The literary festival Amdani! returns to Machynlleth from Friday, 31 March to Sunday, 2 April.

In 2020, Charles Dark of The Wynnstay had the idea for the festival, and was inspired by the life of Jan Morris. Her description of Machynlleth, the place where journeys meet / lle mae llwybrau’n cyfarfod is what festival organisers try to evoke during the festival.

Translated to Let’s Go! Machynlleth, the bilingual festival opens on Friday, 31 March, with art historian Peter Lord and music historian Rhian Davies in the company of the book’s designer Isobel Gillan and harpist Rhian Bebb, and their illustrated talk, The Art of Music: Branding the Welsh Nation.

That evening Swper y Beirdd/Poetry for Supper, brings together a powerful host of poets to chase away the winter blues and welcome spring (Grug Muse, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch, Judith Musker Turner, Sam Robinson, Cyril Jones, Morgan Owen, Mari Ellis Dunning with music by Gwilym Morus Baird).

Saturday, 1 April starts early with a Writer’s Breakfast Buffet Flash Fiction Workshop with favourite visiting writing inspirer Lindy Newns.

Maggie Ogunbanwo, author of The Melting Pot and African Twist, will be talking and cooking a favourite rice dish connecting her heritage and ‘100 things I wish my mother had told me’.

Jan Brown, author of People Like Us, based on her great grandmother who became cook/housekeeper at Gregynog Hall in the late 1800s, will be in conversation with Lindy Newns.

Carwyn Graves continues the food theme recounting some of the tasty highlights of his travels researching his latest book, Welsh Food Stories.

Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones chairs a lively conversation between Simon Brooks, specialist in the history of ideas in Welsh-language culture and Huw L Williams, columnist for O’r Pedwar Gwynt. They ask ‘What is Welsh Thought? Is there a risk in the age of global knowledge that a Welsh understanding of the world might be lost?’

Mike Parker’s Quiz Night and a Penderyn Whisky Tasting at The Wynnstay Hotel follows.

On Sunday, 2 April, Julie Brominicks and Tom Bullough swap travel notes on their respective hikes around The Edge of Cymru and Sarn Helen, their recently published books.

Roaming across Wales, Scotland, and California in Birdsplaining, Jasmine Donahaye discusses the uniqueness of women’s experience of nature with Charmian Savill.

Author of The Lost Rainforests of Britain, Guy Shrubsole, presents an illustrated talk that takes us deep into ‘found’ British rainforests.

Mererid Puw Davies recalls the 1933 novel Nansi Lovell: Autobiography of a Gypsy, written by her grandmother Elena Puw Morgan. This influential novel traces the history of Elena Puw’s life among her family of North Wales Romani.

Imagine a pilgrimage walk accompanied by poets Sian Aled Owen and Sian Northey guided by photographer Jean Napier, in an illustrated talk based around her book The Cadfan Way.

Mike Parker will be deep in conversation with Simon Brook, launching his new book, All The Wide Border: Wales, England and the Places Between.

As the weekend draws to a close, Barbara’s Border Crossings, hosted by ‘Mrs Barbara Nice’ aka Janice Connolly, provides a fun finale.

Over the weekend, in the library, children will enjoy helping Elin Vaughan Crowley reimagine her rainforest and listen to an elephant story.

For more information, visit www.penralltgallerybookshop.co.uk