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Welsh writers | Talking of war | Credits
The Guardian Hay Festival
www.hayfestival.com/2004/
Everything you want to know about the festival, from the programme to accommodation and, for once, a really useful FAQ section.
The Novel
www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/N/novel/index.html
Channel 4 website on the history of the novel with biographies of some of the authors appearing at the Hay Festival.
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Antony Beevor
www.antonybeevor.com
Official site with biography and full list of his works. His books are available from Amazon
Louis de Bernières – Guardian authors
http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/author/0,5917,-52,00.html
A profile from The Guardian, with links and an extract from Captain Corelli's Mandolin. His books are available from Amazon
Bob Geldof Info
www.bobgeldof.com
Official Geldof site with tons of information on his life, the Rats, music tours and much more. His books are available from Amazon
Brilliant Careers – Germaine Greer
www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/06/22/greer/index.html
Article about the life of Greer and the recent biography by Christine Wallace. Greer's books are available from Amazon
Doris Lessing – A Retrospective
www.dorislessing.org
Biographical information, interviews, bibliography, articles and much more on this official website. Her books are available from Amazon
Ken Loach
www.bfi.org.uk/gallery/kenloach/
British Film Institute tribute to the British director with a virtual gallery of shots from his films and quotes from the actors he has worked with over the years. His books are available from Amazon
Ian McEwan – Official Website
www.ianmcewan.com
Bibliography, criticism, interviews, discussion board and a listing of his forthcoming appearances. His books are available from Amazon
Orhan Pamuk – Random House authors
www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/pamuk/
Publisher's site with biographical information, a bibliography and links to reviews and discussion groups. His books are available from Amazon
Tony Parsons
www.bookbrowse.com/index.cfm?page=author&authorID=599
This site offers a brief biography, a bibliography, reviews and book extracts. His books are available from Amazon
Zadie Smith
www.penguin.co.uk/static/packages/uk/articles/smith/smith2.html
Her publisher's site has some great online interviews. Her books are available from Amazon
The Centaurian: A John Updike website
http://userpages.acadia.net/joyerkes/
Biographical and bibliographical information with plenty of opportunities to read reviews and join in discussions of his works. His books are available from Amazon
Arnold Wesker
www.arnoldwesker.com/
Official site of the British dramatist. His books are available from Amazon
Jacqueline Wilson
www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk/jacquelinewilson/
Her publisher's site has loads of information on her books and hosts her official fan club. You can download wallpaper and read extracts from her books. Her books are available from Amazon
A Poet called Benjamin Zephaniah
www.benjaminzephaniah.com/truth.html
Official site with lots of poetry, biographical history, reviews, book extracts and much more. His books are available from Amazon
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 Aloft by Chang-Rae Lee (Bloomsbury, July 2004)
Lee's third novel approaches the problems of race and belonging in America, revisiting alienation, a fractured family, mixed heritage and the quest for identity, taking side trips into the pleasures of food and recreational sex.
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 Amagansett by Mark Mills (Fourth Estate, June 2004)
A haunting and evocative novel that captures a community whose way of life is disappearing, its demise hastened by war in Europe and the incursions of wealthy city dwellers in search of a playground.
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 Brass by Helen Walsh (Canongate Books, March 2004)
Shockingly candid, brutally poetic, Walsh has created a portrait of a city and a generation that offers a female perspective on the harsh truth of growing up in today's Britain. Brass gives an unsettling but ultimately compassionate account of the possibilities of identity and the desirability of love.
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A Fine Line: New poetry from eastern and central Europe edited by Jean Boase-Beier, Alexandra Buchles and Giona Sampson (Arc Publications, April 2004)
These talented young writers were mostly students, some still at school, when their Communist regimes perished. Here they represent the 'new poetics' from the 'new Europe'.
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 Gaza Blues: Different writers by Etgar Keret and Samir el-Youssef (David Paul Books, May 2004)
Two writers, Israeli and Palestinian, have engaged in a challenging and provocative artistic collaboration, producing a book of short stories and a novella exploring different aspects of a fraught and complex situation. Their bleak, hip, urban tales reflect the dreams and nightmares of living in contemporary Israel and during the first Intifada.
