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If you've ever wanted to write for Doctor Who and you're aged 9-11 years old, then the Â鶹Éç's new initiative Script to Screen is definitely for you.

Script to Screen is an exciting competition that will give one lucky team of primary school children the chance to write their own Doctor Who mini-adventure starring the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith.

Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), The Doctor (Matt Smith) and Rory (Arthur Darvill)

To win this once in a lifetime opportunity, pupils aged 9-11 will be encouraged to collaborate on a three-minute script that takes the Time Lord on a new quest travelling through space and time inside the TARDIS.

The lucky winners will travel to the Â鶹Éç's studios in Cardiff where they'll see their script brought to life by the Doctor Who team including Matt Smith.

For more information on how to enter and for full terms and conditions visit the Â鶹Éç Learning website and read more about the competition on the Doctor Who website.

Yesterday I wrote about the planned unveiling of a new commemorative plaque to remember the Welsh actor and playwright Emlyn Williams.

The plaque was organised by the Marchmont Association, a community group in Bloomsbury, London as part of their independent commemorative plaques scheme.

Chair of the Marchmont Association, Ricci de Freitas, has been in touch since and has sent me a few pictures of the grand unveiling, which was carried out by Griff Rhys Jones in the company of the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Jonathan Simpson.

See the pictures below, all courtesy of The Marchmont Association, and visit their website - - for further details.

The blue plaque commemorating Emlyn Williams at 60 Marchmont Street

Griff Rhys Jones at the plaque unveiling

Ricci de Freitas - Chair of the Marchmont Association, Griff Rhys Jones and the Mayor of Camden, Councillor Jonathan Simpson

A blue plaque is to be unveiled by a small London community group that will honour one of the brightest stars of Welsh film and stage, Emlyn Williams.

Williams was a talented actor, playwright and director, famed for being the first to give then fledging actor and fellow Welshman Richard Burton his theatre break in The Druid's Rest in 1944 and also his big screen break in The Last Days Of Dolwyn in 1949.

Emlyn Williams

Now the are commemorating the actor with a blue plaque, to be unveiled at 5pm today, 27 April, by Griff Rhys Jones at 60 Marchmont Street, London WC1 - Williams' former residence.

Jones will unveil the plaque alongside the Mayor of Camden, Cllr Jonathan Simpson and MP Frank Dobson, together with representatives of various organisations and institutions with which Emlyn Williams was associated.

The Marchmont Association's independent commemorative plaque scheme was set up in 2009, with other plaques installed on the Bloomsbury street including those honouring actor Kenneth Williams, and literary couple Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley.

Read more about Emlyn Williams in an article on the Â鶹Éç Wales Arts website by film critic and historian Dave Berry: Top 10 Welsh film performances: Emlyn Williams in The Stars Look Down (1939).

A Wales-wide arts festival for the over 50s is set to celebrate its fifth birthday next month.

The , held across Wales throughout May, is run by the charity . The month-long festival offers a range of artistic and creative activities for over 50s to try their hand at - from painting, dancing and music to storytelling, photography and more - and celebrates renewal, growth and creativity in older age.

Festival coordinator Philip Thomas said: "The Gwanwyn festival is proud to be the shop window for artistic and creative older people in Wales and I really hope that we have inspired and are continuing to inspire [people] to get involved in the arts.

"We've got a packed programme this year with activities organised everywhere from the local village hall to the Wales Millennium Centre and all points in between, but the main thing I am looking forward to is our . We are on a mission to find the funniest over 50s in Wales and I hope to spend the summer chuckling."

A tea dance at a previous Gwanwyn event. Photo: Gavin Dando

For more information on Gwanwyn and to see how you could get involved, visit .

Michael Sheen's and National Theatre Wales' collaboration The Passion played out over the Easter weekend in Port Talbot, with thousands turning up to witness the epic street theatre event. Below is a round-up of some highlights, pictures and reviews - and if you went along, let us know your thoughts on The Passion.

If you didn't make it to Port Talbot fear not, as Â鶹Éç Cymru Wales has spent the last year behind-the-scenes of The Passion. Viewers can watch how it all came together as we follow the journey from planning to performance, in a special two part documentary beginning Sunday 29 May on Â鶹Éç One Wales (with viewers outside of Wales able to watch again on Â鶹Éç iPlayer).

