Dear Mr Ruck
Thank you for the comments you posted last night. I have published one of them, but draw the line at personal attacks on private individuals. Those in public office and people like you and me who set up soap boxes and mouth off in public are fair game on the other hand, although I am not sure why Gwyneth Lewis's seasickness, real or alleged, should be a stick to beat her with.
I have met Ms Lewis briefly and am familiar with some of her work, in particular Llofrudd Iaith. Personally I found it memorable, innovative and thought provoking. Each to his own, I suppose, but whether you like or loathe her poetry and other work, she is a unique voice in contemporary Welsh writing.
The Guardian article you refer to can be found here. Readers can decide for themselves whether those are the thoughts of a deluded intellectual inadequate.
For the record, I am very sorry to hear that you have received threats, and would certainly condemn anyone who has made them.
With kind regards
Y Cneifiwr
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As regular readers of this blog will know, Cneifiwr's ramblings rarely venture beyond the shenanigans at
Like me, most readers will probably have been only dimly aware of Mr Ruck if at all because of his role in the Kidwell-e Festival which was held at Meryl's Ffos Las racecourse last July. The event featured a host of literary talent, including Mary Hooper, Polly Courtney and Dougie Brimson (I've never heard of them either), and only a handful of people turned up. Some of those who did go may have thought that another of the resident writers, Adele Geras, was odds-on favourite in the 3.15.
Mr Ruck threw a fine old tantrum and blamed just about anyone and everyone before declaring that he would take his festival to England where people would be more appreciative.
Although Mr Ruck is a Swansea Jack born and bred, he takes a pretty dim view of the Welsh, as you can see from his blog where he is currently weighing in to "those people who seek a Welsh language only, RS Thomas bucolic paradise of insularity and a backward existential wasteland of introverted stupidity".
In another post he has a go at a minister of religion for speaking Welsh at a funeral. Julian didn't understand what the Reverend was saying, and so concluded that it must have been, "damn all you sinners to Hell for not speaking Welsh!"
Fittingly, Julian has a regular column in the Llanelli Star where he holds forth on the evils of the Welsh literary establishment, the "billions spent on promoting the Welsh language" (really?), and Welsh Nationalists and Welsh Labour, who are apparently all in it together.
On his blog one lengthy entry in block capitals is devoted to denouncing Gwyneth Lewis.
Someone with a lot of time on their hands, possibly a literary critic, has produced a replica of Mr Ruck's blog in which the literary colossus of Carmarthenshire is given a pseudonym which rhymes with Ruck.
The rival blog takes Mr Ruck to task for what it considers to be the low literary merit of his oeuvre and weak grasp of the fundamentals of English grammar.
Mr Ruck alleges that matters have escalated beyond blogs and "Twatter" accounts, and that he has received various threats, including suggestions that his home may be spattered with dog poo.
As a result, Mr Ruck has called upon Dai Knacker to investigate, but he also seems to be engaging in a little sleuthing himself. One of Cneifiwr's readers, a woman of impeccable character, has been contacted by someone calling himself Julian Ruck accusing her of posting messages on the *uck blog as Mrs Penn-Thomas and "The Dog Woman".
My correspondent was especially upset to be addressed by Mr Ruck as "Mrs".
Take my advice Jules. Don't mess with her.
As a family blog, any comments on this post will be subject to rigorous moderation.
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