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| During autumn 2003, a poll began to find the "greatest Welsh men
and women of all time".
In the first stage, 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 on January 4th 2004, a final list of the 100 people with the most nominations was revealed. "From Nobel Prize Winners to cult rock stars they reflect the enomorous imapct - social, cultural, sporting and scientific -of Wales and the Welsh over the centuries". John Evans, was amongst the 100 names on the list, joining joining the likes of Dylan Thomas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta Jones. The final, or "voting", stage of the project gave everyone another two months to vote online, or by post, to select the final order of 100 Heroes and to elect the "winner". On St David's Day, March 1st 2004, hundreds of invited guests gathered in Cardiff 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 results were 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". It is interesting to note, John has never received one single
penny from the Arts Council of Wales during his whole career,
while those writers favoured with thousands of pounds of tax payers
money in grants and bursaries, year after year, never even reached
the nomination stage! 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 100 Welsh Heroes to visit the site
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| "John Evans is probably the only writer in Wales today whose work
appeals to a generation raised on music, TV and contemporary art.
His books and writing style are as challengingly, contemporary
as a piece of art by say Damien Hurst." "He is a leader in his field of work. Everything he writes is groundbreaking, and touches the heart of matter in the subjects that matter most to the Welsh nation. He is the leading figure in the New Wave of Welsh writing. "He is a great writer, very talented, one of the best."
John Evans Radical writer and filmmaker who documents the post- industrial
South Wales Valleys. Both by generation and inclination, John Evans is a product of
the punk explosion of the late ‘seventies. He witnessed its arrival
in Wales courtesy of the Sex Pistols, whose notorious 1976 Caerphilly
gig saw fans outnumbered by evangelical protestors. Suitably inspired, he played with a band called the Tax Exiles
before being signed to an independent record label as ‘John Marlon’.
A prolonged bout of glandular fever put paid to his solo career
before it had really begun. So he turned to writing, doing so full time for the past ten years.
His work is in the best traditions of new wave authors like William
Burroughs and Kathy Acker – alienated and nihilistic but also
deeply committed and almost exuberant in its determination to
expose the truth as he sees it. “This boy can write”, said the South Wales Argus when his first
book How Real is My Valley appeared in 1994. Yet John Evans doesn’t
confine himself to words alone –How Real was accompanied by a
multi-media presentation while Industria and G.B.H mix text with
photographs, poems and illustrations. This not being the kind of stuff that flies off the airport bookstands,
he operates outside the publishing mainstream. He set up his own
publishing house, Underground Press, to distribute his books.
He has also written a book about the Red Kite that should appeal
to everyone who finds the other stuff a little unpalatable. Alongside his books, John Evans has produced short films and features
for television and his life and work has been the subject of several
documentaries. He is also active in cultural and environmental
projects in the Valleys. © 2003/2004. All rights reserved Culturenet Cymru
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A book has been produced to mark the success of the project and to celebrate the achievements of the 100 heroes. It is being produced in a once only run of just 5000 copies, so guarantee your copy by placing your order. This book can now be bought at a special online price of £6.99. Please click 100 Welsh Heroes Book to order direct from the publishers
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Copyright © [www.johnevans.org.uk]
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