"During the 72 hours that The Passion was staged, Sheen not only pushed the boundaries of modern theatre to new limits, but also brought together a community and showcased the Welsh steel town he calls home to the world in a different light... The Passion was drama at its very best - creative, ambitious, raw, passionate and relevant. Above all, it was also accessible and inclusive."

"A tortuous trial at times this was, but overall I found it touching, transformative and, in its own wayward way, a triumph."

"Co-directed by and starring the Welsh town's favourite son, Michael Sheen, this spectacle of angels on fiery bicycles, ghosts, snipers perched on the roof of the shopping centre, and shrines to lost futures was so much more than just an epic piece of street theatre."

"To begin at the end, this was an astonishing creation, a piece of street theatre of transcendental power which no one who was there at the death last night could or will ever forget... After this breathtaking act of theatrical magic, Michael Sheen can book himself in for local sanctification."

Around the Â鶹Éç

• Bethan Elfyn's Â鶹Éç Wales Music blog article: The Passion: Michael Sheen and Owen Sheers' new vision of the Easter story
• Michael Sheen's Port Talbot Passion play 'crucifixion'
• Michael Sheen Passion play takes to Port Talbot streets
• In Pictures: Grand finale to Sheen's Port Talbot Passion Play
• In Pictures: Michael Sheen: The Passion, days two and three
• In Pictures: Sheen's The Passion: Day one

Additional links

This week's Radio Wales Arts Show takes a special look at one of Wales' most successful landscape artists, Gwilym Prichard, who celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

Prichard was born in Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, in 1931. He trained Birmingham College of Art and taught in Anglesey until 1972, after which he painted full time. Prichard and his wife, fellow artist Claudia Williams, lived for many years in France but have now settled in Pembrokeshire, near Tenby.

Artist Gwilym Prichard in his studio

In this week's Arts Show, presenter Nicola Heywood Thomas speaks to the artist and his wife at their home and studio.

During the interview Prichard and Williams talk about their nomadic travel over the years, their different artistic styles and how they met, and how his meeting with his future wife and seeing her art inspired him.

Prichard also speaks of the benefits of living with another artist, living in Pembrokeshire and painting Welsh landscapes, and he tells Nicola about some of his favourite landscapes to paint, including Caldey Island and Tenby harbour, areas around St David's, Aberystwyth, Dolgellau, Machynlleth and Snowdonia.

He also shows Nicola around his studio, talks about some of his works in progress and his artistic processes.

An exhibition of Prichard's work celebrating his 80th year was recently held at the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff, and another will be held at Oriel Tegfryn, Anglesey throughout September later this year, dates to be confirmed.

Listen to the interview on the Radio Wales Arts Show on Wednesday 27 April at 7pm on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales, and on Â鶹Éç iPlayer for the subsequent seven days.

Plus, following the success of The Passion over the Easter weekend, there's an extra chance to listen to Nicola's interview with its creative director, Michael Sheen - available on iPlayer for the next five days.

Additional links

• Radio Wales Arts Show: programme information

Three oil paintings by the late Welsh artist Sir Kyffin Williams are to be auctioned later this month, with each estimated to fetch in the region of £30,000.

The Welsh Sale auction, which will be held by Colwyn Bay auctioneers Rogers Jones & Co on 30 April, will feature many works by prominent Welsh artists including Will Roberts, David Griffiths, William Selwyn, John Elwyn, Ceri Richards, Iwan Bala and Mary Lloyd Jones among others.

One of the oil paintings by Sir Kyffin to be auctioned is a depiction of cottages at Cesarea in Caernarfonshire, with an estimate value of £28,000-35,000.

The painting has up until recently been in Devon, where it was displayed for 30 years by its previous owner Thomas Charles Hudson CBE at his farm in Mortonhampstead, Dartmoor. The painting was originally purchased from the Thackeray Gallery in London - where Sir Kyffin exhibited his work regularly from 1968.

Sir Kyffin Williams' oil on canvas - Cottages, Cesarea. Photo courtesy of Rogers Jones & Co

The two other valuable oils on canvas that are due to go under the hammer are a Snowdonia landscape with cottage, outbuilding and bridge, titled Autumn Waunfawr, estimated at £27,000-35,000, and another showing a Snowdonia cottage - titled Cottage, Drwy-y-Coes - painted by Sir Kyffin in the 1970s, which is estimated at £30,000-40,000.

