Another Resolven Poet-Barry Britzman
Barry Britzman spent some of his younger years in Resolven and he has just published a book of poetry much influenced by his time in the village and the valley.
BARRY’S STORY
The full title of the collection is “INEXPLICABLE FRAGMENTS. Selection of Poems of Love, Life, Time & Place”.
It is a personal, biographical and historical account of what the valley gave to me, and a little of my life since leaving the valley.
Few will know, that my mother was a member of the Melincourt Bowen family that hailed originally from Llantwit, and Llandeilo Talybont connected also with the Jones family of Ammanford. As the Britzman family, we arrived in 1939, to live in Maesgwynrig near Cwmgwrach. Fewer still will know, my father worked at the RAF camp at Stormy Down – or that he and I, on a visit from Pyle to Swansea, on February 19th 1941, were caught up in the Swansea Blitz. An event after which, our lives took an extraordinary turn for the worse. Brief historical notes are included at the end of the book reflecting on both our reluctant leaving of Wales and domicile in East Yorkshire – all at the whim of the War Office.
By the strange quirk of misfortune becoming good-fortune, I returned to Wales in 1953, where but for two brief interludes I have remained ever since. It has been a life blessed with good fortune and blighted by the accidents of fate.
BARRY BRITZMAN
Barry’s book is avalable at “Between the Covers” in Mumbles
Also at:
zen311932@zen.co.uk