Monty Lit Fest’s Late Lounge has become one of the weekend’s firm favourites and this year promises to be a real treat. 

The story of Manic Street Preachers – from an unpromising start and the tragedy of Richey Edwards’ disappearance through to rebirth and award-winning, best-selling success – is the stuff of legend. Top music journalist Keith Cameron is our guide as he tells the extraordinary story of the Manics. In conversation with another Welsh music legend, Rhys Mwyn, he’ll tell us why he has chosen to chart the history of the band through a deep dive into 168 of their songs and what they can tell us about the evolution and incredible music of Welsh rock royalty.

A journalist since 1988, Keith Cameron is currently a contributing editor at MOJO. He previously worked for Sounds and New Musical Express, and his writing has appeared in the Guardian, The Times, the Sunday Times, Scotland On Sunday, Kerrang! and Q. He is author of Mudhoney: The Sound and the Fury from Seattle, acclaimed by Mark Lanegan as ‘the definitive book on ’90s Seattle music’, and 2025’s 168 Songs of Hatred and Failure: A History of Manic Street Preachers.
Photo credit: Steve Gullick

Rhys Mwyn is a musician, archaeologist, writer and broadcaster. As a music manager, agent, publicist, Record Label and promoter, he has worked with acts as varied as Catatonia, The Rich Kids, Viv Albertine (The Slits), Y Cyrff and Datblygu. He previously played bass guitar in the Welsh Punk band, Anhrefn and established the record label Recordiau Anhrefn. Rhys is a regular contributor to Yr Herald Gymraeg and Llafar Gwlad,  has published his autobiography Cam i’r Tywyllch (Y Lolfa) and written several Welsh language books on Welsh Archaeology (Carreg Gwalch). Montgomeryshire born, he now lives in Caernarfon.