Sir Kyffin Williams' oil on canvas - Autumn, Waunfawr. Photo courtesy of Rogers Jones & Co

Sir Kyffin Williams' oil on canvas - Cottage, Drws-y-Coed. Photo courtesy of Rogers Jones & Co

Find out more about Sir Kyffin Williams and other Welsh artists on the Â鶹Éç Wales Arts website.

Welsh actor and comedian Ruth Jones returns for her seasonal chat show Easter Treat on Sunday.

Ruth Jones. Photo: Â鶹Éç/Tidy Productions Ltd

Jones is joined on the show by a fellow Welsh person, actor Michael Sheen.

By the time the programme goes out on Sunday night, Sheen would have completed The Passion, his epic collaboration with . Staged over three days this theatre production, which will play out in various locations across the town of port Talbot, is a modern take on the traditional passion play, and will run over the entire Easter weekend.

Browse a photo gallery of images taken during a rehearsal of The Passion.

Michael Sheen on Ruth Jones' Easter Treat. Photo: Â鶹Éç/Tidy Productions Ltd

Ruth Jones chats to Michael Sheen. Photo: Â鶹Éç/Tidy Productions Ltd

Jones is also joined by two fellow comedians on the show; queen of comedy Dawn French and the wickedly funny musical comedian Tim Minchin. Plus there will also be music from rising songstress Clare Maguire.

Ruth Jones' Easter Treat is on Sunday 24 April at 10.25pm on Â鶹Éç One Wales, with another chance to watch on Monday 25 April at 10.30pm on Â鶹Éç Two Wales.

A regeneration initiative in Blaenau Ffestiniog aims to bring the words, thoughts and poetry of the town's people together in a new street art project.

Poet and author Dewi Prysor has been appointed to lead the project and to organise workshops in the local schools with other artists and poets.

Ideas from residents from the area will also be accepted and the composed words, which will hopefully stretch for a quarter of a kilometre, will be inscribed in slate by artist Howard Bowcott and then installed in two of Blaenau's streets.

Gai Toms and Dewi Prysor with pupils during a workshop in Ysgol y Moelwyn

Prysor said: "I hope that we'll receive all sorts of ideas, some about Blaenau as it is today and how it used to be. They could be short statements, or local sayings that reflect the area's history. Some could relate to specific shops and who knows, perhaps we could fit them outside of those particular shops in town.

"Street art is to be seen in towns and cities across Europe and this is an excellent opportunity for residents to give their unique stamp on work that will be seen in the town for years and generations to come."

Richard Thomas, a member of the Blaenau Ymlaen regeneration group who are developing the project in partnership with Gwynedd Council and the Welsh Assembly, said: "the aim of the project is to celebrate the area's rich history and culture, and this particular project is a great opportunity to do this."

To contribute to the scheme, or for more information, contact blaenauymlaen@gwynedd.gov.uk and find out more about the on the Gwynedd Council website.

The in Aberystwyth is to buy two paintings by Welsh artist Alfred Janes in what is the centenary year of his birth.

Janes was born in 1911 over the fruit shop owned by his parents in Castle Square, Swansea. He studied at Swansea Grammar School and later attended the Swansea School of Art before winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools in London. During his time in London Janes flat shared with among others, Dylan Thomas and Mervyn Levy.

The first of the two paintings to be bought by the library is one of his former flatmate and fellow Kardomah Group member Mervyn Levy, which was painted in 1931. The other is Self Portrait: Puzzled, painted by the artist in 1953.

Alfred Janes paintings Mervyn Levy and Self Portrait: Puzzled. Images © the artist, courtesy of Oriel Kooywood Gallery, Cardiff

Janes returned to Swansea in 1936 and taught at the Swansea School of Art before enlisting in World War Two, where he served in Egypt. After the war he returned to Swansea and his teaching post at the school, and for a period in the 1950s lived on the Gower Peninsular.

A centenary exhibition of the artist's work was recently on show at the Oriel Kooywood Gallery in Cardiff.

Welsh poet and author Owen Sheers talks about his involvement in writing the script for ' production The Passion on this week's All Things Considered on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales.

Owen Sheers. Photo © Charlotte Medlicott

This week's All Things Considered looks ahead to the forthcoming celebration of Easter.

With Michael Sheen's and National Theatre Wales' much heralded version of The Passion due to take place in Port Talbot over the Easter weekend, All Things Considered explores the role of passion plays.

