Events

Enjoy a good thriller and want to forget about the election for a while this Thursday?! We’re delighted that bestselling crime authors Philip Gwynne Jones and Sarah Ward will both be joining us for a book signing session to celebrate the launch of their new books on Thursday 4th July.

The Venetian Sanctuary is the latest book in Philip’s atmospheric and thrilling series that are all set in Venice, the city that Philip now calls home. Nathan Sutherland arrives at the tiny island of San Franceso del Deserto to look into the death of British PI Dominic Vicari found dead at the base of a campanile while on retreat at the monastery. Tragic accident or something more sinister? As Nathan investigates, he finds the tranquillity of the island belies simmering passions that have turned deadly. 

The Vanishing Act is the third book in Sarah’s new series set in Wales and featuring ex police officer Mallory Dawson. In the historic Glyn Cothi forest, Mallory finds a holiday cottage that resembles the Marie Celeste. A kettle simmering on the stove and a half-eaten breakfast. What caused the family to flee in terror and are they alive or dead? A decades old case of a fake haunting might be connected to the family’s disappearance and Mallory’s boss, DI Harri Evans has to face his memories of a chilling crime that was never solved.

Dr Rhys Jones is a Cardiff University Associate Professor, Science and Wildlife presenter. As a BAFTA nominated (Best Presenter) Television and Radio presenter, his BBC television career spans over two decades and includes Rhys’s Network Primetime BBC One television series ‘Rhys Jones’s Wildlife Patrol’ and he also delivered two seasons of his hit BBC series ‘Rhys to the Rescue’, and guest presented for both Chris Packham’s ‘Nature’s Calendar’ and Sir David Attenborough’s ‘Saving Planet Earth’. He presented the Royal Welsh Show on BBC Wales between 2007-2015.

Becoming Dr Jones is Rhys’s first book, published in hardback in 2023 and he will be with us to discuss and sign copies of the paperback, published in May. Described as ‘inspirational’ by Prof. Alice Roberts, the book takes us on a wild journey through his life, first inspired as a child by Indiana Jones!

Raised in the Worcestershire countryside, Dave Mountjoy spent much of his childhood on his mum’s family farm. After university, he travelled extensively in East and North Africa taking part in biodiversity expeditions and living with the Karamojong people in north-eastern Uganda. Humbled and inspired by their generosity of spirit, despite having little, further adventures followed including a stint as the assistant to the resident Shaman at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, where he met his wife, Diana.
The quest for a more sustainable, value-driven life led the couple to the foothills of the Pyrenees where they bought their first cows – hardy Galloways and Castas, an endangered breed native to the local area – setting up a farm retreat. Little could Dave foresee the impact the purchase of this humble herd would have on his own life.
Dave and Diana continue to live on the farm with their two young boys, Gabi and Elie and invite all to stay with them in their annual Being with Cows Retreats.

Being with Cows tells the heartbreaking, heartfelt, and ultimately, transformational story of how one man, shattered by the sudden death of his brother, was helped to a place of acceptance and quiet joy through the presence and gentle stillness of his cows.

It was a healing so deep and complete, that he realised others would benefit from his experience and the idea for the ‘Being with Cows’ retreats was born; a retreat where everyone can benefit from ‘cowfulness’ and the quiet journey to a simpler way of being.

An inspirational story about grief, family, mindfulness and the healing power of nature, Being with Cows is for anyone in search of inner peace and simplicity in an increasingly complex world.

If you enjoy curling up on a winter’s evening with a good thriller, why not join us for a night of crime with authors Louise Mumford and Sarah Ward.

We’ll be discussing Louise’s third novel The Hotel and the second in Sarah’s new crime series The Sixth Lie.

Included in the ticket price is a choice of either title and we’ll also have Louise and Sarah’s other books available as well.

Buy Tickets Here

Louise Mumford

Louise was born and lives in Wales and spends her time trying to get down on paper all the marvellous and thrilling things that happen in her head. Her debut book, Sleepless, a “frighteningly inventive” speculative thriller inspired by her own experience of insomnia, was published in December 2020. This was followed by The Safe House, released in May 2022. Louise’s latest thriller The Hotel, came out in August 2023 and is inspired by the location of the Cliff Hotel at Gwbert.

