THE OFFICIAL JOHN EVANS WEBSITE

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2002

John was back "at his desk" in the middle of 2002, after almost 3 years "discovering eveything America had to offer".  He said: "it was an unforgettable experience, something I'll always treasure". Well, we could all see that when he "emerged" with an obsession for American Muscle Cars, and his very own 1967 Mustang Fastback - just like Steve Mcqueen's in the film Bullitt!   Late in 2002, John was interviewed by Matthias Weigold for his forthcoming book - so keep your eye out for that.

2003

New projects "in the pipeline". Last time we saw him he was hanging out with his old-time collaborator, Nigel, the London based illustrator and purveyor of erotic films. Watch this space!   In response to this new site, Andrew Cummings', cool, and punky "unofficial" site is back online - check the links on the left of this page.   Matthias Weigold's book has now been published! The book is called Das Abenteuer Unterwegs Zu Sein -The Adventure of Being on the Way, and it's published by OSB. It's an impressive, coffee- table, sized book, with lots of glossy photographs of the Valleys and Wales. The book also has a parallel German/English text, so you'll be able to read the interview with John, in which he also gives his opinions on music, literartue and culture in Wales today.   We've just updated, and verified all the information on John's books with Amazon, Welsh Books Council, Whitaker's etc. - so ordering online, should be much quicker. We tried to tell John last time we saw him, but he was too busy showing us his new "Tag Monaco" watch, and telling us how it was "the same as Steve McQueen wore in the film Le Mans"! We're starting to wonder if this Steve fixation, is going too far!!?   There's a new interview, and feature, on John's music career on Paul Marko's PUNK77 web site. The feature foucuses in on his time in theTax Exiles during the whole Punk scene. Click the logo below to read the feature for yourself! John's writing is featured on a new web site! The site, created by Lydia Lunch and her Web MIstress Tracy Qualls, features the work of some of the most innovative writers working today. Extracts from John's novel, Giants, appears alongside work from Lydia, Rachel Resnick, Erika Wear, and Stephen Elliott. Don't miss this - visit the site now, by clicking the logo below!   Autumn, a poll began to find the "greatest Welsh men and women of all time". People from Wales, and all around the world, were asked to nominate the person who they thought would be most deserving of the title of "Welsh Hero". Over 41,000 nominations were submitted, and late in 2003 John was told that the public had voted for him in such numbers that his name had been included in a list of "100 Welsh Heroes". The poll was to culminate in 2004, when the public were to vote again to select the final order of 100 Heroes and to elect the "winner".

2004

March, hundreds of invited guests gathered in Cardiff on St David's Day, March 1st, to witness the climax of six months of nominations and voting in what was described as the "most definitive poll of great Welsh people ever staged" The resultswere transmitted live on BBC Radio Wales and streamed over the web. The Welsh-language television channel S4C also broadcast live excerpts and returned to 100 Welsh Heroes later in the evening for a special programme of discussion and debate. In the final list of 100 nominations, John Evans was placed at number 27 of the list of "greatest Welsh heroes of all time". More than just a popularity poll, 100 Welsh Heroes was also to provide a valuable resource for schools, colleges, and everyone interested in Wales and the Welsh. To than end, an official website -complete with detailed biographies of each and every nominated hero- remains online after the project.Please click the logo below to visit the site   April, a book was produced to mark the success of the 100 Welsh Heroes project and to celebrate the achievements of the 100 heroes. The book includes a two page biography of John with photographs.   Summer, John is currently hard at work on a new book. Details are sketchy, at this moment, he won't even tell us much about it! He's also planning a new Artworks project soon. We haven't seen much of him this Summer, with his time being taken up with his friends in Finland.   September, John gets a new Artwoks painting project underway. The initial response is good, and the three art pices completed so far were sold to the USA, Sweden, and the UK.   October, there is a feature on the Tax Exiles, in the South Wales Echo. Click the logo below to read the feature for yourself. John was interviewed by Alex Ogg for a new book on punk rock, so keep a look out for that. We'll also try to keep you posted when it appears. It also looks likely that John's punk band, The Tax Exiles, will finally make it to disc, with interest being shown on a release of their songs sometime in 2005. Discussions and details are on going, so we'll try to keep you posted about that too when we know more. John's own new book is also well underway, with a lot of initial interest from the publishers.

