Author Liz Whittaker lives and works in Cardigan, Ceredigion, West Wales. She has written various works for children and adults, for stage and press, both local and national. Her latest work is a historical novel based in the time of the first Eisteddfod, held in Cardigan. This new book is unique, not only in content and style, but is also the only book ever to be dedicated to the town, while Cardigan itself celebrates its 900th anniversary in 2010 - the oldest town in Ceredigion.

'I suppose I cannot blame the author for the fact that I stayed up too late reading the first fifty pages before I could turn off the light but I do love the book, find it compelling and lyrical, wonderfully immersed in a sense of place and time.'
Richard Cook.

 

Photos from Cardigan & surrounding area
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Click here for more about Cardigan Castle

‘For as long as man can remember the Princes and Lords of Wales have offered patronage to those with the gift of contriving poetry and making music. It has ever been a unique characteristic of the high born in Wales, to recognise the value of the bard and to bring him into his home, to his table, and there to allow him to entertain and delight his audience. Thus have histories been created, battles won and lost, reputations made and destroyed, lovers divided and united, and all through the arts of those few gifted men whose words and music allow for ordinary mortals to transcend life’s hard and pressing realities and wander in the realms of the mind, the heart and the spirit, if only for a brief illumined spell.’

Told through the imagined voices of those present, this story of Christmas at Cardigan Castle in 1176 offers an unforgettable insight into the court of the Lord Rhys ap Gruffudd, Prince, Warrior, and King’s Judiciary; whilst also capturing the excitement and thrills of the First Eisteddfod and the characters whose lives were a part of the birth of one of the Welsh nation’s greatest prizes – the Bardic Chair.

Read more about 'A Court in Splendour'

 

Read more about Liz Whittaker's books for children
'The Dreamstealers' Trilogy

Storytelling with Liz Whittaker