Welsh author Rachel Trezise (1978) was born in Rhondda Valley, a former coalmining area of South Wales whose exclusive dependence on mining led to devastating social and economic consequences. Discovering literature in high school, Trezise learnt that writing could reflect the reality of a life like hers. Using her own life experience, she captured readers with works that deal with poverty, violence, abuse, class and gender. Her collection of stories, Fresh Apples, won the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2008.
Her novel Sixteen Shades of Crazy was published by Blue Door in 2010, and was translated into Slovenian by Suzana Tratnik (2023, Beletrina). The three main protagonists are thrown together as a result of their relationships with members of a local punk band, The Boobs. Each one of these women, for different reasons, is unsatisfied with her way of life, and dreams of something bigger, finding solace in alcohol and drugs. The arrival of an English stranger sparks in each of them a dramatic reaction to the dissatisfaction lying dormant in each of their psyches.
Salon with a View
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Founder and main co-funder of Cankarjev dom’s Arts and Culture programme
