Menna Elfyn is visiting Chapter One on Friday 14th November to give readings from her new book of poetry, Parch. She will be joined by Emma Baines, local poet and translator, who will also read her translations from Parch.

Parch is Menna Elfyn’s sixth poetry book from Bloodaxe. She has published five dual-language books of poetry with Bloodaxe but this volume is in English translation and with new poems.

Parch yw’r chweched o gyfrolau Menna Elfyn o wasg Bloodaxe. Mae wedi cyhoeddi pum cyfrol yn y ddwy iaith ond cyfieithiadau Saesneg a cherddi newydd o’i gwaith fydd yn y gyfrol hon.

Tickets are £5 and include a 10% discount off the book. Click the button below to book your ticket.

Spend the day learning how to make your own art materials from found and foraged plants, earth and metals. 

Together we shall explore the seasonal alchemy of botanical inkmaking with autumnal berries and oak galls, alongside working with deep time earth pigments to create paints.

You will leave with your own cluster of handmade materials and newfound skills to continue playing at home. 

Facilitated by local artist Karn John – www.kathrynjohn.co.uk // IG @_kathrynjohn

Please bring with you:

– An apron, or wear clothes you don’t mind getting a little inky.

– A notebook and pen. 

– A packed lunch. Hot drinks and cakes will be available from the museum cafe. 

– We may take a short walk during the day, so a raincoat and appropriate footwear may be needed. 

If you have any questions or access needs that you would like to share and/or discuss to support your attendance in this workshop, please get in touch with Karn hello@kathrynjohn.co.uk

Renowned author, illustrator and storyteller Peter Stevenson will be holding two storytelling sessions at Narberth Museum on Thursday 26^th September.  The stories will be based around the Mabinogion (Y Mabinogi) and to bring these to life Peter will be using Crankies.  A Crankie is a long, illustrated scroll (also called a “moving panorama” or a “moving backdrop”) that is wound onto two spools, and loaded into a box which has a viewing screen. The scroll is then hand-cranked while the story depicted upon it is presented.

Peter’s will be holding two sessions for invited school groups.  .  The project has been funded by money from the Welsh Government through the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales.

Peter Stevenson is a storyteller, children’s writer, book illustrator, folklorist, film maker, crankie maker, artist, book maker, organiser of the annual 3-day Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival and Y Mabinogi Project in collaboration with Aberystwyth Arts Centre, and the Wales Appalachia Project, along with Stories@Medina, a storytelling club that encourages collaborations with visual artists, musicians, and puppeteers. He has illustrated, compiled and written many children’s books, travelled the country with storytelling shows for adults that use hundreds of illustrations, crankies, and live music and has written four books of Welsh folk tales for the History Press.

Narberth Museum volunteers recently attended a workshop with Dr Marian Gwyn and Beloved Adonai entitled Museums, Cynefin and Communities: Building A Lasting Legacy. The event explored how museums can contribute to the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan and how, through open dialogue, building up community connections and exploring the ways that the collection can tell more than one story to increase diversity and interaction. It was a fascinating and eye-opening event, real food for thought about the importance of museums and their collections to change-making. There were lots of very interesting discussions and really made the museum look at the way that it engages and uses its collections. Planning ahead now!

We had a really enjoyable time at Scolton Manor recently (19 May) representing the museum at Pembrokeshire’s History Day. There were lots of History exhibition stalls, a time travelling Victorian display, history talks, an archaeology dig and lots of Victorian dress up. Huge thanks to Cait at Scolton who did a great job organising the event. It’s important for people to be able to get to know what amazing heritage is available in Pembrokeshire. See you at the next one!

We were recently visited by pupils from Narberth School who explored what life was like in the past. Thanks to volunteer, Jayne Edwards, for making it happen. They loved it!