THIS year’s Penfro Book Festival is tackling a hot topic that has been top of the news agendas in Wales.

In the wake of Brexit and leadership upheaval in the Welsh Assembly the question is ‘Who Speaks for Wales?’.

A panel of well-known speakers will be tackling the question as this year’s four-day Penfro Festival kicks off on Thursday, September 6 at Rhosygilwen, Rhoshill.

Rhosygilwen owner and festival committee member Glen Peters will be leading the discussion with speakers Geraint Talfan Davies, former controller of BBC Wales, John ‘Cwmbettws’ Davies, former leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, and local councillor and Ceredigion cabinet member for education Catrin Miles.

“This is bound to be an interesting and thought-provoking evening,” said Glen.

Tickets for the discussion, which starts at 7.30pm, are available at £8 from the Rhosygilwen website or on the door.

The festival has a colourful line-up this year including beloved Radio Wales presenter Roy Noble who will be giving his own personal view on what makes Wales so special on the Saturday evening (September 8) at 7.30pm.

Roy will be talking about his latest book ‘Down the Road and Around the Bend’ which takes us on a fascinating tour of Wales’ places, people and stories. Tickets are £10 and available from www.rho sygilwen.co.uk or on the door.

The festival’s Indian storytelling event on the Friday night with Pete Chand – and a tasty Indian meal – is proving very popular. Remaining tickets are available from the Rhosygilwen website.

Saturday also sees a line-up of fascinating workshops hosted by literature experts ranging from writing poetry, memoirs and short fiction to tips on selling your writing. Details are on the festival website penfrobookfestival.org.uk.

On Sunday, festival-goers can take advantage of a £10 ticket which enables them to choose from a variety of talks including David Lloyd Owen on his popular book A Wilder Wales: Travellers’ Tales 1610-1831 as well as Luke Waterson discussing his medieval epic Song Castle based on the first eisteddfod at Cardigan Castle.

With #metoo on the national agenda, Angela John talks about Menna Gallie, one of the radical Welsh women featured in her new book: ‘Rocking the Boat: Welsh Women Who Championed Equality’.

Brenda Squires will be leading The Writer’s Journey – a panel discussion with authors Hilary Shepherd, Alison White and Diana Powell, while novelist Ifan Morgan Jones will be talking about his exciting new detective mystery Dadeni (Welsh medium).

Also on the Sunday, lunch will be available plus free events including readings by the poetry competition and first chapter competitions plus a performance of the winning radio drama.