2005

February, John is away in Scotland with Louise.   March, The Tax Exiles, song Miracles, has been released as a 7" single by the Low Down Kids label. The lyrics and vocals are by John, and the cover insert features a photo of him "doing an Iggy over a mic-stand" while performing with the band at Dingwalls, London. The single is a "lathe-cut", limited editon, so it's very likely to be sold out quickly! To order your copy, please visit the site, by clicking the logo below. There's also a Real Audio sound file of Miracles on the site!   October, and John is running the Fiction Factory, a series of weekly workshops, every Wednesday, 7.30pm at Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales. The workshops, which are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy) are planned to run right through until the end of the year. Postmodernism, Deconstruction, Punk, Gothic, Postindustrial, Beats, New Wave...Creative Writing with a difference...you won't find workshops like this happening anywhere else in the UK! As some of you will know, a very large percentage of people who've attended John's workshops in the past have gone on to be published writers themselves...and we're not talking Mills & Boon here! So, insist on the very best...be there, or be square!   December, John's single Sister Soul / Turn the Lights Out has been digitally remastered and is now available on CD from various outlets. We found this web site in the USA with online ordering, so to buy your copy, click on the cover image below.

2006

February, John is running a new series of workshops at the Fiction Factory, which are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy). For four weeks, on every Monday, 7.30pm at Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales, he will be doing a special series which will be focussed on how to write a successful short story and get it published. Expect Burroughs, Barthelme, Carver, and the very best of Welsh fiction. The last series of workshops, at the end of 2005 were well attended. There's so much going on at Clwb y Bont at the moment, with the new folk and jazz nights, and the back room has undergone a transformation, making it a great venue for the live bands being lined up to play there. For the best of Welsh culture, in Welsh and English, check it out – there's a new buzz about the Valleys! See the local press for more details about the workshops.   March, John is doing a reading and workshop for World Book Day on the 2nd, at Colleg Morgannwg.   June, and John is starting another series of workshops at the Fiction Factory. The workshops, which are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy), will commence Monday, 3rd June, 7.30pm, at Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales, and will continue at the same time through the following weeks. Expect the best styles and techniques of contemporary literature, read, discussed, and analysed. This is a chance to join this very popular series at the outset, so if you missed out last time, join in early before it's over subscribed again! Vive le resistance!   September, John has been included in an project by London based photograhper, Stephen Griffiths, which focusses on "left-field", "avant-garde", writers, artists, film-makers, and musicians living, and working, in Wales. Others names included are John Cale, Karl Jenkins (Soft Machine), Iain Sinclair etc. We will of course update you when the project is launched.   October, Aleg Ogg's seminal book, No More Heroes - A Complete History of UK Punk from 1976 to 1980, has been published. An excellent book, from one of the leading writers documenting the history of contemporary music, which includes a great piece on John's music career, and his time in the Tax Exiles, complete with never published before photograh's! The book is available online on sites like amazon, or from all good bookshops - order your copy now!   The Red Kite in Wales is now in its Third Edition. Published by Christopher Davies Publishers Ltd, the third printing of this highly successful book is now priced at £6.99.   John is holding a new series of workshops at the Fiction Factory, every Monday, 7.30pm, from October 23rd, at Clwb y Bont, Pontypridd. The workshops, are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy).   November, interview with John in the South Wales Echo. Please, click on thumbnail below to enlarge image.