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 Going East by Matthew D'Ancona (Sceptre, May 2004)
This is a multi-faceted picture of London which holds in place two skilfully different visions of the city on either side of the class divide, each as a prism for the conflicted lives of its protagonists.
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 The Herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the fight for medical freedom by Benjamin Woolley (HarperCollins, February 2004)
A powerful history of medicine's first freedom fighter, set in London during Britain's age of revolution.
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 Madness Visible by Janine di Giovanni (Bloomsbury, January 2004)
This award-winning journalist spent much of the 1990s observing the cycles of Balkan violence and vengeance from inside the cities and villages, from refugee camps, makeshift hospitals, and the homes of citizens under siege. Now, she paints an indelible portrait of the war through the staggering experiences of the people who suffered it.
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 Making the Beds for the Dead by Gillian Clarke (Carcanet Press, April 2004)
This poetry charts the journey of a virus in 'the plague year'. Coming from outer space, 'it travels on a fox's paw, the beak of a kite and a crow and a buzzard – into the very heart of our lives'.
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 Maps For Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam (Faber and Faber, June 2004)
Opens the heart of a family at the crossroads of culture, community, nationality and religion and expresses their pain and desire in a language that is arrestingly poetic.
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 Matter by Toby Litt, Sean O'Brien, Mario Petrucci, Monique Roffey, Lily Dunn, Leigh Money et al (Ink, 2003)
Excellent anthology of new writing from Sheffield University, in the form of extracts, poems and short stories.
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 Newton's Darkness by Carl Djerassi and David Pinner (World Scientific Publishing, 2003)
Illuminates the darker aspects of Isaac Newton's persona through two historical plays dealing with two of the bitterest struggles in the history of science.
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 Reading Pictures by Alberto Manguel (Bloomsbury, 2003)
Taking a handful of extraordinary images, photographed, painted, built, sculpted, Manguel explores, with delight and erudition, how each one attempts to tell a story that we, the viewer, must decipher or invent.
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 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2004)
A stunning literary thriller in the tradition of Umberto Eco. The discovery of a forgotten book leads to a hunt for an elusive author who may or may not still be alive.
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 Venus as a Boy by Luke Sutherland (Bloomsbury, 2004)
Modern myth about the power of love, which veers from stratosphere to gutter, from visions of Heaven to the all-too-mortal yearning below for even just one glimpse of it.
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 Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco (Canongate, 2004)
Highly visual and unforgettably sad, this is a haunting book about longing, memory and forgiveness. The superb translation captures Baricco's effortless prose style and gives people in Britain the opportunity to experience this gem of a novel.
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 The Way The Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald (Perennial, 2004)
Set on a Canadian airforce base in the early 1960s, the McCarthy family is living the post-War dream until they get caught up in a web of Cold War secrets. A moving and compulsively readable thriller.
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Dannie Abse
Jewish Welsh writer, who has written 12 volumes poetry, as well as several novels. His works are available from Amazon.
Kevin Allen
Actor/director/writer's films, Twin Town (1997) and The Big Tease (2000) are available from Amazon.
Aneirin
Bard of the ancient Britons, whose poem The Gododdin (Llanerch Press, 1994), composed around 600AD, commemorates the great battles of the Gododdin tribe. It is available from Amazon.
Martin Amis
Author of satirical novels Money and The Information. His books are available from Amazon.
Trezza Azzopardi
Wrote The Hiding Place, about Maltese immigrants in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay, which was shortlisted for the Booker. Her most recent book is Remember Me. Her books are available from Amazon.
Russell Celyn Jones
Welsh-born novelist, whose novels include Soldiers and Innocents and Surface Tension.
His books are available from Amazon.
Gillian Clarke
A distinctive female voice whose poems draw on landscape, family and Welsh myth. Her works are available from Amazon.
Tony Curtis
Welsh poet who has published over 20 books including The Arches (Seren, 1998) illustrating the 25 surreal collages by Jon Digby, which is available from Amazon.
Menna Elfyn
www.mennaelfyn.co.uk
Political poet who describes herself as a Christian anarchist. Her works are available from Amazon.
Peter Finch
Has published more than 20 collections of experimental poems, including Real Cardiff (Seren Books, 2003), which is available from Amazon.
