Kate Griffin freelance journalism and editing

It's official: the plastic bag is now seriously uncool. On a global level, marine scientists have known for decades that plastic rubbish finds its way into our oceans. Once in the sea, the same tiny pellet of plastic can kill countless birds and fish in a macabre cycle: the animal eats the plastic and dies, then the animal's body rots away to expose the plastic inside. The plastic is then back in the ocean, ready to kill another unsuspecting bird or fish.

Romance, female emancipation and streetwalkers - it's all in a day's work for novelist Iris Gower. Kate Griffin discovers the secrets behind her success.

Ask the average English person to tell you what they know about Welsh literature, and they might name Dylan Thomas, or mutter something about the Mabinogion. Poetry from the post-Glyndwr years and 17th-century religious writings have hardly made a blip on the modern world's literary radar.