Interviews RSS

Alys Morgan interviewed by Billie Ingram-Sofokleous.   Do not ‘abandon hope all ye who enter here.’   Ward Nine: Coronavirus, a heartfelt and informative journal of thoughts and feelings, is an absolute must read. In a minefield of overworked and underpaid nurses, overwhelmed cleaners, and a myriad of vacancies that need to be filled, when Alys Morgan was hospitalised with Covid she was nevertheless surrounded by kindness amongst the complaints, worries and unspoken truths. Her account of the wards is of a chaotic, yet safe space harnessed through the contemptible ailments of this disease. She recounts her daily journey into...

After a short break we are returning with another #authorinsight from 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award author, Craig Hawes, who was shortlisted for his story, 'Coat of Arms'. Born and raised in Briton Ferry, Craig spent many years working in London and Dubai as a journalist before returning to his native South Wales. Now a copywriter, he has previously been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story prize in 2009 and was a runner-up in the Rhys Davies Prize 2010. His short story collection The Witch Doctor of Umm Suqeim was published by Parthian in 2013. His stories and plays...

Up next for our Rhys Davies Short Story Award #authorinsights, we present an interview with author Jupiter Jones, who was shortlisted for her short story, ‘Bird’. Jupiter grew up on the north-west coasts of Cumberland and Lancashire, the former a wild and secretive landscape, whilst the latter trashy and jaded. She loved both of these locations; they inspire and haunt her writing. Having completed a PhD in Spectatorial Embarrassment at Goldsmiths, Jupiter now lives in Wales writing short stories and flash fiction which has led her to win the Colm Tóibín International Prize. In Jupiter’s shortlisted entry, ‘Bird’, two strangers meet within the...

Continuing with our lead up to Christmas, our #authorinsight of the day is from Susmita Bhattacharya, who shared her experience writing the short story, ‘The Truth is a Dangerous Landscape', shortlisted for the 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award. Susmita Bhattacharya has graduated Cardiff University with an MA in creative writing and is now lecturing at Winchester University. She has previously published a debut novel The Normal State of Mind with Parthian in 2015, which was longlisted for the Word2Screen Prize at the Mumbai Festival in 2018 and her short story collection Table Manners won the Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection in 2019. Sumita also facilitates...

We are half-way through our lined-up #authorinsights, and today, for day six, we are presenting an interview with author Joshua Jones. Joshua's short story, 'Half Moon, New Year', was shortlisted for the 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award. Joshua is a queer, autistic writer from Llanelli, who also releases music & poetry under the name Human Head. Having graduated with an MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa, where he worked on his debut collection of short stories, he is now studying to become a teacher at Cardiff Met. His shortlisted entry, ‘Half Moon, New Year’, depicts a microcosm of young...