Penfro Childrens’ Story  Competition

Three Categories

• Key stage 2/3 – ages up to 11  – Stories up to 750 words

• Key stage  4    -  ages up to 15 -  Stories up to 1,500 words

•  Key Stage 5  – ages up to 18 year olds – Stories up to 3,000 words

PRIZES : One cash prize of £50 each for the Welsh and English story winner in each age category.

RULES :

• Entries may be written in either Welsh or English and should have a title. The work must be that of the entrant alone, without aid or alteration by any other person.

• The entrant’s name, title of story, school and home address must be submitted with the entry on a separate piece of paper.

• The closing date for entries is  14th June 2013

• The judges’ decision is final, and prize winners will be notified at the beginning of September.

• Prizes will be presented during the next Penfro Book Festival on Sunday 15th September 2013

The story should begin with one of the following sentences
 
    • Elfed rubbed his eyes and looked again at the strange figure on the bridge, but there was nothing there.
 
    • It was raining, but we agreed to go anyway.

A real-life drama? A ghost story? A funny day out?  A fantasy trip? A rugby match?  Let the imagination run wild!

Entries should be sent to : Childrens’ Story Competition, Penfro Book Festival, Delfryn, Napier Street, Aberteifi SA43 1ED

Manylion y Gystadleuaeth ar gyfer Athrawon, Rhieni a Chystadleuwyr

Tri Dosbarth Oedran

• Cyfnod Allweddol 2/3 – oedrannau hyd at 11 oed – Straeon hyd at 750 o eiriau

• Cyfnod Allweddol 4 – oedrannau hyd at 15 oed – Straeon hyd at 1,500 o eiriau

• Cyfnod Allweddol 5 – oedrannau hyd at 18 oed – Straeon hyd at 3,000 o eiriau

GWOBRAU:
Un wobr ariannol o £50 yr un ar gyfer enillwyr y stori Gymraeg a’r stori Saesneg ym mhob dosbarth oedran.

RHEOLAU:

• Gellir cyflwyno’r stori yn y Gymraeg neu’r Saesneg a dylai fod â theitl. Dylai’r straeon fod yn waith yr ymgeisydd yn unig, heb unrhyw gywiriadau neu newidiadau gan berson arall.

• Dylid cyflwyno teitl y stori, enw’r ymgeisydd, yr ysgol a’u cyfeiriad cartref ar daflen ar wahân gyda phob ymgais unigol.

• Y dyddiad cau ar gyfer derbyn y straeon fydd y 14eg Mehefin 2013.

• Bydd penderfyniad y beirniaid yn derfynol, a hysbysir y buddugwyr ar ddechrau mis Medi.

• Cyflwynir y gwobrau yn ystod Gŵyl Lyfrau Penfro 2013 ar Ddydd Sul 15ed Medi 2013.

Dylai’r stori gychwyn gyda’r naill neu’r llall o’r brawddegau isod:

• Rhwbiodd Elfed ei lygaid ac edrych eto ar y ffigwr rhyfedd ar y bont, ond ’doedd dim byd yno.

• Roedd yn glawio, ond fe wnaethom gytuno i fynd ta beth.

Drama go iawn? Stori ysbryd? Diwrnod doniol allan? Taith ffantasi? Gêm rygbi? Dyma rai awgrymiadau i gynorthwyo ac annog syniadau dychmygus y llenorion ifainc.

Dylid anfon eich straeon at:

Cystadleuaeth Stori Pobl Ifainc, Gŵyl Lyfrau Penfro, Ysgrifennydd y Gystadleuaeth, Stable Cottage, Pendre, ABERTEIFI, SA43 1JU.

