PRESS RELEASE
From: The International Celtic Congress, Wales Branch
Subject: Celtic Literature and Culture in the Twentieth Century
pub. The International Celtic Congress, 1997.
ISBN 0 9530793 0 9
Fersiwn Cymraeg
The International Celtic Congress meeting in Dublin in 1997 saw the launch of a collection of articles entitled Celtic Literature and Culture in the Twentieth Century. The contents consist of the lectures delivered in the 1996 Congress meeting in Bangor.
Cornwall is represented by two articles, one given by Richard Jenkin, member of the Gorsedd of Bards of Cornwall, who gives an account of twentieth-century writing in the Cornish language. Alan Kent, of the Institute of Cornish Studies, gives a historicized account of Cornish writing in the three languages of Cornwall, Cornish, English and English dialect.
From Brittany, Ninnog Latimer-Kervella reviews the development of modern Breton literature, beginning with the seminal collection, Barzaz Breizh, at the end of the last century, and tracing its various stages in the twentieth century.
Wales is represented by the distinguished novelist, Marion Eames. Referring to writers in the two languages of Wales, she highlights the extraordinary achievements in Welsh writing in this century.
Stylish humour characterises the contribution of Tadhg O'Dushlane, a lecturer at Maynooth College. His title The Hippieization of the Gael and vice versa', reveals that he chose to focus on the liberating effect of the revolutionary sixties on Irish writing in Gaelic.
Brian Stowell outlines the history of the decline and revival of Manx. He himself has contributed more than most to the resurgence of interest in Manx culture and the Manx language in education. In view of some of the statistics he quotes, his account is witness to the tenacity of the Celtic tongues of Britain in their struggle to survive.
Joan MacDonald's article focuses on Scottish Gaelic publishing. She refers to two strands of Gaelic poetry, that written in the traditional modes, and what she calls the "high profile publications" of the modern school. Prestigious names figure in her account, like Sorley Maclean, Iain Crichton Smith and Derick Thomson, but also those of Gaelic learners, who are now contributing to contemporary literature in Gaelic.
The volume has been published by the Wales Branch of the International Celtic Congress. It is available in some bookshops, price £4.50, or by post, price £5.00, overseas £6.50 (inc. p&p) from:
Eurwen Price, Y Garn, Swansea Road, Llewitha, Fforestfach,
Swansea SA5 4NR.
Telephone: +44 1792 421315.
Cheques payable to The Celtic Congress.
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