Cynan Jones & Anthony Shapland

This event brings together two Welsh writers whose finely tuned prose captures the quiet tensions that shape our lives.

Fear, vulnerability and resolve course through Pulse, an arresting collection of stories by Cynan Jones. Jones is the author of five short novels exploring the interactions of humans and the land and the winner of multiple prizes including the BBC National Short Story Award.

Anthony Shapland’s A Room Above a Shop, named one of the Observer’s best debut novels of 2025, is a quietly intense debut about forbidden love between two men working together in 1980s South Wales, set against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS crisis and its accompanying moral panic.