Author Talk: Parch by Menna Elfyn

Menna Elfyn is visiting Chapter One on Friday 14th November to give readings from her new book of poetry, Parch. She will be joined by Emma Baines, local poet and translator, who will also read her translations from Parch.


Parch is Menna Elfyn’s sixth poetry book from Bloodaxe. She has published five dual-language books of poetry with Bloodaxe but this volume is in English translation and with new poems.

Parch yw’r chweched o gyfrolau Menna Elfyn o wasg Bloodaxe. Mae wedi cyhoeddi pum cyfrol yn y ddwy iaith ond cyfieithiadau Saesneg a cherddi newydd o’i gwaith fydd yn y gyfrol hon.

Tickets are £5 and include a 10% discount off the book. Click the button below to book your ticket.

Natural Ink and Paint Making Workshop

Spend the day learning how to make your own art materials from found and foraged plants, earth and metals. 

Together we shall explore the seasonal alchemy of botanical inkmaking with autumnal berries and oak galls, alongside working with deep time earth pigments to create paints.

You will leave with your own cluster of handmade materials and newfound skills to continue playing at home. 

Facilitated by local artist Karn John – www.kathrynjohn.co.uk // IG @_kathrynjohn

Please bring with you:

– An apron, or wear clothes you don’t mind getting a little inky.

– A notebook and pen. 

– A packed lunch. Hot drinks and cakes will be available from the museum cafe. 

– We may take a short walk during the day, so a raincoat and appropriate footwear may be needed. 

If you have any questions or access needs that you would like to share and/or discuss to support your attendance in this workshop, please get in touch with Karn hello@kathrynjohn.co.uk

Tickets For Upcoming Events


As part of our Richard Burton season of events celebrating the Welsh icon’s centenary we will be hosting a staged reading of The Courage of the Solitary on the making of the the classic film The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.

*Rescheduled from 24th October due to illness.*


To celebrate the recent publication of her book The Edge of Everything, award-winning writer Lottie Williams will be at Chapter One to lead a two-hour workshop on Nature Writing for Wellbeing.


As part of our Richard Burton exhibition we’re hosting a series of events that celebrate the Welsh actor, the man and the myth.

Join us on what would have been Richard Burton’s 100th birthday to learn more about the man and the myth in this talk from Mark Lewis.

For tickets click below…


For more information visit https://www.narberthmuseum.co.uk/author-talk-parch-by-menna-elfyn

or click below to get your ticket…


For more information visit denisehadden.com or to book your place on this workshop email denisehadden@icloud.com



We’re looking forward to welcoming ‘The Dylan Thomas Guy’ Jeff Towns to Chapter One to discuss another Welsh hero, Dylan Thomas.


As part of our Richard Burton season, author Angela John will be joining Mark Lewis to discuss her book Behind the Scenes: The Dramatic Lives of Philip Burton.


For more information or to book your place email Ness at yoganessy@gmail.com or call 07919 595665.


Inspiring Crankies

Fabulous day today (26 September) with storyteller/author and illustrator Peter Stevenson. Peter told stories from the Mabinogion using a Crankie. The children from Narberth CP School had the chance to create their own Crankie out of matchboxes and tell their own story, based around transformation. It was wonderful to see so much imagination and creativity inspired by stories. And Crankies are just glorious!

The afternoon session saw Peter telling stories to adults and this gave a fascinating insight into the storytelling world. The story of Henry Box Brown told through a Crankie was totally inspiring.

We would love to get Peter back for another session, in the not too distant future. This event was funded by Welsh Government through the Welsh Museums Federation.

So You’d Like To Write A Book?

It’s Independent Bookshop Day on October 12th, and we’re celebrating all day at Chapter One.

In the morning, we’ve got our regular Paperback Breakfast, a popular event where paperbacks get exchanged and coffee and croissants enjoyed.

In the afternoon, we’ve got a gaggle of local authors with heaps of experience and over 20 titles published, to chat informally about story shaping, traditional v self publishing and – that bete noire of many writers – marketing.

You’re most welcome to come along with any sort of queries and interests. Our authors have written in many different forms, from technical publishing, to writing for radio and tv, to play writing, novels, poetry and short stories.

So whether you’re a complete newbie to writing or have an idea you’ve been incubating for decades, we should be able to help and inspire you.

Saturday, October 12th, Narberth Museum, 2 – 4pm.

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Tales from the Mabinogion

Renowned author, illustrator and storyteller Peter Stevenson will be holding two storytelling sessions at Narberth Museum on Thursday 26th September.  The stories will be based around the Mabinogion (Y Mabinogi) and to bring these to life Peter will be using Crankies.  A Crankie is a long, illustrated scroll (also called a “moving panorama” or a “moving backdrop”) that is wound onto two spools, and loaded into a box which has a viewing screen. The scroll is then hand-cranked while the story depicted upon it is presented.

Peter’s will be holding two sessions for invited school groups.  .  The project has been funded by money from the Welsh Government through the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales.

Peter Stevenson is a storyteller, children’s writer, book illustrator, folklorist, film maker, crankie maker, artist, book maker, organiser of the annual 3-day Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival and Y Mabinogi Project in collaboration with Aberystwyth Arts Centre, and the Wales Appalachia Project, along with Stories@Medina, a storytelling club that encourages collaborations with visual artists, musicians, and puppeteers. He has illustrated, compiled and written many children’s books, travelled the country with storytelling shows for adults that use hundreds of illustrations, crankies, and live music and has written four books of Welsh folk tales for the History Press.

Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan Event

Narberth Museum volunteers recently attended a workshop with Dr Marian Gwyn and Beloved Adonai entitled Museums, Cynefin and Communities: Building A Lasting Legacy. The event explored how museums can contribute to the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan and how, through open dialogue, building up community connections and exploring the ways that the collection can tell more than one story to increase diversity and interaction. It was a fascinating and eye-opening event, real food for thought about the importance of museums and their collections to change-making. There were lots of very interesting discussions and really made the museum look at the way that it engages and uses its collections. Planning ahead now!

Pembrokeshire’s History Day

We had a really enjoyable time at Scolton Manor recently (19 May) representing the museum at Pembrokeshire’s History Day. There were lots of History exhibition stalls, a time travelling Victorian display, history talks, an archaeology dig and lots of Victorian dress up. Huge thanks to Cait at Scolton who did a great job organising the event. It’s important for people to be able to get to know what amazing heritage is available in Pembrokeshire. See you at the next one!