Wales is a nation of contradictions. It boasts incredible natural resources and crushing poverty; fierce patriotism and a stark north / south divide; an energy surplus, and some of the highest bills in the UK.
It also has a famously rugby-mad culture - but its football team are lighting up international tournaments. So what's going on? And how might Wales look in decades to come?
Rhys Thomas hails from Laugharne - the village on which, it is rumoured, Dylan Thomas based Under Milk Wood's Llareggub (read it backwards). In this affectionate investigation into his home country - via Welsh geography, food, culture and sport - he aims for the heart of its contrasts. In doing so, Thomas builds a mosaic-like image of how Wales looks today - and how it might look in the future.
"We can't think of a better person to write about Wales and Welsh culture than Rhys! He's a top bloke and we love this book", ADWAITH, Welsh Music Prize winners 2019 & 2022
Rhys Thomas is a freelance journalist and strategist from Laugharne, Wales.
He writes columns and features for magazines, online and print, on a range of subjects including masculinity, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, digital technology, profiles of athletes and musicians, experiential features, digital culture and subcultures, interviews with non-celebrities about real-life issues, and Welsh culture.
His work has appeared in VICE, Time Out, The Face, The Guardian, GQ, Mr Porter, Huck, The Times, Dazed, Mundial, Highsnobiety, The Independent, The Daily Star, MEL Magazine, Red Bull, The Strategist/New York Magazine, and ITV. 'The Future of Wales' is his first book.
MELVILLE HOUSE UK - THE FUTURES series
The new FUTURES series from Melville House, launching in February 2024, presents imaginative future visions on a wide range of subjects, written by experts, academics, journalists, and leading pop-culture figures. Seeking to publish a rich array of opinions, covering as wide-ranging a view as possible on our potential futures, we ask our authors to experiment with the kinds of daring ideas that can help change public conversation.
As a series we hope the FUTURES books will inspire readers to imagine what might lie ahead, to figure out how they might like the future to look, and think about how, collectively, we might get there.