Ken Follett
Bestselling thriller writer, whose books include The Eye of the Needle and Whiteout. His books are available from Amazon.
Iris Gower
Author of romantic novels and sagas set in Wales. Her books are available from Amazon.
Helen Griffin, Theatre Cymru
www.theatr-cymru.co.uk/features/ features_detail.asp?profilesID=3 In this interview the Welsh actor/playwright discusses racism in Wales, the theme of her play Flesh and Blood.
Niall Griffiths
Wrote Grits, Sheepshagger and Stump, about gangs, drugs, drink, crime, shot through with a Welsh romanticism. His books are available from Amazon.
James Hawes
Author of contemporary gangster capers including White Merc With Fins, Rancid Aluminium and White Powder, Green Light. His books are available from Amazon.
Terry Jones
Ex-Python, writer and director whose films include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Labyrinth and Eric the Viking. His books are available from Amazon.
Gwyneth Lewis
www.gwynethlewis.com/movie.html
Writes in Welsh and English, and explores meaning and form. Her works are available from Amazon.
Robin Llwyd
Author of Rebel ar y We, the first volume of poetry in Welsh to be published on the web, which is available at Cymru Wales: www.cymruwales.com/sycharth/rebel/index.htm
Allison Pearson
Columnist, TV pundit and author of I Don’t Know How She Does It (Vintage, 2003). Available from Amazon.
Malcolm Pryce
Wrote noir spoof Aberystwyth Mon Amour and followed it up with Last Tango in Aberystwyth. His books are available from Amazon.
Deryn Rees-Jones
Writes poems full of striking characters and unexpected images. Her works are available from Amazon. Amazon.
Julian Richards – Prolific Films
www.prolificfilms.freeserve.co.uk/JulianRichards.htm
Up-and-coming screenwriter and director, recently responsible for Darklands, a horror movie about modern Pagans set in industrial Wales.
Lloyd Robson
Performance poet-artist-musician, whose books, including Cardiff Cut (Parthian Books, 2001), are available from Amazon.
Dylan Thomas
Heavy drinking author of Under Milk Wood and much more. His books are available from Amazon.
Ed Thomas
Playwright whose plays House of America, Song From a Forgotten City, and Gas Station Angel are collected together for the first time with three critical essays by Jeni Williams, Marc Evans and David Adams in the book, Ed Thomas (Parthian Books, 2002) Available from Amazon.
Rosie Thomas
Writes novels of love, loss and dilemmas, incuding All My Sins Remembered and Every Woman Knows A Secret. Her books are available from Amazon.
RS Thomas Poet and clergyman, who wrote about Wales and God and was nominated for the Nobel Prize but never won it
. His Collected Poems 1945-1990 (Phoenix, 2000) and other works are available from Amazon.
Alice Thomas-Ellis
Author of literary, darkly comic novels. Her books are available from Amazon.
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Websites
Battle Stations I and II
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/footnotes/footbattle.html
Technological information was crucial to World War Two. Here you will find superb examples of the machines and structures that helped the world's superpowers achieve mastery of the battlefield.
Book Examines Morality of Allied Raids in WWII
www.commondreams.org/headlines02/1215-01.htm
Article about the book and newspaper serialisation of Jorg Friedrich's account of allied air raids in 1945, which he argues were unnecessary.
Churchill in 'War Crimes' Row
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ uk_politics/2494747.stm
German historian Jorg Friedrich argues that the UK killed more than 635,000 German civilians when World War Two was already won, and has thereby sparked debate on whether Churchill was a war criminal.
Escape from Colditz
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ C/colditz/index.html
Recreates the repeated escapes from this prison that the Germans believed was escape-proof.
A Guide to the 20th Century
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/guide20/enter.html
Has snapshots of the 20th century with film and video clips from ITN’s archive plus a look at a century of conflict, covering the Second World War.
Hitler of the Andes
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/footnotes/dictators4.html
The story of the FBI's 11-year investigation into the rumours that Hitler had survived the war and escaped to Argentina.
Holocaust on Trial
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/holocaust/
Explores Holocaust denial and a key libel trial that resulted from it.
