Y Gair #8
Jesus fucking Christ my guys it’s another fucking Wednesday.
Alright, got that out of my system. Featured Poem time, my little noodles.
Featured Poem
‘Maybe I have been reading too much news lately, but reading Christina Thatcher’s BEAUtiful collection over the weekend, I was caught by the relevance of this succinct poem. The bureaucratic boredom is lifted into strange wonder. The symbolism of cut tethers and eroding shoreline, gave me a refreshing breeze of much needed nuance to a topic that is so often debated in monochrome. Thatcher asks the reader to move out of the black and white, to bob on the sea of no definite answer. And ultimately, to stand with others.’
— Rhys Shanahan
How to Carry Fire is available from Parthian here. It’s also available in our library (like all our featured poems, duh !!)
Coming up
We’re halfway through the month but we still got a whole bunch of fun shit coming up!
On Monday 20th we have the next Trans Aid Cymru Monthly Social at Dyddiau Du. If you identify as transgender, nonbinary or intersex, you are more than welcome! Bring your favourite snacks, a Nintendo Switch, your knitting, or read a book from our library! Carers are welcome too ofc.
The final event in our series of CRWTH Magazine Takeover events: our monthly poetry open mic and an evening of folk tales with the Silurian Folk Society on Wednesday 22nd!
The Silurian Folklore Society is not just for Silurians but anyone interested in the land, its people and their stories, focused on Cymru of old and new. Based in South East Wales, the society puts on friendly, accessible and fun, bi-lingual Welsh culture events that aim to introduce people to parts of their heritage that they might not necessarily be familiar with, be it through the medium of conversation, storytelling, poetry, music, guides or gigs.
Book now on Eventbrite, as an attendee or as a performer!
A lil last minute, but local writer and legend, Lucy Smith, will be running a free artist applications workshop on Saturday 25th March! If you could use some help and guidance, this workshop will explore key ingredients for effective proposals and give you the space to chat to other artists about any roadblocks in your way. Project applications & applying for funding can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Book here.
Dyddiau Du Film Club: March Edition! The theme for this month is ‘Political’, with screenings of two films from the Welsh Underground Network. After the screening, we will be holding an open discussion alongside the WUN to explore what we can learn from these histories, how they help us to think a Welsh socialist future and what place cultural interventions, like cinema, might play in such a society.
Women of the Rhondda, 1973, 21’
An early film of what would become London Women's Film Group, a feminist film production and exhibition collective, Women of the Rhondda marks the Women's Liberation Movement's radical reframing of cultural-political discourses. Using oral history to uncover the role of women in Welsh working-class history, the film is a powerful document of the everyday experiences of mining strikes oft-ignored by male-centric images of the working-class.
So That You Can Live, 1981, 83’
Following the Butts family across five years in the South Wales valleys, this first feature from agit-prop collective Cinema Action offers a more reflective, historically attuned focus to their earlier sloganistic shorts. Combining original texts from Raymond Williams, observational footage and inspired montage, the film interrogates the ghostly working class histories of physical space and fractured nationhood as reflected in the family unit across a period of devastating de-industrialisation.
The event times are a little different to usual - doors are at 3pm, and the event will finish at 7pm! We can’t wait to see you for an afternoon of film and conversation on Sunday 26th. Book your seats nowwww.
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Let’s not forget about Book of the Month!
“This book is warm. It sees you. It invokes the feeling of sun turned faces in summer, cosy cups of tea with friends, softness, laughter. Finding community and solidarity through hard winters and coming out the other side. An account of the relentless existence of trans joy. I will pass these stories into the hands of every friend, every sibling, every parent. This book will keep people alive.” — Rey Hope
Tash started writing as a means of survival. Growing up as a closeted queer in a rural village, moving to London was a game changer. After 4 years they realised medical school wasn’t for them, they came out as non-binary and started work in the NHS improving healthcare for LGBT+ people. Their chosen family are their inspiration for everything. After a rocky start, Tash wants the world to know about the wonder of trans joy.
All the Things They Said We Couldn't Have - Stories of Trans Joy is available to buy here. It’s also available in our library.
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Thank you for reading, and we hope you are enjoying March Winter. Support Gary Lineker, fuck the BBC etc x
Joshua, Rey, Rhys & Lucy x
Dyddiau Du
Thurs-Sat 11-6pm, Sun 11-4pm
Capitol Centre, Queen Street, Cardiff, CF10 2HQ
dyddiaudu@gmail.com
Twitter & Instagram: @dyddiaudu
Buy us a Kofi, so we can afford to stay open!