2007

January, Alex Ogg's book, No More Heroes - A Complete History of UK Punk Rock from 1976 to 1980, is now out and available from amazon and all leading bookshops. To view pages from the book and for more information, please click on the image below to go to the Music page on this site.   Newspaper feature on the Tax Exiles, and Alex Ogg's new book, with short interview with John. To read the article, please click on thumbnail below to enlarge the image.   February, John is running a new series of workshops at the Fiction Factory, which are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy). For four weeks, on every Monday, from 5th to 28th, at 7.30pm, Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales, he will be doing a special series which will be focussed on how to write a successful short story and get it published. See the local press for more details.   Interview with John about his life and work for World Book Day. The interview will be broadcast Wednesday, 28th February at 10pm, on GTFM, 106.9 FM.   March, John is judging The Welsh Poetry Competition, an exciting new competition, who's organisers are seeking to inspire and encourage "a new generation of poets and writers". This is a competition for poets and writers who shun the dry verse of academia, and choose instead to write "innovative work" of "raw passion". For more information, please click the image below to go to the competition website.   John is doing a workshop for the Learners Forum Open Day, at 1.45pm, Tuesday, 20th March, at Bethel Baptist Church, Pontyclun (nr. Llantrisant).   An excellent new site by Detour Records is now online with extensive details of the UK Punk Rock scene from 1976 to 1980. The site includes a history of the Tax Exiles, with comments from John. If you also click on The Photo Album page you'll find rare newspaper cuttings, and other Tax Exiles memorabilia, including badges and even an original gig ticket! Please click on the image below to visit the site.   April, John is running a new series of workshops at the Fiction Factory, which are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy). For twelve weeks, from 19th March to 7th June, on every Monday, 7.30pm at Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd, Wales, he will be holding workshops which cover every aspect of creative writing - from poetry, song lyrics, magazine features and journalism, to writing short-stories and novels. Why not go along to these very popular and highly successful workshops.   John is doing a series of short story workshops for RCT's Libraries Week. The project will result in the publication of an anthology of short stories, to be Edited by John. Anyone can submit work for the anthology, whether you attend the workshops or not, but it may help improve the quality of your short story so why not go along. Workshop dates are: Tuesday, 24th April, 2pm-5pm, Mountain Ash Library; Wednesday, 25th April, 2pm-5pm, Treorchy Library; Thursday, 26th April, 2pm-5pm, Rhydyfelin Library. John is conducting a workshop for Adult Learners Week, 1.00pm, Wednesday, 23rd May, at the Aman Community Education Centre, Godreaman, Aberdare.   June, a new magazine, The Literary Pocket Book - Number One, is now out and it includes five new poems from John, along with work from other talented contemporary writers, including Steven Hitchins, John Maher and James Lloyd, with art work by Marita Forss. Literature at the cutting edge! Please click on the cover image below to read the magazine Press Release and for further details. If you have any difficulty obtaining a copy, please contact us and we will forward your details on to the publisher.   July, a new series of workshops begin at the Fiction Factory on Monday, 16th July, at 7.30pm and will continue on every following Monday through to Octerber 1st, at Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd. The workshops, are funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academy. Every aspect of creative writing will be covered by John - from poetry, song lyrics, magazine features and journalism, to writing short-stories and novels. Why not go along to these very popular and successful workshops in the art of contemporary writing and literarture.   August, the results of The Welsh Poetry Competition were announced at a prize giving event in the main library in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales on Wednesday 15th August, 2007. The competition, which John was judging, has proved very successful with a large number of entries. Please click on the image below to go to the competition website and see the list of winners, together with John's comments on the winning entries. More details are also available on the Academi website.   September, LiteratureChick, the USA based literary magazine is showcasing Welsh writers as part of a "Welsh Fest" which starts this month. Please check out their site as they focus on the books coming out of Wales and feature interviews with John Evans, Rachel Tresize, and other Welsh authors. Click on the logo below to go directly to the LiteratureChick website, or to read John's interview in full which appeared on the site, please click here. LiteratureChick.com Starting Tuesday, 18th September, from 7pm-9pm, John will be holding a 12 week series of writing workshops at Gartholwg Lifelong Learning Centre, Church Village, Pontypridd. All aspects of creative writing will be covered - poetry, prose, journalism, film scripts, plays, features, song lyrics - with of course an emphasis on contemporary developments and techniques. Please click on the Centre's logo below for further information and details of Course fees. From Wednesday, 26th September, for 16 weeks, John will be teaching a series of creative writing workshops at Ty Catrin, Continuing Education Centre, Pontypridd. There will be two separate OCN accredited classes running each Wednesday - the first from 1pm-3pm, and the other 6.30pm-8.30pm. Please click on the logo below for further information and details of Course fees. Starting on Thursday, 27th September, from 1pm-3pm, John will be holding a series of creative writing workshops at the Aman Community Education Centre, Godreaman, Aberdare. The OCN accredited course runs for 16 weeks. Please click on the logo below for further information and details of Course fees.   October, on Friday the 19th, at 11.30pm, John is appearing on Resonance FM, with Human Punk author, John King, as part of a six part series focussing on the history and culture of Punk. The show, hosted by Johny Brown, is titled Mining for Gold and will foucus on Regional Identity, Class, and Punk writers and their work. John will be talking about his life and work, and reading extracts from his books. To listen to the show, tune in to Resonance FM, or listen online by clicking on the logo below and going to their website. A new series of workshops begin at the Fiction Factory on Monday, 22nd October, at 7.30pm. This eight week course, funded byYr Academi Gymreig (The Welsh Academi), will continue on every following Monday until December 10th, at Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd. Every aspect of creative writing will be covered - with, of course, emphasis on contemporary trends and techniques. John's teaching style is original in every respect, and they are probably the only classes of their kind anywhere in the UK. Even other creative writing teachers regularly attend to learn about John's teaching techniques! Why not go along yourself, and find out why these wokshops are so popular with everyone - from complete beginners, to novice writers, and even published authors.   November, a new book on the history of the famous Roxy Club in London has just been published. The book, written by Paul Marko, is a complete history of the most important venue connected to the birth of punk rock, and as The Tax Exiles, were one of the few who played at the venue on three separate occasions, John is among those selected to appear in the book. Please click on the image below for more information.   Decenber, The Literary Pocketbook, Number Two, is now out. The magazine features new work from John alongside Welsh Poetry Competition prizewinner, Gavin Price, artist and writer Jane Fox, John Maher and Editor, Steve Hitchins. The magazine also features John's essay, Acid Realism!? The birth of a new literary movement? Radical and controversial. Avant-garde and cutting-edge. The Literary Pocketbook showcases some of the most original and innovative writers in the UK today. This is an issue of the magazine not to be missed! To buy or subscribe, contact details can be found on the link in our June listing above. To read John's essay, Acid Realism!?, please click on the magazine cover image below. TheTax Exiles page on the Punk77 web site has been updated with a feature and photographs from artist, Dave Smitham. The piece is titled "Stockings, fishnets, breasts and a mighty fine Welsh band featuring John Evans." Please click on the logo below to go to the Punk77 web site and see the feature for yourself.