Louise is Co-Chair of Crime Cymru, a co-operative of crime fiction writers with a connection to Wales and is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association. She has recently been one of only ten writers picked to be part of Hay Festival’s prestigious Writers At Work scheme 2023, a creative development programme for emerging Welsh talent.

Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward is a Ceredigion based crime novelist who also writes gothic historical thrillers as Rhiannon Ward. 

The Birthday Girl, the first book in her new Welsh based series, was published in 2023 and described in the FT as ‘channelling Christie-esque tropes’ and was followed by The Sixth Lie. 

Sarah has also written Doctor Who audio dramas, is Vice-Chair of the Crime Writers Association and Treasurer of Crime Cymru, the Welsh crime writing collective.

We’re delighted to welcome Dafydd Iwan to Gwisgo Bookworm at 2pm on Saturday 9 December to sign copies of his autobiography Still Singing ‘Yma O Hyd.’

Dafydd Iwan rose to fame with his 1960s protest songs and has been performing ever since. Welsh football’s recent adoption of his anthem ‘Yma o Hyd’ (Still Here) has twice taken it to No.1 in the iTunes charts. He is one of the biggest names in Welsh-language music and Welsh-language activism. This autobiography explains more about the man, his music and his political activism.

To help ensure we have sufficient stock you may wish to pre-order your book. If you are unable to get to the shop on the day please let us know and we can arrange for a copy of the book to be dedicated to you. Or, you can buy the book here and state who you would like the book to be dedicated to on the Checkout page.

Join us for an evening with Kathy Biggs and Sian Collins to discuss their latest novels Scrap and Tiding, both published by Honno.

As an independent co-operative press run by women, Honno is committed to bringing you the best in Welsh women’s writing. It was established in 1986 by a group of volunteers determined to increase the opportunities for Welsh women in publishing and bring Welsh women’s literature to a wider public.

Kathy Biggs is originally from Yorkshire. She took a summer job in Mid Wales in 1985 – and never left. She has two grown children and lives with her husband, Paul. After studying a number of Creative Writing courses linked to Aberystwyth University, she discovered a talent for writing.  The Luck was her first novel.

Scrap is a captivating human fable of friendship and second chances with touches of magical realism – a quirky contemporary story set in Swansea.

Life has become stale for best friends Mackie and Sharon, who never imagined they’d end up working in a scrapyard. Sharon has dreams of becoming a cruise ship star, while a browbeaten Mackie cares for his wayward daughter’s twins.

But fate takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious kid is discovered in the boot of a car. He has a remarkable gift—he can draw visions of the future, and this opens up new avenues that neither could have foreseen…

Siân Collins is an Edinburgh graduate, she taught Anglo Saxon and Medieval Literature in South Africa, worked as an assistant editor on The Lancet, and ran English and Drama departments in several well-known London secondary schools. She returned to her native Carmarthenshire to teach, write, and relish life in the beautiful Tywi Valley. Her debut novel, Unleaving, was published in 2019.

Tiding – A coming of age murder mystery exploring death, the afterlife and memory. During the Great Freeze of 1963, Eleanor O’Dowd, a middle-aged piano teacher, is found bludgeoned to death. As the freeze takes hold, there is a brutal reckoning for the residents of Glanmorfa, who are caught in the grip of an ancient curse. Or so it appears to the vicar’s daughter, Daphne Morgan, who finds herself engulfed in the currents of the adult world and mysteries far deeper than she expected in this chilling story about the power of imagination.

Set in the fictional Carmarthenshire town of Glanmorfa, Collins draws inspiration from her own childhood to craft a masterful tale exploring how children can sometimes become victims of adult power.

We are delighted to welcome Ness Owen and Julia Bell to Gwisgo Bookworm on Saturday 13th May.

Ness and Julia will discuss and read from their new poetry collections, Moon Jellyfish Can Barely Swim and Hymnal.

Entry is free so do come along and say hello between 12pm and 2pm.