NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW ON-LINE

I had never heard of Roundyhouse before being asked to review this issue, so this was a discovery for me. Roundyhouse is a nicely produced journal of poetry and poetry related articles from Port Talbot in Wales. The poetry comes in a variety of styles, though tending towards the more formal end of the contemporary spectrum. A few of the poems are marred by their use of rather over-obvious rhymes and rhythms but there is a lot worth reading in here. The subject matter includes history, starlings, the valleys and human relationships of all types.

In addition to the poetry and reviews there is a fascinating interview with Raymond Garlick, poet and former editor of the Anglo-Welsh Review and editor of the anthology ANGLO-WELSH POETRY 1480-1980. The interview covers a raige of subjects from Garlick's childhood to syneasthesia (the ability to see letters and words as colours). However the main focus of the interview is on Anglo Welsh literature and culture — the English language heritage of Wales that can sometimes be overshadowed by the wealth of the Welsh language heritage of the country. This issue is expanded in Garlick's following article on ANGLO-WELSH LITERATURE, which poses more questions than it has space to address. The issue is an interesting one for someone, like me, based in Scotland, to consider. In Scotland we have three distinct languages (English, Scots Gaelic and Scots) each with its own culture and literature. What are the relationships between these languages and their cultures and how does this relationship differ from that between English and Welsh in Wales? That would be a fascinating study!

Of the poems the one that is most obviously about Welshness, is Phil Carradice's GLYNDWR RISING, a mediation on how Owen Glyndwr, a hero and figurehead for Welsh hopes for independence, would see the current political situation. Hidden under all the constant talking in the Welsh Assembly, we are told:

	...somewhere in the wilderness, in cavern or in cave,
	Glyndwr lies waiting, watching and shifts in his restless grave.

Not all the poems here are so resolutely Welsh, though many of them are embedded in the Welsh landscape, giving rise to beautiful and interesting imagery, as is Stephen Knight's WORM'S HEAD, where:

	It seems the snowflakes have our future planned.

	Stylish weather launders the lichen-crusted
	tiles of a low roof, ...

	Stacked in drawers
	were all the maps of all the streets
	that ever were —
	ward on ward, layer on layer

A mix of good poetry and thought provoking articles makes for an interesting read here and a publication of interest to anyone who values the contribution of Anglo-Welsh literature to the bigger picture of global English-language literature.