2008

January, a new series of creative writing workshops begin 7.15pm, Tuesday, 8th January at Gartholwg Lifelong Learning Centre, Church Village, Pontypridd. All aspects of creative writing will be covered - with particular emphasis on contemporary forms, techniques, and styles. Please click on the Centre's logo below for further information and details of Course fees. The birth of a new literary form? A new literary movement spawned on the streets of the South Wales Valleys? New age? New times? New culture? John's essay, 'Acid Realism', is making the headlines. Find out why recent developments in John's writing style, content, and the philosophy behind it all, is exciting people by clicking on the image below. To read the essay for yourself, click here A new compilation, Messthetics #104 enhanced CD: 'D.I.Y.' and indie postpunk from South Wales and the Z-Block scene:1977-81, has just been released by Hyped To Death, the USA based music label. The album features three tracks from John: Miracles, Rough in the Valley, from the Tax Exiles, and Underworld, John Marlon. The CD is available from all music stores or direct from the Hyped To Death website. For ordering or further information, please click on the album cover below to go direct to their site. February, an excellent review of The Tax Exiles and John Marlon tracks found on Messthetics #104 by Stuart Schrader can be found on SHIT FI dot COM. "If “(I Don’t Believe in) Miracles” was not enough for us to start rewriting the punk history books—first by crossing out Warsaw—certainly Tax Exiles’ aptly named “Rough in the Valley,” an unheralded Welsh anthem, deserves an entry under British proto-hardcore punk." To read the reviev in full please click on the logo below to go to the SHIT FIT dot COM website, or for those who missed it, please click here. John is compering Writers Aloud an "Open Mic Night Live Performance of Poetry and Prose", 7.30pm, Monday, 11th February at Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd. A review of Messthetics #104 appeared in the February 24th edition of The Sunday Times. If you missed it, please click on the page below to enlarge the image and read the review for yourself.   March, a new series of creative writing workshops begin at the Fiction Factory, 7.30pm, Monday, 3rd March, Clwb Y Bont, Pontypridd. The workshops, funded byThe Welsh Academi, will continue on every following Monday - excluding holiday periods. All forms of creative writing will be covered by John - from poetry, song lyrics, magazine features and journalism, to writing short-stories and novels. Admission is free and everyone is welccome - from complete beginners, to published writers - so, if you are interested in writing, why not go along and join in these popular and successful workshops. The Welsh Poetry Cometition, 2008 was officially launched on St Davids Day, 1st March. This international poetry competition, which is being judged again this year by John, is now open to one and all and accepting entries! For futher information, click on the page below, or click here to go to the competition website. The Wire magazine reviewed Messthetics #104 in their March issue. Click on the page below to read the review in full. Messthetics #104 was reviewed in the 7th March edition of the Western Mail. To read the review in full, please click on the page below.

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