Some writers in Wales, but certainly not all, seem to be doing rather well out of the Literature Wales pot of cash. We have produced a table of the top earners, (cough cough), sorry we mean bursary recipients. Obviously these are all top writers, household names, who have produced some of the most memorable books to come out of Wales during the last fifty years. And we’re sure you will have heard of them all.
While you’re racking your brains to try to remember that unforgettable book they wrote, why not cross-reference the list of names here with the Wales Book of the Year list we’ve compiled. You could also check the Arts Council of Wales (why not send them a FOI request?) or you could look for the same old names on the Creative Wales Awards. Yep, it just gets worse.
Take a look at where some of your money has gone:
| Name | No of bursaries | Cash |
| Hefin Wyn | 4 | £23,500 |
| Karen Owen | 3 | £22,000 |
| Tony Bianchi | 3 | £17,500 |
| Daniel Davies | 3 | £16,536 |
| Aled Jones Williams | 3 | £15,000 |
| Grahame Davies | 3 | £9,597 |
| Geraint Lewis | 2 | £15,500 |
| Robat Gruffudd | 2 | £14,500 |
| Angharad Tomos | 2 | £12,000 |
| Charlotte Greig | 2 | £12,000 |
| Christine James | 2 | £11,000 |
| Gwyneth Lewis | 2 | £11,000 |
| Sian Melangell Dafydd | 2 | £11,000 |
| Jo Mazelis | 2 | £10,500 |
| Daniel Morden | 2 | £10,000 |
| John Fraser Williams | 2 | £10,000 |
| John Williams | 2 | £10,000 |
| Samantha Wynne Rhydderch | 2 | £9,098 |
| Euron Griffith | 2 | £9,000 |
| Carol Swain | 2 | £9,000 |
| Christine Harrison | 2 | £9,000 |
| Delyth George | 2 | £8,750 |
| Kaite O’Reilly | 2 | £8,000 |
| Keri Finlayson | 2 | £8,000 |
| Rachel Trezise | 2 | £8,000 |
| Sian Northey | 2 | £8,000 |
| Tom Bullough | 2 | £7,600 |
| Francesca Rhydderch | 2 | £7,250 |
| Jonathan Edwards | 2 | £7,000 |
| Cynan Jones | 2 | £6,800 |
| Paul Henry | 2 | £6,425 |
| Robert Lewis | 2 | £6,000 |
| Tia Jones | 2 | £6,000 |
| Caroline Ross | 2 | £6,000 |
| Lara Clough | 2 | £5,300 |
| Jason Walford Davies | 2 | £5,000 |
| Vanessa Savage | 2 | £5,000 |
| Mary-Ann Constantine | 2 | £4,760 |
| Ivy Alvarez | 2 | £1,805 |
| Alex Keegan | 1 | £11,360 |
| Byron Rogers | 1 | £10,000 |
| Euros Lewis | 1 | £10,000 |
| Ceri Wyn Jones | 1 | £9,675 |
| Matthew David Scott | 1 | £9,500 |
| Sarah Broughton | 1 | £8,500 |
| Jon Gower | 1 | £8,000 |
| Laurence Allan | 1 | £7,800 |
| Dafydd John Pritchard | 1 | £7,626 |
| Jane Edwards | 1 | £7,500 |
| Lleucu Roberts | 1 | £7,500 |
| Stephanie Burgis | 1 | £7,500 |
| Llion Iwan | 1 | £7,000 |
| Sheenagh Pugh | 1 | £7,000 |
| Sue Barrow | 1 | £7,000 |
| Tudur Dylan Jones | 1 | £7,000 |
| Zillah Bowes | 1 | £6,000 |
| Mererid Hopwood | 1 | £6,000 |
| Alan Llwyd | 1 | £6,000 |
| Arwel Vittle | 1 | £6,000 |
| Belinda Bauer | 1 | £6,000 |
| Dyfrig Jones | 1 | £6,000 |
| Heather Dyer | 1 | £6,000 |
