I write for myself. I write what I want to read about in a way that makes me want to keep reading. I write what I can’t find anywhere else – if I could, I wouldn’t write it. If others want to read me, that’s a bonus. It may well be ridiculous and self-deluding, but I see myself as a creative artist, making something original that wasn’t there before. I’m not worried if I’m seen as pretentious. In my opinion, I am not a good writer; I’m just somebody trying to be a good writer. To that end, I will experiment and stretch myself whenever possible. By blogging I give all this – the good, the bad, the indifferent – freely to Cardiff, Wales and the world. I expect nothing in return – nobody asked me to do this. My ultimate aims are extremely ambitious: High Art that will stand the test of time, and a Free Wales. When I’m long gone, I would like to have contributed just a fraction of the truth, beauty and innovation of those already gone who have influenced me:

James Baldwin (1924-1987)
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)
William Burroughs (1914-1997)
Brian Clough (1935-2004)
William Cobbett (1763-1835)
John Coltrane (1926-1967)
James Connolly (1868-1916)
Idris Davies (1905-1953)
John Davies (1938-2015)
Miles Davis (1926-1991)
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)
WC Fields (1880-1946)
Paul Foot (1937-2004)
John Ford (1894-1973)
Anne Frank (1929-1945)
Jean Genet (1910-1986)
Owain Glyndŵr (c1359-c1415)
Thom Gunn (1929-2004)
Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962)
Bill Hicks (1961-1994)
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)
Billie Holiday (1915-1959)
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
AE Housman (1859-1936)
Ivan Illich (1926-2002)
Nigel Jenkins (1949-2014)
Jack Jones (1884-1970)
Lewis Jones (1897-1939)
Micky Jones (1946-2010)
James Joyce (1882-1941)
Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)
RD Laing (1927-1989)
Timothy Leary (1920-1996)
Deke Leonard (1944-2017)
Primo Levi (1919-1987)
RM Lockley (1903-2000)
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Billy Meredith (1874-1958)
Thelonius Monk (1917-1982)
Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826)
Robert Owen (1771-1858)
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960)
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
Dic Penderyn (1808-1831)
Dennis Potter (1935-1994)
Evelyn Reed (1905-1979)
Lou Reed (1942-2013)
Kate Roberts (1891-1985)
Paul Robeson (1898-1976)
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
Percy Shelley (1792-1822)
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
RS Thomas (1913-2000)
Hunter S Thompson (1937-2005)
Robert Tressell (1870-1911)
Auberon Waugh (1939-2001)
Harri Webb (1920-1994)
Orson Welles (1915-1985)
Mae West (1893-1980)
Gwyn Alf Williams (1925-1995)
Raymond Williams (1921-1988)