Simon Jenkins vs Sarn Helen…

Guardian Book of the Day today…

Number 4, would you believe! Five places above Prince Harry (though I don’t suppose he’s fretting about it…)

Here’s a Q&A with (the great) Toby Litt

So many thanks to everyone who has come to and made possible all the Sarn Helen events of the past two weeks – in Cardiff, Brecon, Hay, Crickhowell, Mold and Oswestry. Every event this week has been sold out. I’ve just been blown away by it all: the warmth, the kindness and, perhaps above all, the willingness of so many people to engage with the issues of the climate and ecological crisis. It does seem that there has been a sea change in attitudes sometime over the past few years, that it has now become possible to speak publicly of these things without the self-consciousness – even the shame – that could once so often be the case. Sometimes, these days, there can seem genuine grounds for hope.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/02/novelist-tom-bullough-on-his-xr-arrest-and-what-welsh-saints-can-teach-us-about-the-climate-crisis?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Thanks so much to everyone (I couldn’t believe how many people were there) who turned out at Waterstones in Cardiff last night, to Rowan for hosting and Matthew for chairing so conscientiously. It was a really heartening first event and a great spur for these next few days… Eee, but Jackie’s curlew does look beautiful in the windows and on the tables…

The first Sarn Helen reviews seem to be arriving. I have to say, I can’t read such things – good or bad, they bring a feeling far too much like falling off a cliff – but I’m told this is very nice start. Thank you, Peter Hoskin, very much.

I cannot believe how beautifully Booka have decorated their front window. I don’t know how they did it. I really can’t wait to meet them and ask…

(As it write this, suddenly it has started snowing. What does it mean?)

Since Sarn Helen is about to come out, I have a few talks and Q&As in the offing, roughly charting a course through Wales. If you’d like to come along then that would be great:

Wednesday February 1st, Waterstones Cardiff

Thursday February 2nd, The Hours, Brecon

Friday February 3rd, Hay Castle, Hay-on-Wye (Well, this is a launch party, but if you’d like to come then let me know…)

Tuesday February 7th, Bookish, Crickhowell

Wednesday February 8th, The Bookshop, Mold

Thursday February 9th, Booka, Oswestry