| Iwan Llwyd | 1 | £6,000 |
| James Hawes | 1 | £6,000 |
| Mike Parker | 1 | £6,000 |
| Nerys Mari George | 1 | £6,000 |
| Patrick Corcoran | 1 | £6,000 |
| Peter Lord | 1 | £6,000 |
| Robert Minhinnick | 1 | £6,000 |
| Siân Owen | 1 | £6,000 |
| Susan Richardson | 1 | £6,000 |
| Tôpher Mills | 1 | £6,000 |
| Zoe Skoulding | 1 | £6,000 |
| Roger Granelli | 1 | £5,500 |
| Deborah Llewelyn | 1 | £5,000 |
| Alexandra Claire | 1 | £5,000 |
| Angela Roberts | 1 | £5,000 |
| Angharad Price | 1 | £5,000 |
| Beth Ditson | 1 | £5,000 |
| Elidir Jones | 1 | £5,000 |
| Elizabeth Anne Ashworth | 1 | £5,000 |
| Fflur Dafydd | 1 | £5,000 |
| Emily-Jo Hopson | 1 | £5,000 |
| Huw Aaron | 1 | £5,000 |
| James Rourke | 1 | £5,000 |
| Jasmine Donahaye | 1 | £5,000 |
| Joanna Davies | 1 | £5,000 |
| Kay Byrne | 1 | £5,000 |
| Kate Hamer | 1 | £5,000 |
| Laura Jayne Powell | 1 | £5,000 |
| Lloyd Jones | 1 | £5,000 |
| Myrddin ap Dafydd | 1 | £5,000 |
| Mab Jones | 1 | £5,000 |
| Mari George | 1 | £5,000 |
| Mark Blayney | 1 | £5,000 |
| Megan Hodson | 1 | £5,000 |
| Owen Martell | 1 | £5,000 |
| P C Evans | 1 | £5,000 |
| Rhian Edwards | 1 | £5,000 |
| Rhys Iorwerth | 1 | £5,000 |
| Richard James Jones | 1 | £5,000 |
| Robert Rhys | 1 | £5,000 |
| Susie Wild | 1 | £5,000 |
| Tegan Pyke | 1 | £5,000 |
| Tracey Rhys | 1 | £5,000 |
| Tudor Hallam | 1 | £5,000 |
| Tessa Hadley | 1 | £4,810 |
| Sarah KilBride | 1 | £4,800 |
| Llion Pryderi Roberts | 1 | £4,800 |
| Helena Attlee | 1 | £4,750 |
| B S Reeves | 1 | £4,500 |
| Deborah Davies | 1 | £4,500 |
| Matthew Francis | 1 | £4,500 |
| Elin ap Hywel | 1 | £4,320 |
| Jane MacNamee | 1 | £4,300 |
| Anne Cluysenaar | 1 | £4,000 |
| Brian Meechan | 1 | £4,000 |
| Bridget Keehan | 1 | £4,000 |
| Caroline John | 1 | £4,000 |
| David Llewellyn | 1 | £4,000 |
| Eigra Lewis Roberts | 1 | £4,000 |
| Eiry Miles | 1 | £4,000 |
| Geraint Morgan | 1 | £4,000 |
| Graham Hartill | 1 | £4,000 |
| Helen Pendry | 1 | £4,000 |
| Hilary Watson | 1 | £4,000 |
| Jemma L King | 1 | £4,000 |
| Jim Bowen | 1 | £4,000 |
| Lorna Lloyd | 1 | £4,000 |
| Lucy Dunham | 1 | £4,000 |
| Meic Stephens | 1 | £4,000 |
| Meirion Jordan | 1 | £4,000 |
| Mike Jenkins | 1 | £4,000 |
| Natalie Ann Holborow | 1 | £4,000 |
| Philip Maillard | 1 | £4,000 |
| Sean Burke | 1 | £4,000 |
| Tom Anderson | 1 | £4,000 |
| Tiffany Atkinson | 1 | £3,849 |
| Will Slocomb | 1 | £3,813 |
| Chris Keil | 1 | £3,600 |
| Bruce Paley | 1 | £3,500 |
| Zillah Slingsby Bethell | 1 | £3,500 |
| Angela Graham | 1 | £3,213 |
| Carys Shannon | 1 | £3,125 |
| Alex Barr | 1 | £3,120 |
| Damian Walford Davies | 1 | £3,044 |
| Benjamin Smith | 1 | £3,000 |
| Catrin Gerallt | 1 | £3,000 |
| Carly Holmes | 1 | £3,000 |
| Aled Lewis Evans | 1 | £3,000 |
| Angharad Penrhyn Jones | 1 | £3,000 |
| Clare Potter | 1 | £3,000 |
| Imogen Herrad | 1 | £3,000 |