Neu trwy ebost ar ffurf atodiad pdf neu ddogfen ‘Word’ at: competition@penfrobookfestival.org.uk

Entry fee: £3 per poem
Closing date: Friday, July 19, 2013
Maximum length: 40 lines
Subject: open

RULES FOR ENTRY: 

The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
Poems should be in English, they must not have been previously published, nor be currently submitted for publication or competition elsewhere.
Poems must be the original work of the entrant, they must be typed single spaced on A4 paper and be no longer than 40 lines. Each poem must be on a separate sheet of paper, which must bear the title of the poem, but must not show names of entrant or any other form of identification. Two copies of each poem entered should be submitted.
Entries must be accompanied by a completed application form, appropriate payment and a stamped addressed envelope. Shortlisted entries will be notified via this sae.
Entries must be accompanied by the entry fee: £3 for each poem entered. Cheques (sterling only) should  be made payable to Penfro Book Festival.
We regret that we are unable to return poems or enter into any correspondence with entrants. Please keep a copy of your work. The judges’ decision is final.
The closing date is Friday, July 19, 2013.
Details of the shortlisted poems will be announced at the end of August.
An awards event will be held at The PENfro Book Festival  on Sunday, September 15th , when the winners will be announced and prizes will be presented by guest judge, poet Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch.
All those on the shortlist will be invited to attend and to read their poem.
Copyright remains with the authors, but PENfro Book Festival reserves the right to print winning poems on its website.

*Please note that entries will not be returned.

Guest judge of the PENFro Poetry Competition 2013 is Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. She  has published three collections of poems, Rockclimbing in Silk (Seren, 2001), Not in These Shoes (Picador, 2008) and Banjo (Picador, 2012). Her work has appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, Poetry London, Poetry Wales and Poetry Review.
In 2005 she was awarded a Hawthornden Fellowship and in 2007 a grant from the Society of Authors. In 2009 Samantha was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year and in 2011 she won a Leverhulme writer in residence award. In 2012 she was second prizewinner in the National Poetry Competition.

Click on the form below, and when it is on your screen, please print your copy.

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PENfro AGM

Held at Stable Cottage, Cardigan, on 1st February 2013 (delayed by bad weather)

The Chairman welcomed everybody , and thanked Liz for opening her home to the meeting.

 Present  

Carly Holmes, Jackie Biggs, Charlotte Penny, Richard Davies, Liz Whittaker, Derek Webb, Brian John, Bethany Lloyd

 Apologies

Angela John, David Llewelyn, Chris Taylor, Daffni Percival, Mavis Evans, Peter George, Marc Mordey, Sally Spedding, Atinuke, Catherine Evans, Pat Watkins, Glen Johnson, Sally Jones, Glen Peters, Brenda Squires, Susanna Capon, Deidre Edwards

 Minutes

There was no previous AGM so no minutes to be read and agreed

 Matters Arising

No Matters Arising (see above)

Chair’s Report – Brian read out the Chair’s report (published below). He will now be handing over the role of Chair to Derek. All offered thanks to Brian for the work he has done for PENfro over the last two years

 Treasurer’s Report

Rich read out his Treasurer’s Report (attached). The accounts have now been looked over by an accountant and all have been reconciled. The bank account currently holds £6231.  All sponsorship monies have now been received. A formal letter will be presented from the accountant confirming the account is accurate and reconciled.

The committee queried with Bethany what PLANED’s expectations are of PENfro, in relation to the financial support they have given. Bethany confirmed that the income/expenditure form attached to the AGM minutes would be sufficient.

 Election of Officers

Mark Mordey has resigned from the committee. Carly Holmes, Jackie Biggs and Bethany Lloyd were formally welcomed as new committee members.

Elected:  Derek Webb – Chair.  Rich Davies – Treasurer.  Carly Holmes and Charlotte Penny- Secretarial duties.

All voted and confirmed

Derek proposed Liz Whittaker as Deputy Chair.

