Made in Roath Blog: The Man From the Rhondda

17 October 2014, 6.30pm-7.30pm, Cameo Club

So many things are going on this weekend and I had to work through it all! But since our other lovely bloggers are all excited and exhausted (and probably sleeping right now) I thought I would finally wrap up my extremely busy Made in Roath Friday and thus take a little pressure off their writing.

You may remember my Settlement adventure - if not, here is the helpful link:

http://madeinroathblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/settlement-sausages-masks-and-volcanoes.html

This ended with my escape into Roath, covered in paint and hungry for more! Luckily I had another event to look forward to - a discussion led by novelist Dai Smith about the 1937 novel A Time to Laugh by the late Rhys Davies. The novel is the 39th addition to the Library of Wales series and the discussion was held in Cameo Club which, I soon realised, was much more upmarket compared to Spit and Sawdust.

And I seriously hadn't accounted for that. I arrived sweaty and ruffled in my spray-paint and glue stained coat, smelling faintly of coffee and wood chips. Luckily I count on my awkward charm (hahaha... ha...) to guide me through these sorts of social conundrums, and navigated my way upstairs to the swanky bar. And I mean swanky. Look.

Posh, amirite? But while I felt a little awkward at first, I settled almost instantly into the warm, cosy setup, getting into conversation with headteachers, writers and other literary types. This is a familiar ballpark for me from ye old MA days (I miss you, student life) and I really got stuck in. A process made infinitely more enjoyable by Dai Smith, who is beautifully passionate about Welsh literature and forgotten Welsh writers.

He walked us through the life of Rhys Davies and also through the premise of A Time to Laugh in eloquent conversation, with a glass of wine in one hand and a book in the other. He spoke about Rhys, who was homosexual at a time when a prominent social stigma attached itself to the status, and how his work strived to express not only himself but the turmoil of industrialised modernism in Wales.

Rhys Davies was mostly famous for his short stories, but women characters also played an important role in his works. They acted as truth tellers and, as Dai put it, 'they exist to poke fingers through the holes of a "macho" Welsh society'.

After this followed an informal Q&A which quickly developed into a bubbly debate. We discussed the possibility of Wales fading out of the wider scope of literature, the digitalisation of the Library of Wales and e-readers in general and also the role of Welsh authors in primary and secondary education. It all sounds rather intricate and academic... but that's probably the wine talking through my memories.

Before I left I tried to inquire about where to find a copy of A Time to Laugh. I spoke with Dai about it and, with a smile, he subtly handed one to me.

Rather gleefully, I thanked him and bustled on out of Cameo Club. With my book. My gifted book. (I get an almost shameful amount of joy at receiving books. I'm not even sorry.)