Roy Jenkins looks back at their origins in medieval Britain and asks what relevance they have for a contemporary society, while the programme features an interview with Sheers, who has written the script for The Passion.

The production starts on the afternoon of Good Friday and ends on Easter Sunday evening in Port Talbot - Sheen's home town - and will feature hundreds of local people in the extended cast.

Listen to this clip, in which Sheers talks about reading the original gospels in preparation for writing the script for The Passion:

In this clip, Sheers talks of how the new National Theatre Wales production differs from the original passion plays:

The programme also hears from the director of a more traditional version taking place at Wesley Methodist Church in Canton during Holy Week.

All Things Considered is on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales on Sunday 17 April at 9am, and on Â鶹Éç iPlayer for the subsequent seven days.

The 2011 Laugharne Weekend kicks off today, returning for a fifth year and featuring some of the brightest stars on the Welsh literary scene.

Highlights include talks from Howard Marks and Jon Ronson, storytelling from Bright Young Things authors Susie Wild and Tyler Keevil, plus poetry from the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Literature Wales chief and author of the Real Cardiff series Peter Finch.

Authors involved in Seren's New Stories from the Mabinogion series; Russell Celyn Jones, Owen Sheers and Niall Griffiths, will discuss their books in the series, while a film I wrote about a short time ago, Little White Lies, will also be screened.

Welsh actor Michael Sheen will give a talk (no doubt he'll mention his upcoming collaboration with National Theatre Wales, The Passion), plus there'll also be a production of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood.

Our very own Â鶹Éç Wales Music blogger Bethan Elfyn will present her Radio Wales show live from the festival between 6.30pm and 10pm on Saturday night.

Take a look at the complete line-up and programme of events on , and keep up to date with the .

Literature Wales has announced the long lists for the 2011 Wales Book of the Year awards.

The English language list consists of three collections of poetry, two books by début novelists, a science fiction nod and non-fiction entries that include an exploration into the culture of Welsh Nonconformity and a journey through the Inca heartland of south America.

Peter Finch, Literature Wales' chief executive, said: "Wales Book of the Year often causes a stir. Its eclectic, exciting and energising selection shows off some of the best writing talent Wales has. This year's choice is no exception."

The English language long list:

• Gladys Mary Coles, Clay (Flambard Press)
• Stevie Davies, Into Suez (Parthian)
• John Harrison, Cloud Road: A Journey Through the Inca Heartland (Parthian)
• Tyler Keevil, Fireball (Parthian)
• Patrick McGuinness, Jilted City (Carcanet)
• Pascale Petit, What the Water Gave Me: Poems After Frida Kahlo (Seren)
• Alastair Reynolds, Terminal World (Orion Books)
• Dai Smith, In the Frame: Memory in Society Wales 1910 to 2010 (Parthian)
• M Wynn Thomas, In the Shadow of the Pulpit: Literature and Nonconformist Wales (University of Wales Press)
• Alan Wall, Doctor Placebo (Shearsman Books)

The Welsh language long list:

• Tony Bianchi, Cyffesion Geordie Oddi Cartref (Gwasg Gomer)
• Elin Haf, Ar Fôr Tymhestlog (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch)
• Hywel Gwynfryn, Hugh Griffith (Gwasg Gomer)
• Jerry Hunter, Gwenddydd (Gwasg Gwynedd)
• William Owen, Cân yr Alarch (Y Lolfa)
• Angharad Price, Caersaint (Y Lolfa)
• Dewi Prysor, Lladd Duw (Y Lolfa)
• Gwyn Thomas, Murmuron Tragwyddoldeb a Chwningod Tjioclet (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas)
• Ned Thomas, Bydoedd: Cofiant Cyfnod (Y Lolfa)
• Gareth F. Williams, Creigiau Aberdaron (Gwasg Gwynedd)

The short list of three English language and three Welsh language titles will be revealed on Thursday 19 May, while the winners of the 2011 Wales Book of the Year will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 7 July.

Veteran Welsh poet Ruth Bidgood was recently announced as the winner of the Roland Mathias Prize for 2011.

The £3,000 prize was awarded to Ms Bidgood, 88, who lives near Llanwrtyd Wells, for her latest collection of poetry Time Being. Read more on the story on the Â鶹Éç Wales News website.

