Join me this week as I curl up in a nest of cushions and get lost in fictional worlds in order to escape the sudden cold snap and rainy days of spring. Listen as I discuss a Welsh story of survival, a gritty musical about Mexico, and a trio of radio plays which epitomise British mid century culture.

This week I'll be considering Llyfr Glas Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros, a sweet cottagecore-esque story about post apocalyptic Wales. Learning about a genre bending, language barrier conquering film in the form of Emilia Perez. And considering whether literature can be successfully shifted from one form to another in the staging of three Agatha Christie Radio plays.

References made

Un Nos Ola Leuad (Caradoc Pritchard) - A story about a man taking a walk through the village he grew up in and reminiscing about his childhood. It was a childhood that should come with almost every trigger warning imaginable.

Colours and manuscripts - Llyfr Coch Hergest (The Red Book of Hergest) is where Sion draws the name for Llyfr Glas Nebo (The Blue Book of Nebo) from. The manuscript was written around 1382 and is held at Jesus College, Oxford.

Welsh Bards - There is a well established timeline from the cynfeirdd (6th century poets such as Aneirin and Taliesin) to the gogynfeirdd/beirdd y tywysogion (the poets of the princes) to the beirdd yr uchelwyr (the poets who served those in power after the English invasion).

Yaskier (The Witcher) - Somewhat annoying bardic sidekick of Geralt of Rivia, who sings of Geralt’s exploits and finds himself in various situations he’s ill equipped to handle.

Aneirin - 6th century court bard famous for collection of elegies written in Catraeth. One of the two famous bards from this period in Welsh history, the other being Taliesin.

Etifeddiaeth (Gerallt Lloyd Owen) - A Welsh language poem about what we inherited as a country (land, a culture, a language) and how we lost it to those who have invaded and need to hold onto it. The literal translation of the title is ‘inheritance’.

Flag (Owen Sheers) - A poem describing the journey west into Wales and the presence of the Welsh flag within the landscape. It begins with the epitaph ‘each man had a liver, a heart, a brain,/and a Flag./These were his vital organs./On these his life depended.’

Harry Potter (J. K. Rowling) - Boy wizard goes to magic school and battles his parents’ murderer every year instead of sitting exams. Does this really need a definition?!

The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien) - Cosy story about a homebody who accidentally goes on an adventure and battles a dragon. Again, if you need a definition for this one, please read more fantasy!

Trashy Netflix I’ve watched lately - This Time Next Year, Firefly Lane, Sweet Magnolias…

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans (Agatha Christie) - Classic murder mystery story set in Wales. Bobby Jones finds a dying man at the bottom of a cliff and tries to solve the question of his final words.

And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie) - Classic murder mystery story set on Soldier Island in the south of England. Guests of a mystery host die off one by one based on the lyrics of a nursery rhyme.