Real Gower: a conversation between texts

Just returned from a fascinating week in the USA at Cambridge, MA. There, I had the privilege of presenting my very first academic paper entitled Real Gower: a conversation between texts at the North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History (NAASWCH) biennial conference at Harvard University.

It was a fascinating conference focusing on diverse aspects of all things Welsh. Highlights for me were the sessions on Welsh Writing in English with Katie Gramich from Cardiff University, poet Menna Elfyn’s keynote speech on Eluned Phillips, and the Richard Burton Lecture with the Welsh actor, Matthew Rhys.

My paper was a bringing together of all the important elements of the last three years: the place – Gower; psychogeography and its relationship with the development of my short fiction collection The South Westerlies; and Nigel Jenkins, author of Seren’s Real Gower and my PhD supervisor until his untimely death in early 2014. The paper was above all, a tribute to him.

Despite the nerves, the paper was well received and there were no difficult questions only, “Who took the photographs for the PowerPoint?” The answer: my husband www.philipgriffithsphotography.com to whom I’d like to say a big diolch yn fawr. Also big thanks to Real series editor at Seren, Peter Finch, for his valuable insights and to Swansea University for the support with the trip.