We at Tyler's publicity team decided to commandeer his blog yet again. We simply had to, since he's been so reserved about announcing his awards win. Sure, he may have been gallivanting around on holiday - drinking in Steve McQueen's bar, hanging out with Team Coatwolf, chowing down at Bou Bei, skinny dipping in Lake Sakinaw (allegedly) - but that's no excuse for failing to even mention that he received the Wales Book of the Year People's Prize last month for The Drive. Fortunately, others have gotten there first; his wonderful publisher Myriad announced it, as did the Book Trade website, as well as Gloucestershire uni, where Tyler teaches. Time to get with it, Tyler. Here's his aw-shucks reaction: “I was really excited and grateful to win this year’s People’s Choice award. My work has always had a lot of support in Wales and this is another example of that. I wanted The Drive to be a fun and entertaining read – a piece of pop-lit – and it’s great that people have responded to that.” Well, that's a decent start, Tyler. But now that you're back from vacation, we're not writing any more blog posts for you, literary prizes or not, until you give us a pay rise, or at least a pat on the back. For now, though, here's a pic of your big moment...
This weekend I'll be heading to Dinefwr Castle on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons for the 2014 Dinefwr Literature Festival. It's been a couple of years since I last attended, when I did a Desert Island Discs reading with Deborah Kay Davies. The fest includes lit readings, spoken word, music (Gruff Rhys and Cate Le Bon this year), and stuff for kids (pirates!). It's a seriously awesome festival and I'm happy to be part of it again. This time around I'll be doing two events. The first is a 'Fictional Map of Wales' reading, alongside fellow Parthian author and friend Rachel Trezise. We were both commissioned by Wales Arts Review to write stories about particular areas of Wales, so we'll be reading from and discussing those. Next up, and later on, Rachel and I will be taking part in Speed Dating Writers, which apparently involves attempting to woo the audience members into picking us. Hopefully it means they'll buy us a drink after. Possibly it will entail something more embarrassing. But I'm up for it. Bring it. The full programme and further info on the fun and games is available here.
This Tuesday (June 10th) I'll be playing the part of country mouse in the city, and making an appearance at Drink, Shop, Do in London, courtesy of Nicci Cloke, who organizes the Speakeasy sessions in the basement bar of this uber-hip establishment. I'll be reading alongside M.R. Carey and Viv Groskop, and apparently there will also be a wild and rambunctious spontaneous writing challenge. Previous writers have faced themes as varied as jellybean-eating porcupines, soft furnishings, and bins knocked over in the back streets of Whitechapel. You can see their admirable on-the-spot efforts here. Things kick off at 7 p.m., and I'm pretty stoked! Afterwards, a few of us will be heading down the street to catch Willy Vlautin playing with the Delines at the Lexingon, in what's shaping up to be an epic night.
