X

X (£5.95 Carreg Gwalch 2002)

BROLIANT

Stori antur yn dilyn taith sbermyn ir Wy yw X. Yn llawn gwreiddioldeb a dyfeisgarwch dilynwn y sbermyn SAThAAG ar ei siwrnai hir a pheryglus, gan gyfarfod nifer o gymeriadau doniol a diddorol ar y ffordd. Mae'r rhain yn cynnwys sberm eraill, hormonau, nerfgelloedd, gwaedgelloedd ac wrth gwrs, gobeithio yr Wy ei hun.

Mae mwyafrif y nofel yn cymryd lle ym mhwrs Iwan Morgan, darlithydd hanes, a oedd, fel mae'n digwydd, wedi gwisgo fel sbermyn ar gyfer parti ar noson fawr canlyniad y Refferendwm ar Ddatganoli. Ond wrth i'r stori fynd rhagddi, sylweddolwn nad SAThAG yn unig sydd â'r ysfa i oroesi...

BLURB

X is an adventure story following a sperm's journey to the Egg. Full of inventiveness and originality we follow the sperm SAThAAG on his long and dangerous journey, meeting several interesting and amusing characters on the way. These include other sperm, hormones, nerve cells, blood cells and of course, hopefully, the Egg itself.

Most of the novel takes place in the scrotum of a history lecturer, Iwan Morgan, who, as it happens, was dressed as a sperm in a fancy dress party on the night of the Devolution Referendum result. But as the story develops we gradually realize it isn't just SAThAAG who has a craving for survival...

PREVIEW (Western Mail 03/06/02)

LITERATURE: Allegory on Wales's journey to the future

TALE DRAWS PARALLELS BETWEEN SPERM AND BIRTH OF NATION

A writer has penned an entire novel about the trials and tribulations of a human sperm.

Geraint Lewis's first novel tells the adventures of a sperm as it fights its way through a ruthless world to reach an egg. The novel begins on the night of the devolution referendum in 1997 and is also an allegory on Wales's journey to the future. The book is called simply X - after both the female determining chromosome and the mark made on ballot papers in the referendum. Mr Lewis said he hoped the Welsh-language book - which will be on sale at the Urdd Eisteddfod this week - would be well read by teenagers.

"When I started writing it I was pleased that the Welsh scientific terminology I needed was in the Academi dictionary. Teenagers are familiar with those terms if they're studying sciences through Welsh in school."

Mr Lewis, who hails from Tregaron, Ceredigion, chose the unusual standpoint of a sperm because it would avoid any sense of preaching and had humorous potential.

"I did A-level Biology but I didn't know the details of sperm," he said. "When I researched it I almost had a story on a plate. The journey of a sperm to the egg is full of danger, in a very violent place. The vast majority are killed. I saw it as a boy's own adventure story, like the ones I liked when I was small."

He said the novel, published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, was also about Wales's journey.

"It's about the itch to survive," said Mr Lewis, who now lives in Cardiff and works mainly as a writer of dramas and television scripts. He wrote the commisioned play, Dosbarth, for this year's National Eisteddfod. Last year his play Ysbryd Beca, about rural depopulation, toured Wales. He is also one of the writers of S4C's series Iechyd Da, about environmental health officers.

REVIEW (Western Mail 26/10/02 - Meic Stephens)

DARING THEMES PROVE THE HEALTH OF OUR WRITING

The writing of prose in Welsh seems to be going through a good patch these days, with novels and short stories coming off the presses so fast that even the most devoted reader is sometimes hard put to keep up with them. Geraint Lewis has chosen a most unpromising theme for his novel, X (Carreg Gwalch £5.95). In fact, when I first heard about it I thought it was a leg-pull or some weird idea that didn't stand a chance of being properly treated in a literary way.

It's about a sperm on its way to meet an egg in a woman's ovaries. The way is long and hazardous, with many obstacles such as other sperm, hormones, nerve and blood cells, until it reaches journey's end.

Most of the action takes place inside the testicles of a man called Iwan Morgan, a History lecturer, who has dressed up as a sperm for a party on the night of the Referendum result in 1997. The account of the sperm's epic adventures is gripping, often hilarious and strangely moving, with many twists and turns before it fulfils its destiny. Not one for your maiden aunt.

