Guide to help book lovers explore Welsh locations

More books will be added to the website in the future

Book lovers will no longer have to rely on their imaginations to picture the scene of novels set in Wales thanks to a new website.

Literary Atlas plots locations in stories set around the country, allowing readers to explore some of the places integral to the plot.

Researchers from Cardiff and Swansea universities studied hundred of novels to form the interactive guide.

They hope it will encourage people to explore different areas of Wales.

Literary Atlas has an interactive map of book locations around Wales

As part of the project, hundreds of English language novels set in Wales were studied, with 12 looked at in detail.

They include The Rebecca Rioter by Amy Dilwyn, which is mainly set around Upper Killay in Swansea, Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth Mon Amour, Tristan Hughes' Revenant, based on Anglesey, and Trezza Azzopardi's The Hiding Place, set in Butetown, Cardiff.

Artwork has been commissioned inspired by some of the books, including this by Joni Smith, based on the book Mr Vogel (A walk around Wales Coastal Path)

Literary Atlas also plots the main geographical locations of all English-language novels in the Welsh collections of Cardiff University, Swansea University, and the National Library of Wales.

One key location was taken from each of the 558 novels, giving users a broad overview of the relationship between a story's plot and the place it is set in.

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Prof Jon Anderson, of Cardiff University's School of Geography and Planning, said the website, which went live on Wednesday, gave users the chance to explore Wales through literature.

"We hope the research will inspire people to get out and about, using their tablets to travel the plotlines of the 12 novels we have concentrated on, as well as all the other books included in the Literary Atlas," he added.

Artwork by Locus, The Blue Hawk, based on the book Sheepshagger by Niall Griffiths

More novels will be added to the website in the future, including those written in the Welsh language.

As part of the project, artists were also commissioned to create 12 original artworks, one to reflect each book featured in detail to form an exhibition which will tour Wales next year.