First outing for Abandon All Hope
I'll be on the Lynn Bowles Show on BBC Radio Wales this Sunday to talk about the new book.
My new book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature (don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before) is out on May 22nd from Calon Books, but this Sunday the relentless campaign of its publicity drive gets underway. A month out from release, and I’ll be on the Lynn Bowles Show, hosted by the lovely Lynn Bowles no less, to talk about the story of the book, and hopefully, touch on the story of Welsh literature as told in the book. It’s on from 4pm and then available on BBC Sounds after that.
There are other book events in the pipeline, including a talk at North Books in Hay-on-Wye at 4pm on Monday 27th of May (the Bank Holiday), and I’ll be delivering a Hayes Lecture about the book at Waterstones in Cardiff in June. More details to come.
But for now, I’m looking forward to being a guest on Lynn’s show on Sunday. Hope you can catch it for a little flavour of the book.
Gary Raymond is a novelist, author, playwright, critic, and broadcaster. In 2012, he co-founded Wales Arts Review, was its editor for ten years. His latest book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature is available for pre-order and is out in May 2024 with Calon Books.
Thanks so much for that amazing insight,Gary. Btw it's 'Murphy' by Sam Beckett.
It 's about time hope was, 'abandoned ' in Welsh , 'literature' that's for the large part written by Welsh academics or by ,'the boys' who for years have lived off Welsh arts Council funding now thankfully cut. I was told by a staff member a Waterstones bookshop in Cardiff recently as he pointed to the Welsh literature shelves that sadly these books never cross the bridge. In my opinion 'Gavin & Stacey' is by far the best work dealing with contemporary Welsh life that has come out of our country since 'Under Milkwood ' both satires of the mirage details of life in Wales. Where is our James Joyce ,or Samuel Beckett ? Nowhere here is sadly the answer. G.K.B.