Sophia, a poem

1 February 2018

Sophia, a poem

Sophia (meaning ‘wisdom’ in Greek) was carved by sculpture and architectural stone carver Tom Waugh and has watched over the gardens at Gladstone’s Library since 2010. Her four stone benches – Cariad (Love), Heddwch (Peace), Gwirionedd (Truth), and Cyfiawnder (Justice) – invite the thinker to idle and contemplate a-while.

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Hearth interview: Krishan Coupland

20 October 2017

Hearth interview: Krishan Coupland

Krishan Coupland is a writer, editor and digital nomad. His debut collection of (very) short fiction, When You Lived Inside the Walls, was published by Stonewood Press in 2017. Other poems and stories have been published in Ambit, Aesthetica, Litro and elsewhere. In his spare time Krishan runs and edits Neon Literary Magazine. 

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Democracy by James Kirchick

7 August 2017

Democracy by James Kirchick

Staring at me from the desk in my bedroom at Gladstone’s Library during my recent residency was a postcard inscribed with a bit of the namesake’s wisdom: 

Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear. 

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Our Friends sign-up regulations are changing

17 May 2017

Our Friends sign-up regulations are changing

Please note that the sign-up regulations for Friends of the Library are changing. 

Following advice from our insurers, Gladstone’s Library is now only able to accept Friend applications from individuals in Year 12 and above. As the Reading Rooms at Gladstone’s Library are unstaffed after 5pm, unfortunately individuals under this age are not permitted to remain in this unsupervised area due to safeguarding issues. 

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Voting: A blog by Warden Peter Francis

8 May 2017

Voting: A blog by Warden Peter Francis

A visitor to the Library has just shown me a glass plate made in 1869 to celebrate Gladstone being elected as Prime Minister. It is embossed with the slogan ‘Gladstone for the Million’, which is simply a way of saying ‘for the many’. It is just one of the many commemorative plates, jugs, cups and even chamber pots that were made in honour of Gladstone and offer striking testimony to his popularity.

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Reconsidering the Apostles' Creed

24 October 2016

Reconsidering the Apostles' Creed

Last week (18th – 22nd October) Gladstone’s Library hosted 107 people who, over the course of two conferences and one public lecture, reflected on their Christian Faith, what is essential to Christian faith and how could it be reframed in the light of Biblical scholarship.

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Gladstone's Library on BBC Radio!

10 October 2016

Gladstone's Library on BBC Radio!

Last month BBC Radio Wales’ All Things Considered visited Gladstone’s Library to speak to Warden Peter Francis about what role our Victorian library plays in contemporary life.

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A blog from Gladfest Festival Director, Louisa Yates

13 September 2016

A blog from Gladfest Festival Director, Louisa Yates

On Sunday 4th September, at approximately 5pm, I was the lucky recipient of a bout of applause. Over 80 people showed their appreciation in the usual way for two-and-a-bit days of Gladfest, our now annual fixture where the brightest stars of the literary firmament come to Hawarden. If I do say so myself, that applause was especially well deserved this year. Gladfest has always been good but there was an energy about it this year that really made it one-of-a-kind.

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Gladfest interview: Malcolm Guite

11 August 2016

Gladfest interview: Malcolm Guite

Malcolm Guite is a poet and a priest working as Chaplain of Girton College, Cambridge. He also teaches for the Divinity Faculty and for the Cambridge Theological Federation and lectures widely in England and North America on Theology and Literature. Malcolm works as a librettist for composer Kevin Flanagan and his Riprap Jazz Quartet, and has also worked in collaboration with American composer J.A.C. Redford, and Canadian singer-songwriter Steve Bell. He was the inaugural Artist in Residence at Duke Divinity School in the USA in September 2014, and ‘Visionary in Residence’ at Biola in Los Angeles in March 2015. 

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The Film & Theology DVD collection at Gladstone’s Library

3 June 2016

The Film & Theology DVD collection at Gladstone’s Library

Over the last week, the Film & Theology DVD collection at Gladstone’s Library has almost doubled in size. Why? Thanks to a substantial donation from Warden Peter Francis of over 160 new DVDs from his own personal collection. 

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