| Jeb Loy Nichols | 1 | £3,000 |
| Joanna Owen | 1 | £3,000 |
| Kelly Grovier | 1 | £3,000 |
| Maria Lisa | 1 | £3,000 |
| Mark Jenkins | 1 | £3,000 |
| Martin Davis | 1 | £3,000 |
| Michelle A Oliver | 1 | £3,000 |
| Nicholas Murray | 1 | £3,000 |
| Peter Wakelin | 1 | £3,000 |
| Rebecca F John | 1 | £3,000 |
| Sarah Coles | 1 | £3,000 |
| Sarah Jackman | 1 | £3,000 |
| Tim Casson | 1 | £3,000 |
| Rob Gittins | 1 | £2,703 |
| Anthony Reynolds | 1 | £2,500 |
| Penny Simpson | 1 | £2,500 |
| Sue Morgan | 1 | £2,500 |
| Juliet Greenwood | 1 | £2,496 |
| Hannah Lawson | 1 | £2,418 |
| Tracy Williams | 1 | £2,403 |
| Romyanna K Thomas | 1 | £2,300 |
| Simon Brooks | 1 | £2,003 |
| Anna Lewis | 1 | £2,000 |
| Cal Smyth | 1 | £2,000 |
| Catrin Kean | 1 | £2,000 |
| Chris Cope | 1 | £2,000 |
| Christopher Lloyd | 1 | £2,000 |
| Dylan Williams | 1 | £2,000 |
| Eloise Williams | 1 | £2,000 |
| Gaye Hiçyilmaz | 1 | £2,000 |
| Hannah Collins | 1 | £2,000 |
| Ifan Morgan Jones | 1 | £2,000 |
| Karl Drinkwater | 1 | £2,000 |
| Jeremy Hooker | 1 | £2,000 |
| Julie Brominicks | 1 | £2,000 |
| Katherine Stansfield | 1 | £2,000 |
| Llion Jones | 1 | £2,000 |
| Lowri Haf Cooke | 1 | £2,000 |
| Melissa Hedges | 1 | £2,000 |
| Michael Harvey | 1 | £2,000 |
| Michelle Briscombe | 1 | £2,000 |
| Nina Lyon | 1 | £2,000 |
| Patrick Jones | 1 | £2,000 |
| Rebecca Loncraine | 1 | £2,000 |
| Rosalind Hudis | 1 | £2,000 |
| Rosey Brown | 1 | £2,000 |
| Simon Rees | 1 | £2,000 |
| Tracey Warr | 1 | £2,000 |
| Tyler Keevil | 1 | £2,000 |
| Vanessa Baxter-Jones | 1 | £2,000 |
| Eric Ngalle Charles | 1 | £1,800 |
| Jon Blake | 1 | £1,768 |
| Sian Morgan | 1 | £1,768 |
| Helen Buhaenko | 1 | £1,750 |
| Nicky Arscott | 1 | £1,710 |
| Lisa Parry | 1 | £1,700 |
| T James Jones | 1 | £1,690 |
| Mario Basini | 1 | £1,686 |
| Lorraine Jenkin | 1 | £1,560 |
| Andrew Wickett | 1 | £1,500 |
| Gareth Pawan | 1 | £1,500 |
| Matthew R Jarvis | 1 | £1,500 |
| Meredith Knight | 1 | £1,500 |
| John Sharkey | 1 | £1,400 |
| Sara H Roberts | 1 | £1,400 |
| Sam Roads | 1 | £1,389 |
| Derek Routledge | 1 | £1,343 |
| Jeremy Hughes | 1 | £1,335 |
| Roy Grant | 1 | £1,300 |
| Tristan Hughes | 1 | £1,300 |
| Catrin Dafydd | 1 | £1,275 |
| Maria Murphy | 1 | £1,258 |
| Jill Piercy | 1 | £1,200 |
| Julia Crompton | 1 | £1,197 |
| Richard Roberts | 1 | £1,064 |
| Ann McManus | 1 | £1,040 |
| Steven Hitchins | 1 | £1,000 |
| Brett Jocelyn Epstein | 1 | £1,000 |
| Emlyn Williams | 1 | £1,000 |
| Hayley Wood | 1 | £1,000 |
| Rhiannon Williams | 1 | £1,000 |
| Robin James Ganderton | 1 | £1,000 |
| Zoe Brigley | 1 | £1,000 |
| Emily Hinshelwood | 1 | £939 |
| Rhys Hughes | 1 | £920 |
| William Muir | 1 | £900 |
| Richard Collins | 1 | £850 |
| Dafydd Apolloni | 1 | £714 |
| Romy Wood | 1 | £700 |
| Meg Kingston | 1 | £550 |
| Cat Weatherill | 1 | £500 |
