Gerry Ray is a Welsh poet, singer and song writer, currently living in the coastal town of Porthcawl. In past lives, Gerry has been a teacher of English and Art; a therapist working with people with challenging behavior; and lecturer in occupational therapy.  

This is his third volume published by Culture & Democracy Press, after The Last Tree (2024) and Turtles Dreaming of Fish (2025).

Phil Cope is a photographer, poet, writer and publisher.

Born in Cardiff, he has travelled and worked throughout the world (including Iran, Haiti, Canada, Greece, Wales). He currently lives in the Garw, the subject of his 2021 Seren Books publication, The Golden Valley.

With books on subjects as diverse as Paul Robeson, vodou, the Spanish Civil War, Liverpool, and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, he is probably best known for his volumes on sacred springs and holy wells (Wales, Cornwall, England, Scotland, Ireland), published by Seren and Parthian.

Angela Graham divides her time between Wales and Northern Ireland. She is a distinguished producer in TV and Film.

Her first title with Culture & Democracy Press is STAR, published in 2024.

Seren Books published her highly acclaimed debut poetry collection, Sanctuary (2022) and her short story collection A City Burning (2020) which was long-listed for the Edge Hill Prize.

She is a runner-up in the Seamus Heaney Award for New Writing 2025.

Born in Pontycymmer, in the Garw Valley, where he has lived all his life, Wyn Price was educated in Ffaldau Junior School and Ynysawdre Comprehensive School before graduating with an economic science degree in international politics from Aberystwyth University. He went on to study for a PhD in Welsh History at Cardiff University, specialising in the social, political and industrial history of the South Wales Coalfield.  

 Before retiring in 2019, he worked for over 30 years in the Welsh Office and Welsh Government. As Head of Resilience, he was an adviser to Welsh Ministers on Civil Contingencies and National Security matters. He also worked with Home Office as an adviser on national counter-terrorism exercises.

 After 2 years of retirement, Wyn returned to the Welsh Government to work on the preparations for the Covid-19 Public Inquiry. He also currently works as a Lecturer in Emergency Preparedness and Civil Protection at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David

He was awarded an OBE for services to civil contingency and emergency planning in Wales in 2012.

His interest in the history of the South Wales Coalfield stems from his work as a Community Historian during the 1980s, where he was employed to produce educational material for local schools.

John Connell is an author and former newspaper journalist originally from Alnmouth, Northumberland. His first book, The Man Who Gave His Horse to a Beggar, follows Aidan of Lindisfarne across Ireland, Scotland, and northern England. His forthcoming book, with photography by Phil Cope, is an adventure through landscape and legend in search of the lost northern kingdom of Rheged. 

He has contributed to the award-winning Bamburgh Bones heritage project and given talks with author and archaeologist Max Adams. 

John studied English at the University of York and completed a Master’s at its Centre for Medieval Studies, researching the art and material culture of Golden Age Northumbria. 

Fr John Musther was the parish priest of the Orthodox parish in Keswick, Cumbria, UK. He studied for a Bachelor in Laws at University College, London University, and for a BA in Theology at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He received a Master’s Degree in Applied Orthodoxy in Theology at the Antiochian House of Studies, Pennsylvania, USA.

In 2022, Fr John was made an Archpriest by His Grace Bishop Raphael of Ilion.