Plus, listen to last week's Radio Wales Arts Show - before it disappears from the Â鶹Éç iPlayer. It features Ms Bidgood reading some of her poetry, while Nicola Heywood Thomas also speaks to Glyn Mathias, the son of the late author and chair of the judging panel.

Meanwhile, on this evening's episode of the Radio Wales Arts Show, Nicola discusses the state of cinema and cinema-going in Wales.

Her guests include Sarah Haggar - whose family were pioneers of cinema in Wales - film critic Gary Slaymaker, Peter Edwards of Film Agency Wales and Pat Roberts - chair of the trust battling to keep Porthmadog's Coliseum Cinema in business.

The Radio Wales Arts Show is on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales this evening, Wednesday 13 April, from 7pm.

A new exhibition celebrating Wales' capital city and its creative talent will open tomorrow, and will occupy the first floor of the newly opened Cardiff Story museum in the city centre.

is the brainchild of Cardiff-based photographer Dan Green. The project started out as his own series of photographs of local traders, street musicians and other characters from around the city. He decided to expand the idea and invited artists to submit ideas reflecting their own perception of Cardiff. He said:

"We put a call out for artists to submit any work they felt reflected their city, and we were truly overwhelmed by the response. There's something magical here that makes people feel passionate about Cardiff."

The exhibition will include photography, film, writing, music, animation, illustration, painting and more to showcase all that is special about Cardiff.

Photo taken at the BigLittleCity exhibition, courtesy of Dan Green

The exhibition will be divided loosely into four categories - people, places, stories and music - with work by established artists such as photographer David Hurn going on show together with pieces by emerging artists.

Photograph of a painting of the Old Library building in Cardiff. Photo courtesy of Dan Green

One lovely element to the whole idea is that the exhibition will evolve during the run: the display of solo work will change every five weeks, while the interactive projects will be displayed for the full duration.

The initiative also has projects for the wider public to get involved with, such as designing a new coat of arms for the capital city, or penning thoughts on favourite places in Cardiff.

Work on show at the BigLittleCity exhibition. Photograph: Dan Green

BigLittleCity is at , The Old Library from Thursday 14 April until Friday 22 July 2011. For further information on this exciting project, visit .

If you missed it this morning, give Â鶹Éç Radio 4's Today programme a listen on Â鶹Éç iPlayer as Welsh actor Michael Sheen talked about The Passion, his forthcoming collaboration with .

Listen to a clip on the , or listen to the programme in full on Â鶹Éç iPlayer.

Michael Sheen. Photo: National Theatre Wales

The actor also spoke to Charlie Stayt and Sian Williams on Â鶹Éç Breakfast this morning, and will also feature on this evening's Night Waves programme on Â鶹Éç Radio 3 from 9.15pm.

Sheen will talk to Phillip Dodd about the project, which will be performed on the streets, beaches and hills of Port Talbot around the Easter weekend.

The has until recently been devoid of a photographic portrait of one of the best-loved writers to have heralded from Wales, Roald Dahl.

That has now been rectified with their recent acquisition of a portrait by photographer Mark Gerson. The portrait, purchased at an auction at Bonhams, will now join a collection of special edition books by the author that are held at the library.

To see the recently acquired portrait and for more on the story, .

Read a previous article about Roald Dahl on the blog.

Pembrokeshire is becoming a bit of a filming hot spot, having been the destination of choice for recent Hollywood blockbusters Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows and Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, featuring Russell Crowe.

In fact, last year the Wales Screen Commission claimed that these blockbusters had pumped £5m into the economy of south west Wales.

Another film that has recently made use of the beautiful Welsh coastal area is , which enjoys its theatrical release next month.

A shot taken during filming of Third Star. Photo: Jamie Stoker

The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as James, a young man dying from terminal cancer who invites his three closest friends on a camping trip to his favourite place in the world - Barafundle Bay.

The three close friends joining James on his journey are played by JJ Feild, Tom Burke and Adam Robertson, while other stars include Hugh Bonneville and the Welsh actor Nia Roberts.

Benedict Cumberbatch in Third Star. Photo: Jamie Stoker

A behind the scenes photo during the shooting of Third Star. Photo: Jamie Stoker

Browse more photographs taken on the set of the film in our photo gallery - photographs courtesy of Jamie Stoker and thirdstarfilm.com.

