by Emily Trahair

As the Eisteddfod re-gathers in Tregaron, Frances Roberts Reilly draws on her ancestry to trace its connections with Romany Gypsy Traveller communities. She calls for solidarity with the people who attend another festival which has deep resonance for a minority culture: Appleby Horse Fair –interviewing key figures about why this event was the launch of a ‘summer of discontent’ against a Police Act that will criminalise a 500-year-old nomadic heritage.

In a series that proposes how society could change in response to Covid-19, Ffred Ffransis draws on his activist experience to discuss how movements could move beyond online ‘call-out culture’ to honour the interconnectivity of our struggles in the spirit of peace, justice and chwyldro.

Chris Saville & Daniel Thomas introduce their research findings from a British Academy project on the coalfield communities of Wales and Appalachia. They present the social and political arguments why these areas are so acutely affected by Covid-19, and propose what policy-makers need to do to prevent this from happening again.

Peter Stevenson and Terry J. Jones, US film maker and member of the Seneca Nation - Wolf Clan, create a conversation sparked by Terry’s response to the story of Tryweryn, and a parallel experience from the Allegheny River; reflecting more widely on storytelling, resistance, language and ecology.

In the context of growing food poverty, ill-health, ecological breakdown and climate change, Paul Milbourne proposes how a more progressive agri-food policy could be developed in Wales, drawing on Welsh grassroots initiatives and ideas for food-system transformation from beyond our borders.

Kirsti Bohata draws on an interview with artist Owen Griffiths to reflect on his ‘Thinking Green’ at the Glynn Vivian, why it’s not simply an exhibition, and how it illuminates the need to address climate change, colonisation and global capitalism, which are enmeshed from Swansea outwards.

A poem by Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih

We are delighted to announce that Parthian Books and Planet are re-publishing Charlotte Williams’ ground-breaking title Sugar and Slate as a co-publication as part of the Library of Wales series. We are very grateful to Hazel V. Carby for the opportunity to publish her Foreword to this ‘insurgent text’ here.

Our Welsh Keywords series offers contemporary perspectives on the meaning of Welsh words, inspired by Raymond Williams’ Keywords. In this issue, Katie Gramich ...