| Lynda Nash | 1 | £500 |
| Debbie Moon | 1 | £225 |
You might be mistaken for thinking you’ve seen some of these names before. Well, you have. There’s the staff (and ex-staff) of Literature Wales, previous winners, runners-up and judges of the Wales Book of the Year award, the people who run or work for the Welsh book publishers, people who’ve worked for the awful magazines that are funded by the arts council, BBC employees, Prince Charles’ friend, the judges of Literature Wales competitions, bursary panel members, some writers in residence, and even a few relatives of arts council employees. Of course a lot of these names also get grants from other arts council sources. Some alternate between Literature Wales, the Arts Council, the Welsh Books Council, Creative Wales and their own book publishers. They also get given money from other ‘arts’ organisations in the UK and around the world. It’s just a question of knowing who to ask and how much you are prepared to prostitute yourself really.
For a full list why not check out the Literature Wales website. You may be able to work out whose turn it is next year! We did.
To be fair though, there will always be a few new or unknown writers thrown in for good measure and only time will tell whether these will join the gravy train or actually benefit from the cash and go on to produce meaningful literature.
A couple of questions you may want to ask your MP or AM when you write to inform them of this worrying use of public money might be:
What % of unpublished writers get given grant money?
What have the biggest gravy train guzzlers produced in the way of great literature as a result of having our cash?
Do they return the money when they fail to produce anything?
Why do the same names keep cropping up when there are thousands of struggling artists in Wales?
Post your replies below…
LiteratureWales 
June 29, 2014 at 7:36 am
And at over eleven grand a shot as in your case, Alex?
Really why should the Welsh taxpayer pay you for what you choose to do, and must enjoy?
WHY?
May 14, 2017 at 6:23 am
Most of these names belong to Welsh-speakers. We can see here the corrupt, insider-dealing, freemasonry of the Welsh literary establishment. Why don’t you find out more about the Gregynog Conference Julian. At this little shindig non-Welsh-speakers are forced to apologize before they can address the gathering of scholars and interested parties. Why should anyone be forced to apologize because they grew up in a non-Welsh-speaking area?
June 29, 2014 at 8:17 am
Point 1.
GK has an amazing cheek as she has herself received at least one grant (the total amount is irrelevant, a grant is a grant) AND was published by Honno who were also subsidised by a grant.
Point 2.
I am a tax-payer, my parents and their parents pay tax, my partners have paid tax, my four children pay tax.
