Irvine Welsh is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His novel Trainspotting was made into a film of the same name. His work is characterised by a raw Scots dialect and brutal depiction of Edinburgh life. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short films.
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon, its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate.
Anglo-Welsh literature and Welsh writing in English are terms used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. It has been recognised as a distinctive entity only since the 20th century. The need for a separate identity for this kind of writing arose because of the parallel development of modern Welsh-language literature; as such it is perhaps the youngest branch of English-language literature in the British Isles.
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a historic mining town in Wales, in the historic county of Merionethshire, although now part of the unitary authority of Gwynedd. The population of the community of Ffestiniog was 4,875 according to the 2011 census, including the nearby village of Llan Ffestiniog, which makes it the fourth most populous community in Gwynedd, after Bangor, Caernarfon, and Llandeiniolen. Llan Ffestiniog's population of 864 puts the population of Blaenau itself at around 4,000. Blaenau Ffestiniog was at one time the second largest town in North Wales, behind only Wrexham. After reaching 12,000 at the peak development of the slate industry, the population fell with the decline in the demand for its slate. Today the town relies heavily on tourists, who come for attractions that include the nearby Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns.
Rhondda Cynon Taf, or informally RCT, is a county borough in the south of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr and Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys. Results from the 2011 census showed 19.1% of its 234,410 residents self-identified themselves as having some ability in the use of the Welsh language.
Bethesda is a town and community on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is the 5th largest Community in Gwynedd.
Builth Wells is a town and community in the county of Powys, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Wye and the River Irfon, in the Welsh section of the Wye Valley. It has a population of 2,568.
Caradog Prichard was a Welsh poet and novelist writing in Welsh. His daughter, Mari Prichard, was married to the late Humphrey Carpenter.
Llanbedrog is a village and community on the Llŷn peninsula of Gwynedd in Wales. It is situated on the south side of the peninsula on the A499 between Pwllheli and Abersoch. Formerly in the county of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of 1,020 in 2001, reducing slightly to 1,002 at the 2011 Census.
Penrhyndeudraeth is a small town and community in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. The town is close to the mouth of the River Dwyryd on the A487 nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Porthmadog, and had a population of 2,150 at the 2011 census, increased from 2,031 in 2001.
Minffordd is a village within the Welsh county of Gwynedd. It is situated on the A487 road between Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth.
The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest Wales, including the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis, the Nantlle Valley quarries, and Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the slate was mined rather than quarried. Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for a variety of uses including flooring, worktops and headstones.
The Cinema of Wales comprises the art of film and creative movies made in Wales or by Welsh filmmakers either locally or abroad. Welsh cinema began in the late-19th century, led by Welsh-based director William Haggar. Wales continued to produce film of varying quality throughout the 20th century, in both the Welsh and English languages, though indigenous production was curtailed through a lack of infrastructure and finance, which prevented the growth of the industry nationally. Despite this, Wales has been represented in all fields of the film making process, producing actors and directors of note.
Creigiau is a dormitory settlement in the north-west of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The village currently has about 1,500 houses and a population of approximately 5,000 people. The Cardiff ward is called Creigiau/St. Fagans. The village has a strong Welsh-speaking community, and along with Pentyrch has one of the largest clusters of Welsh-speakers in Cardiff. 23.4% of the village speaks Welsh.
Nant Gwrtheyrn is a Welsh Language and Heritage Centre, located near the village of Llithfaen on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, Gwynedd, in northwest Wales.
Thomas Rowland Hughes, was a Welsh novelist, dramatist and poet He was the son of a quarryman from Llanberis, Caernarvonshire, in northern Wales. He is primarily renowned in the present day for his novels about characters living and working in the slate quarries of northern Wales, but in his day he was just as well known as a poet. William Jones is his most famous novel.
Framed is a children's novel by Frank Cottrell Boyce, published in 2005. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, and longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It was also on the shortlist for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2007.
Ysgol Tryfan is a bilingual comprehensive school for pupils aged 11-18, situated in Bangor, Gwynedd. 456 pupils were enrolled at the school in 2017, with 83 of those in the sixth form.
Y Lolfa is a Welsh printing and publishing company based in Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion, in Mid-Wales. It publishes a wide variety of books in Welsh and English. It also provides a commercial print service. Y Lolfa was established in 1967 by Robat Gruffudd. It is now an independent, limited company run by the founder's sons, Garmon Gruffudd and Lefi Gruffudd, with Paul Williams as production manager.
Welsh-language literature has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in around the 5th century AD. The earliest Welsh literature was poetry, which was extremely intricate in form from its earliest known examples, a tradition sustained today. Poetry was followed by the first British prose literature in the 11th century. Welsh-language literature has repeatedly played a major part in the self-assertion of Wales and its people. It continues to be held in the highest regard, as evidenced by the size and enthusiasm of the audiences attending the annual National Eisteddfod of Wales, probably the largest amateur arts festival in Europe, which crowns the literary prize winners in a dignified ceremony.
