Children from across Monmouthshire have taken part in a fun challenge designed to encourage them to pick up and appreciate a book with the help of local libraries. Organised by the Reading Agency, this year’s Summer Reading Challenge teamed up with Guinness World Records to establish a Record Breakers-themed competition. The aim was for children […]
Focus Magazines
The local magazines for Abergavenny, Crickhowell, Brecon & Talgarth – Events, News and Advertising
Category Archives: Literature
Book Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
A great family story, this covers American life from the Depression to the present time. Red and Abby are the two main protagonists together with their children. Denny is perhaps the most interesting member of the family. Intensely private, guarded, sometimes he disappears from their lives, then reappears with a daughter, Susan. His wife doesn’t […]
Read with Chatterbooks at Brecon and Ystradgynlais Libraries!
Brecon and Ystradgynlais are the latest libraries to join forces with the Reading Agency and set up their own Chatterbooks reading groups for ages 8-10 year olds in their local areas. The reading group allows children to ‘develop their love and enjoyment of reading’, building on this as an effective way of encouraging children to […]
‘Gorsky’ by Vesna Goldsworthy
A captivating tale of big money, Russian beauty and good books. A bold and brilliant re-rendering of F. Scott. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Vesna Goldsworthy plays out the class and caste tensions of Fitzgerald’s East Coast versus West Coast classic, but set among London’s new immigrants of Russian Nouveau Riche. Born out of the ashes […]
‘In My House’ by Alex Hourston
Maggie lives a life of careful routines and measured pleasures. But everything changes when, walking through Gatwick a few days shy of her fifty-eighth birthday, a young woman approaches her and whispers a single word: ‘Help.’ Maggie responds, and in that moment saves a stranger, earning Anja her freedom and ensuring the arrest of a […]
‘Something to Hide’ by Deborah Moggach
A warm, witty and wise novel about the unexpected twists that later life can bring, from the hugely popular author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Tulip Fever. Everybody has something to hide, but while some secrets are mildly embarrassing, others are shocking and possibly perilous. Deborah Moggach uses this facet of the human […]
Horatio Clare
The inaugural Crickhowell Literary Festival welcomes author Horatio Clare to its programme of events this year. Launching his first children’s book, Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot, Horatio will be presenting classics and gems of children’s writing, celebrating the legacy of books about beasts. The Focus caught up with him ahead of the festival to ask […]
Working together to save the Library
Everyone loves a good book and whilst your local library is a haven for discovering something new to read, it offers so much more besides: computer access, free Wifi, magazines and newspapers to mention a few. But with proposed budget cuts, the future of the local library is under continued threat. A newly formed group […]
Crickhowell Literary Festival 2015
Crickhowell lends itself well to becoming the setting for the newest literary festival in South Wales. The local area has been an inspiration for writers for centuries. Rev. Thomas Price (Carnhuanawc), lived and preached in the area in the early nineteenth century. Carnhuanawc was a vocal and active promoter of the Welsh language and culture, […]
FOOD: An Exhibition at Broadleaf books
For a few days this coming September, Broadleaf Books in Abergavenny will host a group exhibition ‘FOOD’, bringing together works by contemporary visual artists from Wales and across the U.K. Abergavenny-based artists Melissa Appleton and Edwin Burdis are working with Broadleaf Books owner, Joanna Chambers, to curate the exhibition in the intimate setting of the […]
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