Point 3.
Your bleating over this is ridiculous. Why should we subsidise opera (if we don’t like opera) or subsidise theatre (if we don’t go) or subsidise teaching of deprived or disabled groups (if we are neither deprived nor disabled)… Why should the rich help the poor? Why should anyone help the sick? Why should those who send their children to private schools still pay taxes towards schools? Why should those with private health and who don’t need the NHS pay national Insurance? Why should anyone do anything for anyone but themselves?
Why should my rates/taxes go towards subsidising Student Fees?
In case the above is excerpted and quoted incorrectly I DO believe in all the above. I make the point that in a civilised society we elect people to manage a proportion of our nation’s income and to distribute it in ways that they believe are, overall, good for the nation.
Culture is important, even if it means subsidising mini-rugby or helping out a football team of giving assistance to a Male Voice Choir, a putting up Modern Art or paying for statues, or having Museums and Art Galleries or poets and writers and artists visiting schools. I’m sure there are a hundred other things which have received state money. Your argument is narrow, naive, and hypocritical.
Point 4.
No, we shouldn’t ban the hijab. There is not a secret conspiracy to stop brilliant women writers of whatever sexuality from being published, and Labour are not syphoning zillions into Swiss banks for their retirement, and there is not a secret alien base on Flat Holm.
Alex Keegan
June 29, 2014 at 8:18 am
Point 2. My parents etc PAID tax. As far as I am aware, dead people don’t pay tax.
June 29, 2014 at 9:04 am
The above comments are really too weird , and unhinged for me to begin to address, and so I will not.
June 29, 2014 at 1:24 pm
>>The above comments are really too weird , and unhinged for me to begin to address, and so I will not.
<<
Small Mercies
June 29, 2014 at 9:51 am
To shanelongstatto (Alex Keegan),
I am sorry to disabuse you, but dead people do indeed pay tax ie Inheritance Tax. There are of course ways to mitigate such a tax, bearing in mind that it only becomes payable on an Estate worth over £325,000 eg the 7 rule of survival and Discretionary Trusts.
Now do allow me to respond to your defence of subsidy for books:
The argument for State funding for the arts has largely been won. The prevailing view in the Arts world is that non-commercial activity ie opera, theatre, museums etc can be good for tourism, hospitality, local economies and so on, as well as driving inward investment and being a generally good thing for society.
It brings art to the people.
Now, ‘Books’ are an entirely different matter.
In my view they are a purely commercial activity, and bring none of the above eg a collection of poems about Snowdonia is hardly likely to add anything to societal fibre, is it? Or indeed subsidised books that are lucky to sell 100 books over 3 years and have no readership?
The fundamental flaw in your polemic therefore, is your ‘good for the nation’ statement.
Giving millions of pounds to Welsh writers and poets, to do some artistic ambling and poetic naval gazing, is hardly ‘good for the nation’ is it??
The ‘people’ per se, never read them, have never heard of them and more to the point, are not the least bit interested in them.
Julian Ruck
June 29, 2014 at 10:11 am
To Alex Keegan,
PS And with respect, I am obliged to point out that the Court of Public Opinion is massively against you.
Please note responses to pieces in the Western Mail and the Mail on Sunday.
Further, I am compelled to advise that only last Friday a Welsh politician contacted me to confirm that the evidence in respect of Welsh arts and writing that I put before Welsh Assembly politicians, has resulted in the Arts Council of Wales being called to account before a Public Accounts Committee in the autumn.
Julian Ruck
June 29, 2014 at 1:25 pm
You think that the sort of people who actually respond to stuff in the Western Mail represent “the people” or the “average man/woman”?
June 29, 2014 at 10:52 am
The court of public opinion is in favour of hanging.
The court of public opinion, The Sun, The Star, The Daily Mail
June 29, 2014 at 11:08 am
Mr.Keegan,
Some food for thought and here I quote,
“Poverty in an age of affluence is being unable to write, and having others write about you.”