RHAGOLWG (GOLWG, Meleri Wyn James)

CYMRU FEL SBERM?

A ydych chi erioed wedi cymharu bywyd sberm â dyfodol Cymru?

Mae nofel gynta' Geraint Lewis yn adrodd stori taith sberm ar y daith i'r wy. Yn nychymyg yr awdur, Geraint Lewis, mae'n daith ddifyr, llawn hiwmor. Mae hefyd yn daith beryglus sy'n adleisio dyfodol Cymru.Darlithydd hanes o'r enw Iwan Morgan yw perchennog y sbermyn, SAThAAG. Mae e wedi bod mewn parti i ddathlu canlyniad y Refferendwm ar Ddatganoli.

"O'n i moyn gwneud rhwbeth fyddech chi ddim yn gallu ei wneud yn ffilm" meddai Geraint Lewis, sgriptiwr teledu a dramodydd llwyfan sy'n dad i dri o blant.

"O'n i wedi gwneud Lefel A mewn Bywydeg, ond yn hytrach na chyflwyno syniadaeth am y pwnc on the nail, o'n i am wneud rhwbeth mwy alegoriaidd, o'n i'n gweld hynny'n help. Y mwya' o'n i'n darllen am y pwnc, y mwya' o ffeithie diddorol o'n i'n dod ar eu traws. Mae gyda chi stori antur ar blât, y stori hyna' sydd, am ymgyrch sbermyn i gyrraedd yr wy. Dim ond un o bob 100% sydd â'r gallu i ymdreiddio wy. Mae'r 99% arall yna i ladd sberm gwryw arall ac i atal sberm rhag dod nôl ma's...sori os ydw i'n hala chi off eich brecwast!"

Mae siwrnai epig sbermyn wedi cael ei ddilyn gan y Cyfarwyddwr Woody Allen yn y ffilm Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex ac mewn stori fer gan y Prif Lenor Eirug Wyn. Mae'r ddau, ynghyd â Geraint Lewis, yn rhannu synnwyr digrifwch, ond mae Geraint Lewis wedi mynd un cam ymhellach trwy geisio cymharu brwydr y sberm i oroesi, â brwydr Cymru.

"Mae'n addas iawn fel thema i nofel, sef yr ysfa i oroesi, ac mai ochr arall y geiniog yw marwolaeth," meddai'r gwr sy'n wreiddiol o Dregaron ond sy'n byw bellach yng Nghaerdydd.

"Mae gyda chi ysfa'r sberm i oroesi, ac ysfa cenedl i oroesi. Er mai taith y sbermyn yw'r brif stori mae backstory yn cymryd lle mewn parti i ddathlu canlyniad y Refferendwm ar Ddatganoli. Mae yna adlais o'r 'Gododdin' (cerdd ryfel gan y bardd Aneurin o'r 6ed ganrif). Mae cymhariaeth fwriadol rhwng y sberm ar faes yr wyfyd ac Aneurin a'i ddynion ar faes y gâd yng Nghatraeth..."

"Mae'n stori antur yn benna', am yr holl beryglon sy'n wynebu sberm ar ei ffordd i drial cyrraedd yr wy," meddai, "Mae hi'n daith daunting! Mae wy seis planed o gymharu â sbermyn! Ymwya' o'n i'n darllen mewn iddo fe, y mwya' hawdd o'dd e'n dod. Mae stages pendant o fewn y daith, ac o'dd e'n help darllen bod byd y sberm ar seiliau weddol gadarn i ddechre. Bydd y nofel yn hynod, yn eitha' anodd weithie, ond o leia' fe fydd hi'n wahanol!"

"Rwy'n meddwl bod y pwnc yn good selling point. Mae rhywbeth oesol amdano, mae e bron ar lefel myth, r'ych chi'n dod o'r tywyllwch i'r goleuni. Mae lot o drais yno' fe, mae byd y sberm yn fyd eitha' treisgar, mae lot o bethe yn gallu mynd o'i le. Sa' i mo'yn rhoi'r gêm bant gormod, ond mae'r nofel yn mynd yn fwy tywyll wrth fynd yn ei blaen."