The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends an impressive impersonation of Bob Dylan
What the miners’ strike was really like in Wales
STEVE ANDREW hails a moving and insightful collection of photographs and accounts that document the response of communities in Wales both as class and nation
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Here, Vermiglio, William Tell and Wolf Man
New releases from Thorpe and Morrison, Daria Kulesh, and Will Finn and Rosie Calvert
RINA ARYA confronts the brutal operation of Francis Bacon’s approach to portraiture
Emphasising his continuous engagement in labour movement struggles, ALISTAIR FINDLAY salutes John Foster’s contribution as activist, strategist, intellectual and defender of the Morning Star
ANDY MIAH advocates the use of AI to assist people by expanding access to global literature and culture
EWAN KOTZ relishes a veteran Glasgow band that have lost none of their verve for live performance
Coal and Community in Wales
Images of the Miners Strike: Before, During and After
by Richard Williams and Amanda Powell, YLolfa, £14.99
FORTY years after British miners began a relentless fight in defence of pits, jobs and communities, it is fair to say that the literature examining their struggle is now huge and continues to grow.
The quality of it, however, remains varied. Although there has been a shift away from portraying miners as “the enemy within,” now that is effectively safe to do so, many accounts remain either narrowly sectarian or overly romantic and sentimental in their approach.
Fortunately, Coal and Community in Wales is neither of these and, to my mind, is a real people’s history that uses image and text skilfully to capture the strike as a lived experience.
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