Leanne Wood is the leader of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist party.. Unusually for a party leader she is young, female and not from the Welsh-speaking heartlands of the rural west. Instead she hails from Penygraig in the Rhondda. A former Probation Officer and Women's Aid support worker, Leanne Wood is the figurehead for a new generation of idealistic but practical Welsh politicians and much hope for change is invested in her. She is committed to working for Wales to become a self-governing decentralist socialist republic.
Rachel Trezise was the winner of the inaugral Dylan Thomas Prize for her short story collection "Fresh Apples". Her latest novel "Sixteen Shades of Crazy" is published by Harper Collins in May 2010.
