File 19 - Articles, prose work, poems, reviews, interviews, presentations, notes and correspondence

Articles, prose work, poems, reviews, interviews, presentations and notes by Niall Griffiths, with related correspondence and press cuttings.

The articles comprise: manuscript and typescript drafts by Niall Griffiths, with manuscript and typescript notes by him, and also proof copies, relating to articles intended for publication on subjects including his own work, his graduation, his most embarrassing moment, life as a writer, writing and rebellion, drugs, Aberystwyth, the Swansea ‘Art across the city’ festival, Dylan Thomas, contemporary British fiction, British politics and society, football, tattoos, Liverpool, Pembrokeshire, the expense of living in poverty, seaside towns, Welshness, places to visit in Wales, the Cambrian mountains, Cardiff, emerging from winter, encounters with big cats and a snake, meeting an army sniper, visiting a rehab centre, photography and memory, racism in a Devon pub, spring, Europe, birds of prey, finding old friends on the internet, Anthony Gormley, artists, an interview with Leanne Wood, queuing at Birmingham airport, holiday accommodation in Wales, raves, the relationship between Wales and England, a visit to Scotland, the set of Hinterland, an interview with John Cale, a conversation with a homeless man, remnants of the British empire, Bohemianism, hippies, Llandrindod Wells repair café, ‘Noir’ writing, albums to get drunk alone to, ageing, Bardsey, Laugharne, Llandudno, Folly Farm (Somerset), London, St Helena, Greenland, Namibia, Ireland, Australia, Croatia, Cumbria, Morocco, Poland, Transylvania, Split, Berlin and Egypt, with associated correspondence, press cuttings, publicity literature and ephemera; press cuttings relating to his appearances in Croatia; and posters, event programmes and other ephemera relating to his readings in Wales, Liverpool, Germany, Croatia, Romania and America.

The prose work comprises: manuscript drafts, proofs and printouts of short stories by Niall Griffiths written for publication or broadcast, some in two or more drafts, including ‘A break in the journey’, ‘A mountain between them’, ‘A wee word’, ‘Bingo master’s break out’, ‘Birthday card from Ward B-4’, ‘Britain’s little lion’, ‘Car’, ‘Coming of age’, ‘Fran and the witch and me’, ‘Fresher’s week’, ‘Further education’, ‘It was obviously a phrase of which he was fond’, ‘Like there’s no tomorrow’, ‘Mackintosh’s dreams’, ‘Never die’, ‘Prescription’, ‘Psycho-therapy’, ‘Puck’s tale’, ‘Redder Ridge’, ‘Rupert, I can’t stop thinking about you’, ‘Scenes from an Aberystwyth bedsit’, ‘Skewered’, ‘Snowstorm’, ‘Stigmata’, ‘The best death ever’, ‘The character’, ‘Turd burglars’, ‘Welshing’, ‘While the fire still smoulders’ and untitled work, together with copies of published stories; a manuscript draft by Niall Griffiths of a drama script set in Liverpool; typescript and manuscript drafts by Niall Griffiths of his contributions to published editions of work by Ron Berry, Charles Bukowski, Jörg Fauser, Rosamond Lehman, Oliver Onions, Kevin Sinnott, Caradog Prichard and others, with associated correspondence, notes and ephemera; drafts of presentations given by Niall Griffiths at literary events (including a typescript of a presentation on ‘Sheepshagger’); and a typescript draft of an adjudication by Niall Griffiths and Stevie Davies in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition for Welsh writers.

The poems comprise: manuscript drafts and printouts of poems by Niall Griffiths including ‘Like some half-remembered nightmare’, ‘Liverpool necessity’, ‘To the Mabinogion’, ‘When stars hum like bad reception’, and ‘You don’t always have to try it to know you won’t like it’, with associated correspondence; and a manuscript draft by Niall Griffiths of the introduction to ‘Red roar’, together with the editor’s comments on the poems, annotated by Niall Griffiths.

The reviews comprise: typescript and manuscript drafts and printouts of reviews, responses and publicity material composed by Niall Griffiths relating to the work of Eduardo Blanco Amor, Philip Ball, Ron Berry, Seán Burke, Gordon Burn, Augusten Burroughs, Merlin Coverley, Toni Davidson, Robert Frost, William Gay, Ken Grant, Jay Griffiths, John Harrison, Tony Harrison, Denis Johnson, Cynan Jones, Karl Ove Knausgård, Bernard MacLaverty, Gautam Malkani, Cormac McCarthy, Matthew McIntosh, Robert Minhinnick, Tiffany Murray, Sean O’Reilly, Mark Ryan, Ben Okri, Max Page, Ferdinand Pessoa, Youssef Rakha, Dan Rhodes, Paul Seawright, William T. Vollman, Alan Warner and others, with related letters to Niall Griffiths from Jay Griffiths, William T. Vollman and the Daily Telegraph, as well as related notes by Niall Griffiths and others, press cuttings of these and other reviews by Niall Griffiths, and related ephemera; manuscript notes by Niall Griffiths for reviews of restaurants, intended for publication; and copies of published and draft reviews of Niall Griffiths’s work. Also included is a typescript draft of an article that refers to ‘Grits’ in passing.

The interviews comprise: manuscript and typescript drafts, press cuttings and printouts of interviews with Niall Griffiths and articles about or relating to him, as well as his responses to a questionnaire relating to a University of London project on narrative and nature, with related notes by Niall Griffiths, correspondence and ephemera.

The notes by Niall Griffiths (manuscript, and often fragmentary and disordered) comprise: notes made during research for ‘Real Aberystwyth’ and ‘Real Liverpool’; notes made for a sequel to ‘Sheepshagger’; notes made in order to record useful information and observations on a wide variety of subjects, activities, experiences and issues, and containing ideas for use in his writing as well as other aspects of his personal, professional and domestic life; and notes on a viva voce examination in Lund, Sweden; together with press articles and publicity material collected by Niall Griffiths during the course of his research on a wide variety of subjects.

The correspondence relates almost exclusively to Niall Griffiths’s work, including details of projects, travel arrangements, contracts, funding, ideas for new projects, and letters to him from readers; notable subjects include his work on articles and other pieces for publication, ‘The dreams of Max and Ronnie’, the film of ‘Kelly + Victor’, the stage version of ‘Grits’, and a typescript response by Niall Griffiths to the editor’s comments regarding ‘Ten Pound Pom’. Also included are a draft of a personal letter by Niall Griffiths to friends, and a cutting of an anonymous letter [by Niall Griffiths] published in the New Statesman.