PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
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Gleaming vision of a supreme co-operator
William Hazell’s Gleaming Vision: A Co-operative Life in South Wales, 1890-1964 , by Alun Burge (Y Lolfa, £9.95)
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
Reading this biography of a man who spent most of his life as a coal miner, suffered considerable personal hardship and yet achieved so much, is a humbling experience. William Hazell’s contribution to local organisations was immense and he was a prodigious writer on a vast swathe of subjects.
Ynysybwl is a village four miles from Pontypridd, a dead-end but for mountain roads over to the Rhondda Fach and Aberdare valleys. Hazell (pictured) was born in St Pancras in 1890 but by the time he was 16 he was a miner in Lady Windsor Colliery, the main employer in Ynysybwl.
It is unclear how or why he came to this close-knit community in south Wales, with its population of just over 5,000, but he quickly made an impression.
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