The Mab
By Matt Brown and Eloise Williams
Eleven epic stories from the Mabinogion, retold by Welsh writers. Foreword by Michael Sheen.
Friday, 25 September 2020
The Mab - Schools + Darren Chetty Chat (a chet-chat?)
Hello,
I hope you're having a good week. I just wanted to keep you updated on the latest developments.
The Mab is all about helping new generations of kids (and adults) to find and fall in love with the ancient, beautiful, thrilling, weird stories of the Mabinogion. So, this week, we created and launched four different School Reward Levels at four different prices, which will give schools the opportunity to get copies of The Mab plus author visits, or online workshops from some of our authors, or downloadable teaching resources.
You can have a look here https://unbound.com/books/the-mab/
Perhaps you could get in touch with your kids', or grandkids', school and let them know about how they can get involved with these incredible stories.
So, with schools on our minds, I thought I'd have a chat with one of our amazing writers, Darren Chetty, who used to be a teacher. We nattered about when he first found the Mabinogion, how British myths often get overlooked, and why children need to see themselves in the stories they read. I hope you enjoy listening. Please share and have an amazing week.
Matt
Top rewards
The First Mab
The Mab Map Tea Towel
PLUS:
- Signed first edition hardback
- eBook
- Set of four postcards featuring new Mab illustrations by Max Low
Comments
Matt, thank you for sharing this, and I really enjoyed listening to your conversation with Darren. It's fascinating hearing about how the use of names and language at school can affect the thought process for children in development. I'm really looking forward to reading The Mab when it is published (as I am very confident it will be funded)!
posted 6th October 2020
Hi Richard, thanks so much for the lovely comment. We don’t have a date for publication yet. We need to get much closer to our target. I’ll keep you posted on here as I’m trying to have a conversation with all the Mab authors. In the meantime, if you know of any friends who might like to support the book then please spread the word. Thanks again, Matt
posted 6th October 2020
I bought an English translation of the Mabinogion over 50 years ago in my late teens. I haven't got it any more: my son pinched it. I'm looking forward to a new a better version. Can you tell me whether the schools package is aimed at primary or secondary schools? (By the way the school story about immigrant children not using their own names is one of the strangest and saddest I've heard.)
posted 6th October 2020
This is a very powerful interview. Sharing in the hope that the pledges continue to come in!
posted 6th October 2020
Hi Philip,
That's kids for you ;)
Thanks so much for your question. The school packages aren't aimed at one type of school over another. We would tailor any virtual visit to suit the age-group of the class in question. One of the things we're trying to do is to introduce as many people as possible to these incredible, ancient stories, regardless of their age. So, once the book is fully funded, we would get in touch with each school that has supported us and talk to them about what would be most appropriate for their pupils. I hope that helps. Do let me know if you have any other questions or need any more info. Thanks, Matt.
posted 6th October 2020
Thanks Ruth. I agree and can really recommend the Good Immigrant to read. Darren's essay in it is brilliant (and eye-opening).
posted 6th October 2020