June 29, 2014 at 1:29 pm
So GK (Did you ever publish any more stories BTW?)… would you please explain what you understand your quote to mean?
Is Julian “unable to write”?
Are you?
Am I?
Who is writing about any of us?
Of course “ability to write” is an ambiguous phrase.
If we sit at our computers and press the keys djdjfghgry gjghtu gkgit gjguty we are “able to write”.
I am of course unsure whether you mean “have the time and freedom to write” or (cue drum-roll and spooky music) you mean, is half-decent when the “writing” is finished.
Alex
June 29, 2014 at 12:53 pm
To Alex keegan,
Is your last comment a denial of the facts in my last reply, or merely a condemnation of mass jurisprudential inertia?
I repeat, subsidised books and poetry have no audience, apart from those who wail with egotistical and self-important desperation that they have a purpose in life, by emancipating the so-called torrid intellects of the great unwashed?
Julian Ruck
June 29, 2014 at 1:31 pm
“no audience, apart from those who wail with egotistical and self-important desperation that they have a purpose in life, by emancipating the so-called torrid intellects of the great unwashed?”
Does this mean you are giving up writing?
June 29, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Ruck, you are the master of unsubstantiated declarations. Please refer me to the properly managed surveys conducted which showed that the “Court of Public Opinion” was against me. Note “me”. I’m surprised that the world has a public opinion on me.
I must say, though, how I enjoy days like today, fielding the rabid.
June 29, 2014 at 1:05 pm
To Alex Keegan,
PS And may I remind you, that The Sun, The Star and The Daily Mail readers are the very taxpayers that you have been able to exploit???
Such supercilious condemnation of your average Joe, does you no credit.
Tell them that you are entitled to £11,000 to stay at home and scribble, regardless of whether said ‘scribblings’ are finished or published?
Julian Ruck
June 29, 2014 at 1:36 pm
Who was it said it is impossible to underestimate the stupidity of the general public?
A clue – it wasn’t me, or Julian Ruck or a bulldog.
The “general public” is manipulated by a Sun Editorial. The “general public” believes in hanging. The general public attacks a paediatrician because it mistakes the title for paedophile.
The general public is, well, general.
That is why, down the pub, we elect the slightly brighter bloke to speak to the landlord. That’s why workers have shop stewards. That’s why we “listen to teacher”. That’s why people like me teach people to write. That’s why we elect politicians, in the vague hope that they are SLIGHTLY brighter than the average bear.
June 29, 2014 at 1:22 pm
>>I am sorry to disabuse you, but dead people do indeed pay tax ie Inheritance Tax. <>Now do allow me to respond to your defence of subsidy for books:<>The argument for State funding for the arts has largely been won. The prevailing view in the Arts world is that non-commercial activity ie opera, theatre, museums etc can be good for tourism, hospitality, local economies and so on, as well as driving inward investment and being a generally good thing for society.
It brings art to the people. <>Now, ‘Books’ are an entirely different matter.<>In my view they are a purely commercial activity, and bring none of the above eg a collection of poems about Snowdonia is hardly likely to add anything to societal fibre, is it? Or indeed subsidised books that are lucky to sell 100 books over 3 years and have no readership?<>The fundamental flaw in your polemic therefore, is your ‘good for the nation’ statement.<>Giving millions of pounds to Welsh writers and poets, to do some artistic ambling and poetic naval gazing, is hardly ‘good for the nation’ is it??<>The ‘people’ per se, never read them, have never heard of them and more to the point, are not the least bit interested in them.<<
How many of "the people" do you suppose have read Moby Dick, A Confederacy of Dunces, Ulysses, In Parenthesis, or even "Fern Hill" or The Autobiography of a SuperTramp?
It doesn't matter whether "the people" read these (tho' it would be nice) but that it is POSSIBLE for them to read the best literature, that the best literature exists to inspire those of us who are not geniuses.