All confirmed

 Thanks

were offered to all for their support and attendance

The  meeting closed at 11am

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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT for 2012

Presented to 2013 AGM

Less than two years ago Glen Peters and I had an informal chat and thought it was a pity that West Wales did not have a literary festival of any sort.  We thought we might do something about it, and put out feelers — and miraculously a small committee of like-minded people came into existence with the common aim of making a festival happen, using the wonderful facilities at Rhosygilwen as the venue.  After much deliberation, we decided on the name of PENfro Book Festival.  We were delighted to accept Derek Webb’s splendid design for a festival logo, and in the early days much work went into establishing the name and identity of the festival, canvassing practical and PR support from the key organizations in West Wales, applying for funding and finding sponsors, agreeing a constitution, and setting up a web site.  From the beginning the Committee was made up of Brenda Squires, Glen Peters, Liz Whittaker, Deirdre Edwards, Charlotte Penney, Derek Webb, Richard Davies and myself, and we also acknowledge the valuable contributions made by Mike Joseph and Christine Willison before they left the Committee.

By the summer of 2011 modest financial support had been promised by Pembrokeshire County Council and Literature Wales, and we estimated (quite correctly) that with the additional funds coming from the hire of tables in a “book fair” in Neuadd y Dderwen, we would make ends meet.  But there was also a great deal of “hidden sponsorship” from the Welsh Books Council, Pembrokeshire Life Magazine, PLANED, Greencroft Books and in particular Parthian Books, the Library of Wales and Rhosygilwen — for which we must once again record our thanks.

From the beginning, we defined the PENfro Book Festival as “a celebration of every kind of writing, reading and publishing in West Wales. A meeting place for readers and authors. Talks, discussions, competitions and awards.”  So our first festival, on September 17th and 18th 2011, was as ambitious as we could afford to make it, with more than 40 writers participating in some way or another — in talks, discussions, seminars, readings and storytelling sessions for children.  On 17th September we ran a successful Welsh language discussion in the mansion, and enjoyed a talk from Patrick McGuiness.  On 18th September the Book Fair was in full swing in the hall, with 30 stallholders representing all aspects of the book trade in Wales.  Twenty-one speakers contributed to a busy programme throughout the second day.  We ran four competitions, two for children and two for adults, and presented prizes to the winners.  Sadly, the weather was terrible, and that made it impossible for the public to make the most of our wonderful venue.  However, feedback from visitors, contributors and trade show participants was very positive, and all felt that we MUST make the festival an annual event.  So we had to oblige……..
For the 2012 Festival we welcomed Marc Mordey,  Peter George and Susanna Capon onto the Committee, and it was also a pleasure to welcome Bethany Lloyd on board, following a very generous grant of more than £7000 from PLANED, designed to secure the future of the Festival for at least three years.  We also obtained grants from PCC and Literature Wales.  It has to be said that the planning of the 2012 Festival was a great deal easier than the first, since we had all learned many lessons, and since we were financially much more secure.  Our new committee members all made invaluable contributions, which were much appreciated.  Our publicity and signage were much more effective than in Year One.  The event was again held over two days, on 15th and 16th September 2012.   We kept the same basic format for the trade show on the Sunday, and again the hall was occupied by 30 trade stalls. This time we used the main hall for the Saturday events with a strong Welsh theme — but in the process we lost some of the intimacy and “ambience” of the mansion that we had so much enjoyed in 2011.  On the Saturday (designated as “Writer’s Day”) we held a number of workshops for writers in various genres — and these were held to have been very enjoyable indeed.  We ran fewer competitions this year — generally successful, but hard work!  We also had a “lighter” programme on the Sunday, with just 8 events for the paying public and a deliberate avoidance of clashes and overlaps.  We had two failures on our hands — the planned “book Doctor’s Surgery” kindly offered by David Llewelyn did not attract the attention of aspiring writers, and the “Festival Fringe” was also a damp squib, partly extinguished by the weather. (We have not had much luck with the weather thus far…..)  All in all, the 2012 event was informative, enjoyable, and well supported, given the fact that the weather was again unpleasant and given that we are in the middle of a very deep recession.

