The Naming of Women: A Talk by Mary Thorley

In this talk on September 19th at 7.30, Mary Thorley will discuss some of the issues relating to researching the history of women – both the pitfalls and the pleasures.

The talk will also reveal many fascinating and inspirational aspects of the life of women in Carmarthenshire, during the second half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth.

Their activities in philanthropy, public life and political life were wide ranging and, in many cases, surprising.

Tickets are £5 and refreshments will be available.

#WOWW #lotterysupported




#WOWW Poetry Films at Llangwm LitFest

How much do we know historically about the women of West Wales? Hidden throughout time in letters, diaries and memories, their varied and dynamic accomplishments are now revealed using modern technology; ensuring that in the 21st Century, their voices are finally heard.

On Saturday August 10th, the  #WOWW project, funded by Arwain Sir Benfro, the Heritage Lottery Fund and with help from Llangwm History Society, will be showcasing innovative poetry films inspired by the women of West Wales.

The event forms part of Llangwm Literary Festival and will take place at 10.00am at Llangwm Village Hall. Tickets are available here.

 

Alis Hawkins – Author Event

7.30pm Wednesday 29th May

As part of National Crime Reading Month, Alice Hawkins will be joining us as to discuss her new book In Two Minds, the second in the ‘Teifi Valley Coroner’ series.

‘West Wales, 1850. When an old tree root is dug up, the remains of a young woman are found. Harry Probert-Lloyd, a young barrister forced home from London by encroaching blindness, has been dreading this discovery.

He knows exactly whose bones they are.

Working with his clerk, John Davies, Harry is determined to expose the guilty, but the investigation turns up more questions than answers.

The search for the truth will prove costly. Will Harry and John be the ones to pay the highest price?’

Alis Hawkins grew up speaking Welsh in Cardiganshire, read English at Cambridge University and works with speech and language for the National Autistic Society. Her first novel, Testament, was published by Macmillan. She lives with her partner near Monmouth.

None So Blind, the first novel in the Teifi Valley Coroner series is available now in the bookshop.

Tickets: £5 redeemable against the purchase of either None So Blind or In Two Minds (£8.99 each)

 

Rocking the Boat: Welsh Women who Championed Equality, 1840-1990. A Talk by Angela V. John

On Wednesday 15th May at 7.30 pm, Angela V. John will be giving a talk on Welsh novelist and translator Menna Gallie (1919–1990).

Menna Humphreys was born in Ystradgynlais, and attended Swansea University, where she met her future husband, the philosopher W. B. Gallie. Together, they were politically active, with a commitment to democratic socialism.

In her later years she lived in Newport, Pembrokeshire and was best known for her novels in the English language, and as the translator of Caradog Prichard’s Un Nos Ola Leuad, under the title Full Moon. She was described as ‘a sort of Welsh Edna O’Brien, (who) writes beady-eyed, bawdy-tongued entertainments calculated to stir recognition in women and discomfiture in men…’

Angela V. John is a Professor of History who sees herself as ‘a biographical historian, writing about the period alongside the person’. She has written  widely on ‘women’s employment in Victorian Britain’ and  ‘gender history and suffrage’. She was also a founder member of the editorial board of the international journal ‘Gender & History’.

Tickets are £5 and refreshments are available.

This talk forms part of the #WOWW project that celebrates the achievements of the Women of West Wales. This is supported by PLANED, Arwain Sir Benfro and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.




A Pilgrim to Pembrokeshire

On Thursday 20th June at 7.30pm, Terry John will be giving a talk on ‘A Pilgrim to Pembrokeshire’.

‘Follow the journey made by an anonymous medieval Portuguese pilgrim who travelled from his homeland to the shrine of St. David’.

Tickets are £5 and refreshments are available.




Pirates in Pembrokeshire

On Thursday 23rd May at 7.30 pm, Terry John will be giving a talk on Pirates in Pembrokeshire.

During the Tudor period, Pembrokeshire was regarded as ‘the great resort and succour of all pirates’. This talk explores the lives and legends of some of these rascally outlaws of the sea and the effect they had upon Pembrokeshire.

£5 per person. Refreshments available.




Tudor Women: A Talk by Terry John

On Thursday 25th April at 7.30pm, Terry John will be giving a talk on Tudor Women.

This talk will explore the role of women in all aspects of Tudor society including the aristcracy, merchant’s wives and peasants.

What rules, customs and superstitions governed their daily lives? What was expected of them and how did they subvert the restrictions placed upon them?

Tickets are £5 and refreshments are available.

This talk forms part of the #WOWW project that celebrates the achievements of the Women of West Wales. This is supported by PLANED, Arwain Sir Benfro and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.