Multi award-winning novelist Caryl Lewis stars in the final episode of series 2 of S4C’s Cyfrinachau’r Llyfrgell (Best Kept Secrets), where she embarks on a deeply personal and poetic journey through the National Library of Wales.
Caryl – who made literary history in 2023 by becoming the first author to win the prestigious Wales Book of the Year Award in both Welsh and English brings to the Library a proof copy of her latest novel Bitter Honey which draws on her obsession with bees and the remarkable societal role they play.
A committed member of the Welsh Beekeepers’ Association, her journey begins in the Library’s unique and extensive Study of Bees in Wales. Among the highlights: a Welsh-language beekeeping manual written by Michael D Jones, the founding father of Patagonia, and the first known reference to bees in literature, dating way back to 1256.
Surrounded by works penned and inspired by beekeeping Welsh luminaries, Caryl feels “completely at home.”
Later in the show, Caryl is visibly moved in the National Broadcast Archive as she watches a black-and-white film of her mother, folk singer Doreen Lewis, performing her debut song. The footage sparks a deeper exploration of one of her mother’s most loved songs – Nans O’r Glyn as Caryl also uncovers some surprising family secrets around the legendary mare.
The journey continues through the Library’s extensive art collection, where she is joined by Morfudd Bevan, the Library’s Art Curator. With over 70,000 artworks in the archive, Caryl gets an intimate look into the working process of a local artist. Seeing raw sketches and finished canvases, she reflects on the vulnerability of artistic creation, and makes a surprising confession about some of her own written drafts. “I burn them… because they are private,” she said.
Living with Crohn’s disease has led Caryl to embrace traditional remedies and she recently discovered her grandfather made natural medicines. The Library team present her with historical medical texts that confirm she’s merely the latest in a line of ‘literary medics’ in Wales.
Reflecting on her journey, Caryl explains, “The Library is the custodian of our national identity – a sanctuary where each item held within its walls is a thread within a rich tapestry, woven from fragments of who we are. Together, they tell the story of who we are as a nation.”
Cyfrinachau’r Llyfrgell’s unique format blends genealogy, archive exploration and personal storytelling, uncovering remarkable truths and long-forgotten secrets from family histories.
Alongside Caryl, well-known Welsh figures including former rugby icon Scott Quinnell,
former Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and acclaimed actress Dame Siân Phillips feature in this series.
Hosted by BBC Radio Wales presenter Dot Davies, each one-hour episode invites audiences to share in a journey filled with emotion, revelation and personal connection. Manuscript Curator, Dr Maredudd ap Huw, leads the Library’s team as they guide celebrities through each piece of information uncovered with some surprises thrown in along the way.
Llinos Wynne, S4C’s Head of Docs and Specialist Factual, said: “As one of our nation’s most prominent authors, and as someone from Ceredigion herself, Caryl Lewis is very much at home in Aberystwyth and at the National Library of Wales. It’s a pleasure to see her experience all that the library has to offer, and conclude that this is the custodian of our national identity which tells the story of our nation.”
Geraint Rhys Lewis, Executive Producer at Slam Media said, “Caryl is an absolute force of nature – her work, personality and thoughts are deeply ingrained in the land and locality around her family’s roots, yet she sees the world with perceptive wide-open eyes.
“She communicates deep thoughts in such an understated disarming way, we were all completely enchanted by her and could have listened to her all day.”
IMAGE CREDIT: Cyfrinachau’r Llyfrgell (Best Kept Secrets) is on Tuesdays, 9pm on S4C until October 7th. Also available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer