Desolation Island

It's always quite jolting when one comes across unexpected references to Wales in great works of literature. As, for instance, when a couple of characters suddenly start talking about the Men of Harlech during A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick. I've mentioned elsewhere the name-checking of Cardiff and Penarth in Conrad's The Nigger of the Narcissus. Another example would be Primo Levi's The Periodic Table in which references are made to Aberdare, Holywell and Mount Snowdon. In the Mercury section of that book the narrator explains how Desolation Island (the loneliest island in the world) came to have Welsh place names. Some of the soldiers who were sent to guard the island were originally from Wales. Levi even provided us with a map of this mythical place (see pic) - the only one in the book. It's an uncharacteristically Borgesian tale and well worth a look for its curiosity value.

Welsh Vampire Matthew Hardman

When it comes to serial killers Wales is very much a second division country which is a good thing in my view. I guess we're just too nice. The only one who really springs to mind is 'the man in black' Peter Moore from north Wales. Wales has, however, produced a genuine class A vampire in Matthew Hardman. I know this because his name crops up in those true crime books with the lurid red and black covers – a reliable indicator that in the world of the macabre he has arrived. Infamously Hardman committed the stomach churning crime of stabbing a harmless 90-year-old lady to death before cutting out her heart. He then drained some blood from her leg and drank it. He was 17 at the time and an art student at Coleg Menai in Bangor. Hardman is profiled in Sondra London’s True Vampires: Blood-Sucking Killers Past and Present (2003). He is part of a particularly gruesome pantheon that includes such psychos as Ed Gein, Henry Lee Lucas, Issei Sagawa, Andrei Chikatilo and Transylvania’s own Vlad the Impaler, amongst others. Author London is a bit of a crazy lady herself having dated at least 2 serial killers. Not for nothing has she been dubbed ‘the serial killer groupie’. Her book is illustrated by Nicolas Claux who is, of course, a convicted serial killer, necrophile and cannibal.

JFK in Wales

I have often heard it said that JFK as a young man once visited Wales. The most convincing case for this assertion was given by Edward Nicholson, a London-born engineer who worked for William Randolph Hearst at St Donat's castle. According to him JFK along with his father Joseph (then a US ambassador in London) and other members of the Kennedy clan arrived at the luxurious Welsh retreat in July 1938. The future President was 21 years old at the time and spent 5 days holidaying there.

After JFK's assassination in November 1963 Nicholson was tracked down to Leeds where he had become a teacher to elaborate on the story. Reflecting on his time at St Donat's, he said: "Mr Kennedy came on a Thursday and stayed until the following Tuesday. He was a very active youngster full of life. He swam in the pool and was an excellent swimmer. I remember him doing some rock climbing, and he used to walk the nearby country lanes."

Nicholson went on to say that he took Kennedy to the lighthouse at Nash Point in the Vale of Glamorgan. Furthermore he stated that Kennedy visited Cardiff where he attended morning mass at St David's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Charles Street. He added: "I shook hands with the President. He was young and enthusiastic with a particular interest in economics. He asked a lot of questions about the Welsh language and how many people in Wales spoke it. He showed keen interest in Welsh industry, too."

I think that's almost enough quality information to justify a JFK bus tour of south Wales. For north Wales's links to the Kennedys see Jackie O in Llanfihangel- y-Traethau.

Islwyn Williams

These two splendid novels were penned by all but forgotten sci-fi author Islwyn Williams from Porth. Both were published by Gryphon in 1952 and are very Brit-centric in outlook. Dangerous Waters features an advanced race of green aliens living under the sea in Neptunia who plan to invade Britain via Pembrokeshire. Follow up novel Newbury in Orm is a space adventure with squadron leader Newbury as its hero. Apparently these works were better received in Italy than they were in the UK. Islwyn Williams died in Bridgend in 1988.

Dragon Mural

If you live in Cardiff you have probably walked past the Boots store on Queen Street a thousand times and barely given it a second glance. Raise your eyes above ground level, however, and you will spy a large dragon mural. This is not a corporate motif but a work of art designed by John Petts. Petts is perhaps best remembered these days for having made the wonderful Wales Window for Alabama in 1965. His Boots dragon mural went up in Cardiff in 1963 as part of a major refurb for the shop.

Incidentally, June marks the centenary of Boots in Cardiff. I don't understand the complete lack of hullabaloo. When Johnny-come-lately superstore John Lewis celebrated its, ahem, tertiary birthday last year we had no less than Welsh National Poet Gillian Clarke penning poetry in its honour - surely some kind of Welsh cultural nadir. So let's hear it for Boots and celebrate its altogether less wanky synthesis of commerce and art.

*The above photo is ©Mick Lobb

Fuck Off Facebook

Heartening to observe that radical cultural and political zines are still flourishing in Wales. Fuck Off Facebook is a bilingual anarchist fanzine that has been around since 2011. During its existence they have published articles on the iniquities of Tesco, Wetherspoon, Coca Cola, Nick Griffin, the royal family, and various other villains. They also do music reviews and have carried features on Poly Styrene, Datblygu, Pussy Riot etc. Also making the scene is FFWFF, a bilingual anarcho-feminist zine put together by a small collective. Their publication which was birthed last year includes art, stories, and poems. It also contains advice on how to make a Pussy Riot balaclava; and the perfect vegan ice-cream. The latest addition to the underground sphere is Cardiff-based Bitch, a cut'n'paste queercore art zine. A more comprehensive account of what is contained in these publications and details of how to get hold of them can be found at the excellent Afiach website

Anna Kashfi School Photo

This school picture taken in 1948 shows Form 5 of St Joseph's Convent School, North Road, Cardiff. In the back row, second from the right, is Joanna O'Callaghan. She lived in Newfoundland Road, Gabalfa. Just a few years after this photograph was taken she became an actress and changed her name to Anna Kashfi. Moving to Hollywood she starred in films opposite the likes of Spencer Tracy and Rock Hudson. But more significantly she would marry the hottest male star of the era, Marlon Brando. Unfortunately their marriage was short-lived but the tortuous custody battle over their ill-starred son Christian went on for years. All that torment was still to come when this picture was taken - here she is just an ordinary and reasonably happy teenager living in Cardiff.