Third Star enjoyed the prestigious closing slot of the 2010 Edinburgh Film Festival. The film was directed by Hattie Dalton and written by Vaughan Sivell, who grew up in west Wales.

Third Star goes on general release in UK cinemas on Friday 20 May.

Additional links

• Â鶹Éç Film Network: Edinburgh Film Festival 2010

• Barafundle Bay on Â鶹Éç Wales Nature

Pembrokeshire-born author Sarah Waters joined Roy Noble in a conversation about her novel The Night Watch on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales earlier this week.

Roy has chosen Waters' novel as his Book Club read for April.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of wartime Britain, The Night Watch tells the story of four Londoners during World War Two; Kay, Helen, Viv and Duncan. The novel was shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize and Orange Prize for Fiction.

Sarah Waters. Photo © Charlie Hopkinson

Waters is well known for her popular titles including Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet - both of which were adapted for television by the Â鶹Éç.

Listen to the interview in which the author talks about how research-intensive this latest book was, and also of writing about the wartime period - a departure from the Victorian era she is usually identified with.

Listen to the interview on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales.

Roy Noble reading Sarah Waters' The Night Watch

Find out more about Roy's Book Club, and listen to Roy's previous programmes.

Additional information

• Sarah Waters profile on Â鶹Éç Wales Arts
• Roy Noble on Â鶹Éç Radio Wales

The newly formed has announced the Welsh authors who are set to benefit from their 2011 Writers' Bursaries.

The bursaries, which total £90,000, will enable writers to take time out of employment to write. Writing projects are set to include fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction, and for the first time graphic novels are also included in the bursary awards.

Six of the authors are yet unpublished while established authors receiving funding include Dylan Thomas Prize winner Rachel Trezise, who will use the bursary to develop her new collection of short stories, and Robert Minhinnick, who will write Limestone Man - a follow up to his 2007 novel Sea Holly.

English-language bursaries have been awarded to Jonathan Edwards, Richard Roberts, Angharad Penrhyn Jones, Karl Drinkwater, Huw Aaron and Mari Lisa. The Welsh-language recipients are Gwyneth Lewis, Meic Stephens, Arwel Vittle, Aled Jones-Williams, Tudur Hallam, Alan Llwyd and Mari Lisa.

Literature Wales has also announced the important dates for the annual Wales Book of the Year. The long lists for both the English and Welsh language titles will be announced a week today - Wednesday 13 April - while the short lists will be unveiled on Thursday 19 May and the winners announced on Thursday 7 July.

Read more on the .

There's a great piece by Hannah Waldram on the today, which has alerted us at Â鶹Éç Wales Arts Towers to a new street art project.

Paper Girl is a fresh arts initiative that involves an unusual way of distributing art work to the general pubic, which started in Berlin and has found its way to Wales' capital city. There's a lovely about the project that originated in Berlin, which apparently "started as a joke among design students".

Members of the public are encouraged to submit pieces of their art - be it drawings, paintings, zines, posters, textiles, prints or photos. It is planned for the pieces to be exhibited in a gallery space before, rather excitingly, these original pieces of art are randomly distributed on the streets of Cardiff via an organised bicycle ride, where cyclists distributes the rolled up art while on the move.

Intrigued? Find out more about the project, and how to submit your artwork before the deadline date of Friday 27 May, on the and .

Swansea native Cerys Matthews is the latest star to join the line up for the Gala Opening Concert.

Singer Cerys Matthews

The opening concert kicks off the Eisteddfod's week long festivities on Sunday 29 May.

The former Catatonia singer said she'll be "plundering that Welsh treasure trove" when she performs on the night, singing some old Welsh folk songs as well as some new compositions of her own.

The Eisteddfod is a part of many Welsh children's upbringing, and Cerys is no exception. She says: "Eisteddfods were part of my growing up in Swansea, even though I was never a very successful competitor! So to return this time as president of this year's Eisteddfod at Felindre is a real thrill and I very much look forward to it."

Joining Cerys will be some well known faces like The One Show presenter Alex Jones and West End star John Owen-Jones, as well as rising stars Elgan Llyr Thomas, winner of the Bryn Terfel Scholarship, classical group Elysium III,Ìý and Britain's Got Talent star Shaheen Jafargholi.

More information on the Urdd, including ticketing and accommodation advice, is available from the .

take on the massive challenge of presenting the history of art in their new production this week - in just one hour.