Alex
June 29, 2014 at 1:36 pm
To Alex,
I always find it disappointing when those who disagree with my point of view(usually I must add, those who have a vested interest in taxpayer funded literary endeavour) seem compelled to resort to unimaginative personal insult.
Not quite the refined cut and thrust of elegant intellectual debate is it?
Never mind.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2651797/Artists-20k-grapple-concept-thing-ness-Taxpayer-funded-projects-denounced-self-indulgent-waste-money.html
A consideration of the ‘Fors’ and ‘Against’ come to something like a few thousand to 30.
The Western Mail poll is no doubt somewhere on their website. It took place about 18 months ago.
79% for me, 21% against.
I am happy to exchange views with you Alex, but I will not continue if you persist with unfortunate name- calling.
Julian Ruck
PS And it is odd is it not, that my ‘unsubstantiated declarations’ have been taken so seriously by a Welsh Assembly Public Accounts Committee? Oh and not to mention that these matters are presently being investigated by the Wales Audit Office?
June 29, 2014 at 1:44 pm
To Alex,
Forgive me, but I am not entirely sure why you keep copying and pasting my own comments in reply?
Is this some literary innovation or new 21st Century narrative technique, that has passed me by?
Julian Ruck
June 29, 2014 at 2:00 pm
>>>Forgive me, but I am not entirely sure why you keep copying and pasting my own comments in reply?
Is this some literary innovation or new 21st Century narrative technique, that has passed me by?<<
Many things have passed you by, including Creative Writing 101
June 29, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Julian, the pattern of your blatherings is classic (as is the tiny following you have).
No insults follow, simply the considered opinion of a writing teacher with an enviable record of student success. You are an appalling writer. Your work is seriously bad, devoid of any merit whatsoever.
You have failed to find a publisher because you cannot write to even the low-end of an acceptable standard.
Instead of one day realising, “Shit I need to learn my trade.” you decided it was a conspiracy, specifically designed to hold you back. (PS Read earlier in the thread how GK Brightmore was held back because she was female and gay. Hmmm.)
It’s quite funny to watch your intermittent sparring with various intellects.
Just for the record, my Mensa-measured IQ was 158. I left school at 15, gained an Open University Degree, then a degree in Psychology at Liverpool University, then an MA in Creative Writing at Bath (with Distinction.) I also had 40 publications while a student there. I learned Mandarin for a while and have half a second degree with the OU, plus the first year of a degree in Philosophy at London, Birkbeck.
I have only sold five crime books (where they paid ME, if you know what I mean) and a book of prize-winning short-stories (ditto). I have judged more than 40 literary competitions, edited two literary journals, 3-4-5 anthologies, had more than 500 publications and won FIFTEEN first prizes. That was where I was when I applied for a bursary.
My students have won well over 150 first prizes and published almost 50 books. They STRUGGLE like hell, it is so hard to break out and break in.
Back to Julian Ruck. Imagine someone, anyone you like. His (or her) ego simply doesn’t allow for the idea that they may need to learn their trade. This writing lark, issapieceofpissinit? So they puke out a “novel” at 7-10K words a week and they just can’t UNDERSTAND why the world doesn’t recognise their genius.
It’s “the system”
It’s the TAFIA
It’s Seren – who-is-screwing-who?
I have been rejected by Parthian, by Seren, by The Arts Council of Wales. So I GOT BETTER. I worked at my craft. Did I think connections might help? Sure! And maybe they do. But it’s my belief that 99% of rejected work is rejected because it’s not good enough (Or sh!t in some cases) and that was the case with me.
You, on the other hand, seems to revel in banging a rusty drum. You know you are simply a very inferior writer so you desperately try to invent conspiracies and “new ways”, and always, always, always put the blame for your failure, on others.
Alex Keegan
June 29, 2014 at 3:11 pm
To Alex,
I refuse to exchange insults with you, apart from commenting that the ‘failed writer’ angle doesn’t quite wash, as my public profile and reviews clearly evidence. .
