Reposted by Dr Peredur Glyn Webb-Davies
1940 Irish language scif-fi book Manannán by Máiréad Ní Ghráda
It is the first Mecha Robot outside of Japan and mention of a Gravity assist in fiction. It was never republished or translated.
Dr Peredur Glyn Webb-Davies
@doctorpreds.bsky.social
514 followers 333 following 164 posts
Awdur nofelau Cymraeg: ANFARWOL (2025), CYSGOD Y MABINOGI (2024) a PUMED GAINC Y MABINOGI (2022) 👉 tinyurl.com/Llyfrauperedurglyn Ieithydd, awdur, ayb. (fo) Linguist and lecturer (Bangor), author of Welsh cosmic horror (he/him)
![Cartoon by Stephen Collins for The Guardian. Script as follows:
[Scene is just a close up of Keir Starmer talking to someone off-scene]
1
STARMER:
Mr President, thank you so much for agreeing to meet me
2
STARMER:
It's great to talk to you so we can work together to maintain global economic stability at this challenging time.
3
[We see who Starmer is talking to - it is a small penguin low down in an empty panel]
PENGUIN:
Уuр.
[Thge penguin has coiffed gray hair like Starmer]
4
[Wider view, show them both together now. they are on a cold, desolate island with lots of other penguins in the back=ground. Starmer's helicopter and pilot is also in the distance.]
STARMER:
So have you spoken to him then?
PENGUIN:
Who
5
STARMER:
Donald Trump
PENGUIN:
The orange thing?
STARMER:
Yes
6
PENGUIN:
Yeah I had a Zoom with him yesterday
STARMER:
Oh...really...
7
PENGUIN:
Yeah I told him: look, it's a bit weird that you've put McDonald Island on this
'tariff list', but whatever
8
PENGUIN:
I mean, we're just a cold, miserable island... isolated from the world, forgotten by humanity...
We don't even *make* anything let alone export it to *America*...
9
PENGUIN:
In a way it's flattering anybody remembers us enough to put us on a list...
10
STARMER [looking thoughtfully at the ground]:
Mm.
11
PENGUIN:
Hey- is the word 'Keir' some sort of trade term?
He kept calling me 'Keir'.
12
[Wide view of the desolate, cold scene, Starmer standing talking to a penguin]
PENGUIN:
I'm new to all this.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreifjmpdstecrs47ux6d5ojzrztwwvzwt7e2yak63wbpsp4njqcsaoq)
