The festival aims to celebrate Welsh literature as well as cult writers and outlaw voices. Laugharne has a unique character which has been of great inspiration to writers and artists.

The most notable of these, of course, was Dylan Thomas. He had a long affinity with Laugharne, spending the last four years of his life in the boathouse which is now a heritage centre dedicated to him. It is an ideal location for the festival to take place combining a fantastic literary heritage with beautiful scenery and a strong local community.

This year, both Patti Smith and Roger McGough will make appearances in the boathuse itself (which holds only 24 people) as well as in the main venue. They will be joined by Will Self, Booker Prize winner DBC Pierre, actor Keith Allen, Howard Marks and Lionel Shriver among many other performers including exciting young musicians such as Richard James and Patrick Wolf.

All the venues are intimate and range from a capacity of 65 to 200 people at the Millenium Hall. Weekend tickets are available, priced at £50.00 but these will be limited in number. Tickets will also be available for individual performances, priced between £5 and £12. All tickets will be available in advance from www.ticketweb.co.uk.

Visit www.thelaugharneweekend.com for further details about bookings,the location and accommodation.


THE LAUGHARNE WEEKEND 2008

PATTI SMITH
Patti Smith is a writer, artist and performer. Her albums
include "Horses", "Easter" and "Gone Again". Her artwork has been exhibited worldwide, most notably at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Haus der Kunst, Munich and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Her books include "Babel", "The Coral Sea" and "Auguries of Innocence". On July 10th 2005 she received the Commandeur L’Ordre des Artset des Lettres, the highest grade awarded by the French Republic to eminent artists and writers.

THE EDGE OF LOVE
The Dylan Thomas biopic "The Edge Of Love" starring
Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Matthew Rhys and Cillian Murphy will have it’s premiere at the Hurst House cinema and the film’s director John Maybury will be interviewed and take part in a Q & A session.

DBC PIERRE
DBC Pierre’s first novel "Vernon God Little" won the
Booker Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award for Comic Writing in 2003. His second book "Ludmila’s Broken English" confirmed his place in the ranks of today’s most original storytellers. "One of the most original and seriously funny narrative voices in recent times" - The Observer

WILLY VLAUTIN
Willy Vlautin’s debut novel "The Motel Life" was published in 2005. He is also the singer and main songwriter of the band Richmond Fontaine. The Times said that his latest book "Northline" is a portrait of small town America imbued with a sense of yearning and empathy from a novelist and songwriter praised for his compassion and warmth "The Dylan of the dislocated" - Independent on Sunday

ROGER MCGOUGH
Roger McGough is one of Britain’s best known poetry voices. He has been captivating adults and children alike with his unique blend of heart and wit for more than four decades. He was awarded a CBE for services to literature in 2004. "McGough does for poetry what champagne does for weddings" - Time Out "The patron saint of poetry" - Carol Ann Duffy

KEITH ALLEN
Llanelli born actor Keith Allen currently playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC’s Robin Hood will read from his autobiography "Grow Up".

WILL SELF
Will Self has earned his reputation through a body of innovative work: there’s nobody quite like him writing today. He has written novels, novellas, collections of short stories and non-fiction works. As a journalist he has contributed to a plethora of publications
over the years, he is also a regular broadcaster on television and radio. "Vivid, visceral and breathtakingly ambitious" - GQ "Will Self’s world is all his own" - Martin Amis

LIONEL SHRIVER
Lionel Shriver has written eight novels with the latest being "The Post Birthday World". Her novel "We Need To Talk About Kevin" won The Orange Prize for Fiction" in 2005. She has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian and is a regular contributor
to Newsnight Review on BBC2 "Powerful, gripping and original" - The New Statesman "Awesomely smart and stylish" - The Independent

TWIN TOWN
Last year’s magnificent finale will be repeated with the cast of Twin Town doing a script reading of the classic Welsh film.

I SING OF A MAIDEN
I Sing Of A Maiden is a conversation between the ancient and the contemporary with folk songs from Charlotte Greig interspersed with Rachel Trezise’s incisive and funny monologues with the teenage
girl being played by Laugharne actress Carys Eleri. This play has recently performed several sell out shows at the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff.

MIKE JOYCE
Legendary drummer of The Smiths will show their dvd "Inside The Smiths" and answer questions afterwards.

BYRON ROGERS
Byron Rogers was recently awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of RS Thomas "The Man From The West".

HOWARD MARKS
Howard Marks has written two best selling books "Mr Nice" and "Senor Nice" dealing with his life as a drug smuggler and his life afterwards. "Howard Marks has huge charisma. He sounds like Richard Burton
and looks like a Rolling Stone". - The Daily Mail

RICHARD JAMES
Carmarthen born and bred Richard James is a former member of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynki and has released a stunning solo album in "The Seven Sleeper’s Den". His next album is due in spring 2008.

JON RONSON
Cardiff born Jon Ronson is an award-winning writer and documentary maker. He is the author of two bestsellers: "Them: Adventures With Extremists" and "The Men Who Stare At Goats", and two collections,
"Out Of The Ordinary: True Tales Of Everyday Craziness" and "What I Do: More True Tales Of Everyday Craziness". "He is compelling" -Times Literary Supplement "Frank, searching and highly amusing" - Western Mail

NIKITA LALWANI
Nikita Lalwani was born in Rajasthan, India but was one when her family relocated to Cardiff. After studying English at Bristol University she went on to work for the BBC, directing factual television and documentaries. Her first novel "Gifted" was longlisted for the 2007 Booker Prize and shortlisted for The Costa First Novel Award. "Accomplished and confident" - The Times "Beautiful, brilliant" - Stephen Merchant

NIALL GRIFFITHS
Liverpool born and Aberystwyth based, Niall won "Welsh Book Of The Year" for his novel "Stump" and was described by Time Out as "one of Britain’s most talented writers"

HELEN WALSH
Helen Walsh was born in Warrington in 1977 and the publication of her first novel "Brass" in 2004 saw her being described by Arena as a "female Irvine Welsh". Her latest book is "Once Upon A Time In England"
"Spellbinding and utterly unique" - The Independent

AMBER MARKS
Formerly a barrister, Amber Marks currently researches and teaches law at King’s College London. Her first book "Head Space" deals with the
murky world of the surveillance industry and asks who stands to benefit from a surveillance society.

DAN RHODES
Dan Rhodes was chosen by Granta as one of their Best British Novelists in their once in a decade list in 2003. His last book "Gold" was set in Wales and published in 2007. "Funny, original, unforgettable" - Jenny Colgan

PATRICK WOLF & EDWARD LARRIKIN
2007 has seen singer-songwriter Patrick Wolf become a major artist with the release of his third album "The Magic Position" and two sold out shows at the Shepherds Bush Empire in December. Formerly the leader of Larrikin Love Ed’s new musical project is "The Pan I Am". At Laugharne he will perform his one man play "Camusflage Krokodial"

ROBERT LEWIS
Robert Lewis’ two Welsh crime novels "The Last Llanelli Train" and "Swansea Terminal" are darkly funny and quite brilliant - equal parts Raymond Chandler
and Samuel Beckett

TESSA HADLEY
Tessa lives in Cardiff and teaches English and Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. She has published two novels "Accidents In The Home" and "Everything Will Be Alright" and one short story collection "Sunstroke"