Secondly, declaring one’s intellectual achievements as it were, is a somewhat vulgar exercise by anyone’s standards. I have been known to pass the odd exam in my time and even read the odd book but thankfully, I have never felt the need to publicise the fact on internet forums.
Bad form all round, really.
You quite obviously feel too challenged to engage in any objective or reasonably polite debate, so once again my last words to you must be taken from the late and sadly missed Christopher Hitchens:
‘Oscar Wilde was never mean-spirited, neither was he an Ancient Mariner’.
June 29, 2014 at 3:43 pm
>>I refuse to exchange insults with you, apart from commenting that the ‘failed writer’ angle doesn’t quite wash, as my public profile and reviews clearly evidence. .<>Secondly, declaring one’s intellectual achievements as it were, is a somewhat vulgar exercise by anyone’s standards. I have been known to pass the odd exam in my time and even read the odd book but thankfully, I have never felt the need to publicise the fact on internet forums. Bad form all round, really.<>>You quite obviously feel too challenged to engage in any objective or reasonably polite debate, so once again my last words to you must be taken from the late and sadly missed Christopher Hitchens: ‘Oscar Wilde was never mean-spirited, neither was he an Ancient Mariner’. <<<
IMO you're not fit to enlist Hitchens, but at least this time you didn't plagiarise him.
Are we having fun yet?
Alex
June 29, 2014 at 3:51 pm
This thread comprises three elements to begin with
1. An anonymous originator so dumb he writes off Owen Sheers as a nobody
2. Julian Ruck, who self-publishes junk, has failed to persuade a publisher in England or Wales to take his stuff, has (or had) a tedious, seriously poor column in The Llanelli Star, feels that the establishment is against him, the police are against him, even the manager of a supermarket is against him
passionately followed by…
3. GK Brightmore, who as far as I can ascertain, took Welsh Arts Council money directly to help with her writing, then published a whole two stories in a Welsh Arts Council subsidised press (Honno) but now argues against bursaries and publisher-subsidies and says she isn’t widely published because she’s (a) female and (b) gay.
Need we say more?
Alex
August 3, 2014 at 3:11 pm
Who is anonymous? Jim’s the name, blame is the game. But never fear there are hundreds of writers who will soon stand up and be counted when the time comes…
Unfortunately for yourself (never heard of you until you poked your head up I must admit – been promised some more cash have you?) your defence of this corrupt system just seems to imply guilt / involvement in the whole sordid affair.
Think about it though, all the best writers in Wales have never taken a penny of public money, they just got on with it and got published outside Wales.
How many of this sad bunch on our handout list could live without taxpayers cash? A ‘handful’ (maybe?) Why? ‘Cos they are crap writers and are not saying anything remotely interesting.
June 29, 2014 at 4:03 pm
It seems tom me Alex , your have your knickers in a twist so all this must be upsetting your obviously low self-esteem.
Point of info: being a gay person is not the reason why I have not been more widely published and I did not say that, but rather it is because my work has not been edited to a sufficiently high standard. I am now addressing that, but also bowing out of this pointless discussion.
I will leave it to the Public Accounts Committee to fully investigate the state of arts funding in Wales in the autumn as at present it is not a level playing field.
June 29, 2014 at 4:28 pm
To Literaturewales1
‘Anyone know an investigative journalist who isn’t on the payroll?’
Well, it seems your wish has been granted.
Although ITV Wales is out, I exposed them last week on Westminster’s influential Labour Uncut, along with staffers at the Western Mail.
Keep an eye out for my next couple of columns on Uncut, there is a lot more to come. I am also collaborating with other national press and TV outlets.
If all this was going on in England, and I’m quoting from a Westminster insider, ” There would be a massive public outcry.”
All the best,
Julian Ruck
December 15, 2014 at 3:35 pm
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March 31, 2016 at 5:32 pm
Great post by the way!
May 13, 2017 at 6:40 am
Looks like the BBC are finally washing their hands of them. Hopefully there’ll be criminal prosecutions next. I can hear the shredders working overtime down at the bay!!