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The Golden Orphans Tour the Blogosphere
If you have any sort of presence on social media you have most likely come across a mauve, yellow and peach coloured post with a girl on a swing. Gary Raymond is on a blogtour with his newest novel, the literary thriller The Golden Orphans, published this summer. On this virtual tour, a number of book bloggers help Raymond spread the word of his new novel, either by reading and reviewing it, as seen on Everywhere and Nowhere, or they use their blogs to host guest posts by Raymond himself, as on Novel Delights' most recent post, a discussion of what makes a...
Griff Rhys Jones Travels to Australia and New Zealand
Griff Rhys Jones visits Australia and New Zealand. The multi-talented author, comedian, actor and television presenter will read from his work Insufficiently Welsh, an autobiographical work that shows us Griff on a quest for his Welsh roots.
The Blues Are Back...In The USA!
The Bluebirds are back in the Premier League, and to commemorate this, Nick Fisk's book, "The Blues Are Back In Town" is being relaunched this Autumn, with one launch in, of all places, New York!New York just so happens to be the home town of another Parthian writer, Lloyd Robson, and Lloyd has agreed to put up with Fisk for the period of one whole week. No doubt Lloyd will be showing fellow Bluebird, Fisk around some of his favourite drinking haunts, and one in particular, The Football Factory where the launch will take place. Cardiff take on Liverpool in...
Fifty-One and Counting
Parthian Head of Publishing Richard Davies shares some thoughts on his experience with diversity in publishing and in terms of audience demographics at literature festivals today, partly in response to a recent article by Kelly Keegan in the Wales Arts Review.
"I’m fifty one. I guess I’m middle-aged. You knock around a bit and it reaches you. I didn’t much like the look of the other option. Some friends didn’t make it. I’m also white, male and have been going to literature festivals in Cardiff for twenty-eight years. I was young, white and straight when I went to my first one. I had a degree by that point but I was working on a building site and delivering pizzas for a living.
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In addition, Keegan's article might be a way into reflecting on how difficult it is to reach audiences especially in literature."
An International Adventure: Golden Orphans at the Frankfurt Bookfair
Throughout the summer, we've seen Gary Raymond’s new suspense novel The Golden Orphans get a great reception from reviewers and readers alike. Jeff Noon of The Spectator called it “intense, unnerving and brilliant” while The Bookseller described it as “Shades of the Talented Mr. Ripley". The Golden Orphans is set in warm, dry Cyprus, but its story is chilling. The old painter Francis Benthem leads a secluded existence funded by his wealthy patron, the Russian gangster Illy Prostakov, whose recurring dream Benthem has to capture through his art. Bethem dies suddenly, and one fellow painter, our narrator, shows up to...