Humphrey Jennings: The man who listened to Britain
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/ J/jennings/index.html
The documentary film-maker renowned for his portraits of ordinary people's lives in World War Two.
Japan at War: A beginner’s guide
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/footnotes/japan.html
A selection of intriguing and fascinating books and websites, covering everything from the seizure of Manchuria in 1931 to the atomic bombs that ended the war in the Pacific in 1945. An overview of the conflict is given from a mainly Japanese perspective.
The Last Days of War
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/footnotes/lastdays.html
A chronology of 1945 plus links to information on the capture of the German submarine U-234 and the fate of the USS Indianapolis, plus a look at the endless allure of 'Nazi gold' and 'Yamashita's gold’.
Pink Triangle – The Nazi Persecution of Gays
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/footnotes/footpink.html
Gives a concise rundown of the events that led to the deaths of at least 15,000 gay men at the hands of the Nazis.
The Real Charlotte Grays
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ C/charlotte_gray/home.html
Tells the stories of four women sent to work undercover in Nazi-occupied France by the Special Operations Executive.
The Real Mussolini and The Real Rommel
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ R/real_lives/index.html
Channel 4's portrait gallery.
Secret History: Search for the Struma, Television in the Third Reich and Wartime Crime
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ S/sh01/index.html
The site that looks behind the accepted version of history.
Spitfire Ace
www.channel4.com/history/microsites/ H/history/heads/library/spitfire.html
The Battle of Britain in 1940 is one of the most famous air battles in the history of warfare but at its heart is one particular figure, the RAF fighter pilot. This site looks at why the Spitfire achieved legendary status during the war and has maintained it since.
Books
An Intimate History of Killing by Joanna Bourke (Granta Books, 2000)
Controversial book which suggests that the structure of war encourages pleasure in killing, and that perfectly ordinary, gentle human beings can become enthusiastic killers without becoming ‘brutalised’. Bourke forces the reader to face some disconcerting truths about a society that can so easily organise itself for war.
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Colossus: The rise and fall of the American Empire (Allen Lane, 2004)
Argues that in both military and economic terms, the US is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen.
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Empire: How Britain made the modern world (Penguin, May 2004)
Recreates the excitement, brutality and adventure of the British Empire, showing how in the 19th century, imperialism spearheaded globalisation with steam power, telegraphs, guns, engineers, missionaries and millions of settlers.
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The Pity of War (Penguin, 1999)
Offers a radical reassessment and explodes many of the myths surrounding the First World War.
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Virtual History: Alternatives and counterfactuals (Pan, 2003)
What if Britain had stayed out of the First World War? What if Germany had won World War Two? Historians explore what they believe would have happened if nine momentous events had turned out differently.
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Berlin: The downfall, 1945 (Penguin, 2003)
With many a score to settle from the German invasion of Russia in 1941, this battle was one of the most terrifying examples of fire and sword recorded. Men, women and children suffered to the end from folly, cruelty and the naked exercise of power on a massive scale.
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Stalingrad (Penguin, 1999)
An extraordinary story of tactical genius, civilian bravery, obsession, carnage and the nature of war itself, this book should act as a testament to the vital role of the Soviet war effort.
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Booklet
Terror Machine: Hitler’s SS
This Channel 4 booklet tells the chilling story of how Adolf Hitler's tiny bodyguard grew into the most feared organisation that ever marched across Europe. With biographies of the leaders, eyewitness accounts, a timeline and suggestions for further reading, this is a sobering account of one of the most terrifying chapters in European history.
To can obtain your copy of this booklet call 0870 400 2240 or send a cheque (made payable to Channel 4 Television) for £5.99 to:
Terror Machine
4Learning
PO Box 400
Wetherby
LS23 7LG
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Produced to accompany John Updike: American storyteller (a Juniper Communications Limited production), first screened on Channel 4 in May 2004.
Writers: Liane Jones
Designer: Ian Hallworth
Editor: Julia Bard
Project manager: David Highton
Resources co-ordinator: Nicole Carman
Picture research: Nick Pearson
To have your say on Channel 4 programmes, go to channel4.com/thinktv
If you have an enquiry or comment relating to the content of this website, please go the Contact us section of channel4.com
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