The theatre company was set up last year by Dan Jenkins and Lucy Beddall. It is based at , where both Dan and Lucy studied performing arts.

This new production, The Story of Art, follows on from their inaugural project The Play That Ate Your Face, and was inspired by a trip to an art gallery in the city.

Lucy explains: "After the success of The Play That Ate Your Face, we were keen to risk very different waters. Following a visit to Swansea's Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, we could think of nothing more challenging than the history of art.

"The Story of Art attempts to present the entire history of art in a single performance. It is a story of innovation, inspiration and struggle, but perhaps more important are the complex and dramatic stories of the artists themselves."

The cast of The Anatomical Theatre's The Story of Art

The Story of Art, whose cast and crew are made up of Swansea Met performing arts graduates and current students, runs at Swansea music venue The Garage tomorrow, Wednesday 6 April, and Thursday 7 April. For more information see .

A new exhibition by , one of the UK's leading figures in wood engraving, is to open at Anglesey's later this month.

The exhibition, Of a Feather - An Avian Alphabet, is a collection of newly created wood engravings by the artist, who has lived in Wales for nearly 40 years.

The engravings have been made over a period of four years and feature a whole host of feathered creatures including cuckoos, jays, lapwings, geese, guillemots, peacocks and more.

Colin See-Paynton's engraving Gaggle of Geese II. Image © the artist, courtesy of Oriel Ynys Môn.

The artist said: "The exhibition is, I think, unique in showing exclusively an entire ensemble of newly created wood engravings.

"It had been a cherished and enduring dream that I might one day have the wherewithal and the time to produce a thematic series of prints, a body of fresh new engravings which I could steadily assemble and eventually publish in totum, preferably in the form of a beautifully made book: but further I wanted to create images that would be strong enough also to justify their presentation in an exhibition.

Colin See-Paynton: Of a Feather - An Avian Alphabet, runs at Oriel Ynys Môn from Saturday 16 April to Sunday 5 June 2011. There will also be an opportunity to meet the artist at the gallery on the opening day of the exhibition between noon and 2pm - contact the gallery for further details.

Additional information

April heralds a busy month for as it presents two exciting events, plus they've just had word of an award nomination for one of their previous children's theatre productions.

The latest production from the company is a new play by Welsh playwright Ian Rowlands called Desire Lines, a lyrical portrayal of the seven ages of man told through the journey of one man around Wales. Yet it's also a metaphor for the country, as the playwright explains:

"Without the Assembly and the route towards the recent referendum, this play would not have been written. It's a play about a nation journeying away from its old ways of seeing towards a new vision of itself."

The cast of Desire Lines. Photo: Kirsten McTernan

Desire Lines will run at Cardiff's from Friday 8 April to Saturday 23 April, since Sherman Cymru's theatre is currently closed to the public while it .

Running at the same time as the play is Egin: Springboard, their third bilingual festival of new writing in Wales. Taking place over a five day period, the programme of events will highlight the work of both emerging and established writers and artists.

With raw productions of new plays and also rehearsed readings, this is a chance to see raw, emotive theatre at a fraction of the cost - more thrills but with fewer frills, so to speak. As Amy Hodge, associate director of Sherman Cymru, puts it:

"We want to get as much great new work as we can out there and in front of an audience in a way that isn't possible with all the demands of a full-scale production, but still with a professional cast and a Sherman Cymru commitment to quality.

"Put bluntly, it's no frills theatre - the writing itself will be the main event with things like set and lighting design really stripped back."

Egin: Springboard will run from Sunday 17 to Thursday 21 April, also at Chapter.

Plus, one of Sherman Cymru's previous productions has just been nominated for an award.

Katy Owen as Will in Plum (and me, Will!). Photo: Farrows Creative

Plum (and me, Will!), the company's Christmas show for under sevens in 2009 written by Louise Osborn, has been nominated for the Theatre Centre Brian Way Award 2011, which celebrates the best of new plays for children and young people.

For more on Sherman Cymru and their productions, .

Two literary bodies in Wales have joined forces to create a new national organisation, Literature Wales.

Literature promotion agency Academi and TÅ· Newydd Writers' Centre have combined to form the new literature body. As well as continuing to run the many activities and events already established by both organisations - such as the Wales Book of the Year Award - Literature Wales will branch out into a number of new areas and funding partnerships.

Read more on the story on Â鶹Éç Wales News and find out more on the .