Cynan Jones is the master of the short story and his latest collection, Pulse, is another tour de force.

A man heads into the snow to hunt down the bear that has been taking stock from farms in the valley. A father tries to make something go right for the son he no longer lives with. A partner is called to help when a cow’s labour goes horribly wrong. A fierce storm threatens to bring down a tree on powerlines over a family’s home.

Alongside Anthony Shapland, whose own debut novel was crowned Waterstones Welsh Book of the Year in 2025, Cynan will explore the wonders and challenges of the short form and discuss the many themes – fear, vulnerability, tension, resolve – that course through his latest collection.

Cynan Jones won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award 2007, a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2014, the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize 2015 and the BBC National Short Story Award 2017. His work has appeared in more than twenty countries, on BBC Radio 4 and in Granta, Freeman’s, and the New Yorker. He is the author of The Dig, Cove, Stillicide and Pulse.
Photo credit: Bernadine Jones

Anthony Shapland grew up in Bargoed, South Wales. He is a writer and artist, and founder of g39, an artist-led space in Cardiff. His short story Foolscap was shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Award and he was selected for the Hay Writers at Work programme in 2023. His debut novel, A Room Above a Shop, was named Waterstones Welsh Book of the Year in 2025 and has been shortlisted for the 2026 Gordon Burn Prize.