But there is still much to learn and much to improve upon.  At this point I am stepping down as Chairman of the Festival, since I firmly believe that jobs in voluntary organizations such as ours should rotate quite frequently, and since I also believe that under Derek Webb’s energetic guidance, the Festival will move up to another level.  So I give my sincere thanks to all of my colleagues on the Committee, with particular thanks to Richard Davies for his stirling work as Treasurer and for the many hidden subsidies which he has given us over the past two years through leaflet design and publicity and behind the scenes negotiations!    And I also record my thanks to the many volunteers who have helped at both Festivals under the quiet and skilful guidance of Liz Whittaker — in many ways our volunteers have been the “friendly face” of the Festival, and we could not have done without them.  And finally, another word of thanks is due to Glen Peters and Brenda Squires, whose unbounded generosity has made Rhosygilwen a very special ”home” for the Festival.  With their ongoing support, we can, within five years, make Rhosygilwen an essential location on the literary map of Wales.

Brian John
1st February 2013

At any rate, we do of course extend a warm welcome to anybody who would like to attend.  Ring me on 01239-820470 for further details and to let me know that you will be present.

At the AGM, I will be stepping down as Chair after two very enjoyable years in the job, and there will be other changes too, in the Committee.

If you would like to help at all, in any capacity, let us know — we need all the help we can get as we seek to build the Festival into one of the cultural high points of the year in Pembrokeshire and West Wales generally.

Happy New Year!

Brian John

Chairman

Brian

by Holly Gillard

with illustrations by Boz Groden

Hi!  My name is Arwel  and I am a 9 year old dragon.  I live up by Devil’s Bridge in Aberystwyth.  I have 3 sisters and 5 brothers.  All my siblings have welsh names with extraordinary meanings like Adda (which means red earth) or Abertha (which means sacrifice), but my name, Arwel, has an unknown meaning.  All my siblings have different strengths.  Addiena is beautiful and has very good posture (that’s why she is called Addiena , which means beautiful).  Or what about my brother Bryn?  He’s fantastic at climbing (that is why he is called bryn, which means hill.)  I have an unknown strength, just like my name.  So, as you can see, I was the runt of the litter and I still am.

