Literature promoters are back on the road with their latest literary bus tour.
Following a successful two years touring to places such as Llangarron, Abergavenny, Cwmaman and Talgarreg, Academi is once again taking to the road to learn more about Wales’ literary heritage. 2010 has already seen the Running for the Hills with Horatio Clare tour, led by Dr John Pikoulis, receive rave reviews including extensive coverage on BBC Radio Wales. The latest tour will focus on the life and work of Dylan Thomas contemporary Lynette Roberts.
Lynette Roberts in Llanybri will take place on Saturday 18 September 2010. Lynette Roberts (1909 – 1995), was one of Wales’ most significant 1940s poets and essayists. Born in Buenos Aires to Welsh parents, she settled in Carmarthenshire at the start of World War II, when she also began publishing poetry and prose. Her work received praise from T.S. Eliot and Robert Graves, who described her as “one of the few true poets now writing”; declaring “her best is the best”. Well-acquainted with both Alun Lewis and Dylan Thomas (her husband was a very close friend), Roberts wrote the majority of her poetry whilst living in Llanybri.
Divorce in 1949 led to her withdrawal, with her two children, to a caravan at Laugharne, where she gradually lost interest in writing through spiraling depression, professional rejection and financial strain. Having been neglected by her successors and out of print for over fifty years, some of Roberts’ verse and prose has recently been re-published by Carcanet in two collections: Lynette Roberts’ Collected Poems (2005) and Diaries, Letters and Recollections (2008), both edited by Patrick McGuinness.
The tour will include a lecture on the life and works of Roberts and an exploration of the landscapes in which these were embedded: Llanybri and Cwmcelyn, the bay overlooking Laugharne. The walks, which will total under 2 miles in length, will be illustrated with readings of locally inspired poetry penned by Roberts seventy years ago. One-off guided visits to two of Roberts’ former residences, Spring Gardens and Tŷ Gwyn (both privately owned), are also scheduled.
The tour will depart from and return to Cardiff, with request-only pick-ups en-route along the M4. For specific details of the timetable or for information on other tours taking place in 2010, please contact Academi.
Tickets cost: £45.00 per person per tour, or £42.00 per person per tour for Academi Members and Associates. The ticket price includes tea/coffee, lunch, coach travel and all lectures/talks.
For more information and to book your place by credit/debit card over the phone contact Academi on: 029 2047 2266. Payment can also be made by cheque, contact Academi for details.
