A new anthology of writing about the city of Cardiff celebrating 100 years as a city, and 50 years as the Welsh capital; contains revealing contributions by Niall Griffiths, Dannie Abse, John Wiliiams, James Hawes, Trezza Azzopardi, Sean Burke, Duncan Bush, Gillian Clarke, Anna Davis, Nia Williams, Lloyd Robson, Owen Martell, Emyr Humphreys and many others.

Casgliad newydd o ysgrifennu am Gaerdydd ar ei phenblwydd yn gant oed fel dinas, ac yn hanner cant oed fel prif-ddinas; ceir cyfraniadau dadlennol gan Niall Griffiths, Dannie Abse, John Williams, James Hawes, Trezza Azzopardi, Sean Burke, Duncan Bush, Gillian Clarke, Anna Davis, Nia Williams, Lloyd Robson, Owen Martell, Emyr Humphreys a llawer mwy.

The Big Book of Cardiff isn’t just big, it’s great, bringing Europe’s youngest capital zinging to life in the vibrant writing of some of Wales’s best contemporary writers. Unlike so many anthologies which, like failed soufflés, never quite rise to the occasion or meet expectations, this is a tremendous tapas of a book that leaves the reader both replete and wanting more.

Diplomatically organised in alphabetical order, the anthology includes fiction, poetry, memoir and history by Welsh- and English-language writers, from Dannie Abse and Ifor ap Glyn, to Mererid Hopwood and Anthony Howell, and several Williams (Andrew Craig, Herbert, John and Nia). There are some big names missing, but this is probably because they haven’t written about Cardiff, for the editors never lose sight of their focus. Here is Cardiff in all her glory – her streets, pubs, clubs and cafés; from multicultural Butetown in its heyday to middle-class Pontcanna in the 1990s; the city’s landmarks and features both old and new (I love Phil Maillard’s evocation of the decapitation and re-siting of the statue of the Marquess of Bute); media types and academics, students and the homeless, office staff and manual workers, incomers and the locally born and bred, the English- and Welsh-speaking Welsh. Nothing and nobody is omitted. Angles of view are similarly inclusive and sometimes quirky, with Duncan Bush describing a visit to the underground toilets on Hayes island, with their ‘gridded skylight ceiling of thick pale-greenish glass crossed by foot-soles and dim shadows’; Mari George contemplating the Cardiff area in ‘Wales from the Air’; and Niall Griffiths gazing across to Penarth from the balcony of his room at the classy St David’s Hotel.

This anthology is a glorious tribute to the rich and tantalising diversity not just of Wales’s capital city but also of her literature – there is good reason to be proud.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.