In this poignant story inspired by her own grandfather and his chair, Rebecca Thomas invites readers of all ages to explore love, grief, and the important moments in life that take place in our favorite spots. With lively illustrations from Coco A. Lynge and featuring a heartfelt author’s note, Grampy's Chair takes the readers through loss, and how we can be found again by the ones we love.

Written in honour of Professor Huw Pryce, this volume brings together exciting new research on writing and performing the history of Wales, from the Middle Ages to the modern period. Each chapter offers a different perspective on the theme of historical writing and remembrance. The first section (Texts and their Histories) focuses on the creation and function of medieval historical texts; a wide range of texts are investigated here, including chronicles and narrative histories, charters, and the Welsh triads. The second section (History and Identity) concerns the relationship between writing history and identity construction; chapters consider different aspects of this theme, including the role of bishops in writing history and the use of names to construct ethnic identities. The third and final section (Memory and Nation) widens the lens to investigate strategies of remembrance and the performance of history; this includes essays on the Eisteddfod, tattoos of historical individuals and the role of historical pageants in twentieth-century nation building. Taken together, the contributions to the volume offer new insights into Welsh historical writing and perceptions of the past throughout the ages.

Crucial texts from ninth- and tenth-century Wales analysed to show their key role in identify formation.WINNER OF THE FRANCIS JONES PRIZE 2022Early medieval writers viewed the world as divided into gentes ("peoples"). These were groups that could be differentiated from each other according to certain characteristics - by the language they spoke or the territory they inhabited, for example. The same writers played a key role in deciding which characteristics were important and using these to construct ethnic identities. This book explores this process of identity construction in texts from early medieval Wales, focusing primarily on the early ninth-century Latin history of the Britons (Historia Brittonum), the biography of Alfred the Great composed by the Welsh scholar Asser in 893, and the tenth-century vernacular poem Armes Prydein Vawr ("The Great Prophecy of Britain"). It examines how these writers set about distinguishing between the Welsh and the other gentes inhabiting the island of Britain through the use of names, attention to linguistic difference, and the writing of history and origin legends. Crucially important was the identity of the Welsh as Britons, the rightful inhabitants of the entirety of Britain; its significance and durability are investigated, alongside its interaction with the emergence of an identity focused on the geographical unit of Wales.

The Covid-19 virus outbreak of 2020 will forever be a pivotal part of human history. The impact was global and affected everyone on the planet. Here, in the UK, we managed the coronavirus in similar ways to other countries but also with a degree of Britishness that has defined us for centuries. Not that it was all good and it raised many issues about our culture and values.Hundreds of thousands caught the virus and many thousands died. The impact on the nation, on families and our very own NHS was palpable and at times, almost too much to bear.A Facebook group in Marlow was set up to help people, to communicate and provide support to anyone that might need it. It became incredibly important for many and it was here that Mike started writing 'The Virus Poems'. The journey began and ended sixty seven days later on the 31st May 2020.When you read just one poem it might touch you or amuse you. It is when you consider every subject that, without knowing, this has become a walk through our time in 'Lockdown' as this period will be forever known.We have also included alongside every poem an extract of the news headlines of the day to help you put the poems into some context.