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And: a memoir of my mother shortlisted for the Creative Non-fiction Welsh Book of the Year Award

And: A memoir of my mother, by Isabel Adonis, is an exploration of colour, alienation, the impact of colonialism on social culture, and what it means to be ‘mixed’.

Isabel Adonis, a renowned artist in her own right, is daughter of Guyanan artist Denis Williams whose works have been exhibited at the Tate Gallery.

Adonis has written for New Welsh Review, Urban Welsh, Just So You Know, the Journal of Caribbean Literature and Impact magazine.

A Nation.Cymru review of the book said And: a memoir of my mother is, “...an extraordinary narrative, a swirling and circling story of language and heroism.”

The Cardiff Review said, “Stylistically, Adonis' prose calls to mind the kind of oral storytelling found in the Bible, or Homer.”

Jenny White wrote in the Western Mail, And; a memoir of my mother is “...an intense, hypnotic read. Adonis' writing is keenly observant, and sometimes incantatory in its rhythm and repetition.”

Paul Theroux says, “I admire this book – a family entangled in Wales and the West Indies and Africa – a dominant father casting his shadow over the narrative. It is a complex memoir, related in a quiet and incantatory way, for which the word "Faulknerian" is not an exaggeration. It is in many ways a dark tale, but its heart and its humanity gives it great power.”

Jim Perrin says. “And is the freshest, most exquisitely written, most observant, complex and insightful cultural memoir ever written about growing up in North Wales. I thoroughly recommend it to you.“

Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director of Black Bee says, “And is an authoritative reflection of the impact of culture, colour and colonialism on society in Wales and the wider world. It is an essential read for those looking to better understand the diversity of the country and its people.

Isabel Adonis says, “I wrote this book to present through the person of my mother the image of every unacknowledged, undervalued individual who nevertheless contributes to society. Without whom the great and the good would be nothing. In And: a memoir of my mother I explore the opposition, division and rejection that is inherent in identities, race, culture and family and the impact it has on myself, Wales and us all, even when we reject the notion that it does. It is an honour to be shortlisted for this award and I am so pleased that Seonaid Francis of Black Bee Books had faith in my work.”

Title Information

Isabel Adonis was born in London in 1951, to Welshwoman Catherine Alice Hughes, and renowned Guyanese artist Denis Williams, whose work has been exhibited in the Tate Gallery.

Growing up in London, Sudan and Wales, with a cold and distant father and an isolated mother, Adonis explores the nature of identity, culture and desire as shaped by her childhood impressions of her parents.

Simultaneously personal and universal, and told in the rhythms of an oral story, this beautifully musical and multi-layered book examines the divisiveness of colour, alienation, the impact of colonialism on social culture, and what it means to be ‘mixed’.

An essential read that portrays an important aspect of the culturally diverse social fabric of Wales and the wider world.

Title: And: A memoir of my mother

ISBN: 978-1-913853-10-5 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-913853-11-2 (eBook)

Publication: September 29th 2022

Extent: 271 pp

Price (Kindle): £3.49

Price (Paperback): £8.99

Genre: Non-fiction memoir/biography

Author Information

Isabel Adonis is a mother, a writer and an artist. She has been published in the New Welsh Review, Urban Welsh, Just So You Know, and the Journal of Caribbean Literature. She was the winner of Best Article 2002 in Impact magazine.

Born in Kilburn in North London to a Welsh mother and West Indian father, Isabel moved to the Sudan at age six and back to Wales at age nine, where she grew up in Llandudno.

As a writer she focuses on race and identity. 

This is her first book.

Llandeilo based Black Bee Books is Wales' Newest Publishing House

Newly launched Black Bee Books will publish its first titles in September 2020.

Launching with three titles this year, from debut and established authors, Black Bee will be publishing a contemporary crime novel, an historical novel set across the twentieth century in rural west Wales, and a collection of Young Adult Horror and Sci-fi Short Stories.

Seonaid and Huw Francis already run the successful ThunderPoint Publishing (www.thunderpoint.scot) which publishes a variety of genres, including crime, historical and literary fiction, predominantly set in Scotland. ThunderPoint titles have been long and shortlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize, Dundee International Prize, the Polari Prize and the Bloody Scotland/McIlvanney Prize. ThunderPoint has recently sold translation rights for The Peat Dead to Estonia's oldest publisher, Eesti Ramaat.

Black Bee Books aims to work with authors that reflect the wide range of communities in Wales, and publish titles that resonate with a diverse readership.

Black Bee titles will be distributed by the Books Council of Wales, and we look forward to working with bookshops across Wales to engage readers with our authors and books.

Seonaid Francis, Editorial Director says, “We are excited to be launching Black Bee Books, and though the Covid pandemic has impacted on our launch plans, we are very much looking forward to working with an expanded group of authors and engaging with bookshops, readers and new audiences in Wales. We are actively looking for authors who represent the diverse communities in Wales, and write with a distinctive and engaging voice that readers will empathise with.”

A spokesperson at The Books Council of Wales said, “We are delighted to welcome Black Bee Books to the Welsh publishing industry and look forward to working with them as a distributor. The benefits of reading have been forgrounded once more during the strange times in which we currently live, and it is important that readers in Wales are able to choose from a wide selection of titles which reflect the diversity and distinctiveness of our country in both Welsh and English.”

Black Bee Authors

Angela Johnson was born in West Wales, and is a Welsh speaker. Her work is often inspired by the Welsh countryside, and the characters she knew in childhood, and the tales they told.

She was an English teacher and taught in a number of schools in the South East of England She then studied Creative Writing at the University of Kent. Her novel Harriet and her Women was shortlisted for the Impress Prize for Fiction, and she has won the Poetry Prize at the Folkestone Arts Festival.

She lives in Kent, enjoys travelling to look at birds and plants in exotic places, and is a passionate environmentalist, and, latterly, is spending too much time fulminating about politics.

Title: Arianwen

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-913853-00-6

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-913853-01-3

GB Williams has a business degree and works as a systems architect. She writes crime fiction as GB Williams, and has written novels, shorts and flash fiction. She has also had some success with steam punk (writing as Abi Barden in the US), paranormal prose, and poetry.

She was born in Kent, grew up in Tonbridge, and now lives in Swansea.

Title: The Chair

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-913853-02-0

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-913853-03-7

Colin R Parsons was born in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. He was always fascinated with science fiction and other worlds, creating stories of his own from a young age. He left school, and writing, at sixteen and didn’t start writing again until his early forties.

He has written short stories, children's books and adult fiction, including crime. and has been a full-time writer since 2013.

Colin works with Primary Schools in England and Wales running presentations and workshops to encourage reading and literacy.

Title: The Man with the Black Shoebox and Other Strange Stories

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-913853-04-4

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-913853-05-1

Further Information

Black Bee Books is based near Llandeilo and will launch its first titles from September 2020.

Established by experienced publishers Seonaid and Huw Francis, Black Bee Books will build on their success with ThunderPoint Publishing, and aims to work with authors that reflect the wide range of communities in Wales, and publish titles that resonate with a diverse readership.

www.blackbeebooks.wales

@BlackBeeBooks

info@blackbeebooks.wales

Tel: 01558 685860

ThunderPoint Publishing Ltd., a Publisher Member of Publishing Scotland, was established in 2012: www.thunderpoint.scot