“Arwel — breakfast!” Dad called. He had a half demolished pig in his jaw.  Suddenly I lost my appetite.  “Umm… I don’t have a craving for dead pig today, do we have any herbs or perhaps an oaty biscuit?”
“Arwel, you are a dragon!  So you will eat like one.”
“But I……….”
“Save it Arwel!  Now tuck in!”
I watched in despair as they tore away the parts of the pig and munched on it happily. I sighed “You know I’m becoming a vegetarian — so I need special food.”
“Look Arwel, I hunt for the whole family — not just you,” he said sternly.
” Yeah Arwel, don’t be so selfish!” crowed my older sister Adain (Adain means winged).
I got up and walked away.  I got to the waterfall then slumped down on a rock.  I sat there for a while looking overhead to see if I could spot any herbs to eat.  It was then that I saw a huge patch of mint.  I licked my lips and crept towards it, watching my back in case my father saw me.  I reached out my hand gingerly, and picked a few big mint leaves — then ran.  I ran and ran until I reached a cave.  I stepped inside cautiously, then sat down to eat the mint leaves.  I didn’t wan’t my father to find me eating mint leaves, since he likes me to eat meat.  I took a little nibble out of the first one;  it was juicy and succulent.  The best breakfast I’d had for a long, long time!
When I returned back home I was welcomed with a hug from my mother and a stern telling off from my father.
“Arwel, how dare you sneak off?”
“I was looking for breakfast,” I said, with my mouth in a slight pout.
“Go to your cave right now!” he bellowed.
So I lowered my flimsy wings and skulked of to my room, with my tail dragging on the floor.  Tears pricked my eyes.  “Why can’t I be more like Bryn or Cadarn the strongest of my brothers?  Why do I have to be Arwel, the king of the unknown losers?”  All I ever wanted to do was to make my Dad proud.  I sat there crying until a piece of paper flapping in the wind distracted me.  I picked it up.  It said  DRAGON CONFIDENCE CAMP.   I looked on the back at the details, and it was not far from where I lived. “I’ll go to that camp!” I cheered, perking up a lot more.
When I arrived at the camp I was greeted by two tall fire breathing dragons who led me through a tall, steel gate.  About 16 small, skinny looking dragons were lined up.  I scurried over and quickly joined the line. There was a fierce, muscly dragon scanning us all with his green beady eyes.  He pointed to me. “This is what we call the runt of the litter,” he said, tugging me up to the front. “This scrawny little chap’s name is………..”
“Arwel,” I replied sofly.
“Tell me now, Arwel — what do you eat?”
I thought for a while.   If I said meat he would give me meat, but if I said herbs he would shout. “O…oaty bars!”  I squealed.   He laughed repeatedly, and the others chortled in agreement, but some of them looked like they enjoyed an oaty bar as much as the next.  ”You have no chance of improving, Arwel, so you might as well leave and only come back when you are a REAL dragon!” he bellowed.  And with that he led the others over to some treadmills.
I would have usually cried by now,  but this time I didn’t.  I wasn’t crying.  I felt different, my emotions were running high, and I was angry.  I’d never felt like this before.  It gave me more and more strength.  “Who needs this?  I’ll start my own training camp!”  I shouted.  I ran back home and started looking for heavy stones to use as weights.  I trained and trained, got fitter every day, ate lots of herbs, drank lots of water and became fit as a fiddle.  It took over 2 months but I did it!  Dad didn’t really notice at the start until one day he strode into my cave and saw my lifting huge boulders.  “Is that you, Arwel?”  He exclaimed, sounding very puzzled.  “Well of course it is Dad, I’ve just been training — that’s all.”

“Really?  Oh Arwel I.   I don’t know what to say!”
“Its OK Dad — I know how you feel.  I’m proud too.”
I’d always wanted Dad to feel proud of me — and now he was.
One day a reporter had come to town to take pictures for a new flag idea.  Wales was in a lot of trouble because they had copied the Spanish flag  – so they needed a new one.  I was just mooching around looking for herbs when she spotted me and crept over to me cautiously.  “Wow — you are very strong looking, aren’t you?” she said, beaming at me.  “All you have to do is train,” I replied, smiling.  “I’ve got it!” she yelled.   She started getting very excited, and I was wondering if I should run or not.  “How would you like to be on the flag of Wales?” she said, shaking with excitement. “Umm…….OK!” I said, sounding unsure.  “C’mon then!” she said, taking my claw and leading me away.  It took ages to get there, even though I didn’t know where ‘there’ was yet.  She took me through lots of doors until the last brown, polished door led into a huge stadium full of flashing lights.  There were lots of runners lined up with numbers on their chests.  “This is the Olympic stadium,” she whispered.  She led me up to a podium, took my hand then said “This dragon is going to be on the new flag for Wales!” she announced.  The crowd let out a huge cheer.  “Arwel, Arwel, Arwel!”  they all chanted.  It was the proudest moment of my life.

Arwel became very famous after that.  They were making lots of bunting with his face on it, lots of posters too and best of all his family now respected him.  Even though Arwel was strong and tough he still liked a good oaty bar now and then but, let’s just keep that a secret!

And that is how the dragon came to Wales!

Photos: courtesy Derek Webb

1. Sally Jones — Roundyhouse — poems from the new magazine issue  — watch this space
2. Margaret Redfern — Word Games with Maggie — watch this space
3. Dominic Williams — write4word happenings / Poems and Pints……  maybe around 3 pm in the Summerhouse
4. Pam Hunt — Miss Daisy (who is an Austin 7 motor car, in case you didn’t know…)  — on the piazza
5. Jo Hammond — How to write a mini Saga  — maybe in the Summerhouse, around 10.30 am