Svět knihy 2004

Wales

Wales, the smallest, geographically, of the three Celtic countries appearing at Bookworld Prague 2004, is also the country where its indigenous language, Welsh, a Celtic language unrelated to English, is most widely spoken. Located in the western part of the UK, with a glorious coastline on three sides and bordering England to the east, it has two official languages—Welsh and English—and with a population of 3 million, around 600,000 speak Welsh. Its literature, dating back to the sixth century, is the earliest medieval literature in Europe.

In 1997, after a referendum by the new Labour government, the Welsh government was devolved from British rule and the National Assembly of Wales established. This is the first time Wales has had political power since the Acts of Union, which annexed Wales to England in 1536. In its wake, the dynamics of the cultural scene have centred more than ever before on Cardiff – historically, a multicultural city – thoroughly reinvigorating the capital as a cultural centre.

Welsh writing
Wales’ best-known literary figures abroad are undoubtedly the poets Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), who the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal fondly refers to in his work, and R.S. Thomas (1913-2000). Dylan Thomas, with his lyrical exuberance and wild lifestyle, has come to represent the fiery spirit of the Welsh: those Greeks under the rain, that fire in the puritanical belly of non-conformism. R. S. Thomas is known for his deeply religious poetry but also, controversially, for his determined defence of the Welsh language. Although writing in English, his position was clear: ‘Despite our speech, we are not English’.

2004 sees the 100th anniversary of two important writers: the pacifist poet Waldo Williams and one of Wales’ most widely translated prose writers, Caradog Prichard. Waldo Williams is best known for Dail Pren (Leaves of the Wood). Prichard’s most famous work is Un Nos Ola Leuad (One Moonlit Night), published in Czech as Za úplnku (Volvox Globator, 1998). First published in the sixties, it is regarded as the inspiration for a creative renewal in the Welsh-language novel in the eighties and nineties, in the work of novelists such as Robin Llywelyn, Mihangel Morgan, and Wiliam Owen Roberts, now increasingly known and read outside Wales.

In recent years, writing in English has also been remarkably productive, entering one of its richest periods. Something which recent Welsh-language and English-language novelists share is a preoccupation with the tension between the ‘real’ and the ‘unreal’.
Much new writing in English has centred on the capital, Cardiff, borrowing from and expanding the noir genre in intriguing directions, as can be seen, for example, in the unusual thriller writing of novelist, Sean Burke, and in the widely translated Cardiff trilogy of John Williams. Writers in the Welsh language have taken this preoccupation with the unreal further, sometimes bordering on the surreal.

Until recently, poets, however, tended to dominate the literary scene, having always been in abundance. Writing poetry and attending readings are popular activities, most noticeably in Welsh-speaking communities. Pubs are the typical venue for competitions between local poets writing on a set topic, often using cynghanedd, an intricate system of internal alliteration and rhyme particular to the Welsh language. Traditionally, this was a male environment, but important poets such as, to name but a few, Menna Elfyn, who travels the world reading her work, and Gwyneth Lewis, who writes in both Welsh and English, have brought a different dynamic to the poetry scene. Poets or novelists who write in both languages are still, however, rare.

Welsh writers at BookWorld Prague 2004
Someone who has done much to open doors between Welsh language and English language poetry in Wales is poet Robert Minhinnick. His latest publication is The Adulterer’s Tongue, an anthology of six contemporary Welsh language poets whose work Minhinnick translated into English. One of the guest writers from Wales appearing at the book fair this year, he is amongst the leading poets of his generation. An environmentalist, he founded Friends of the Earth Cymru (Wales) in 1984. He is currently editor of the magazine Poetry Wales. His work can be read in Czech translation in the anthology of contemporary Welsh poetry, Drak má dvojí jazyk (The Dragon has Two Tongues), published by Periplum in 2000.

We are also honoured to have two of Wales’ most senior and renowned literary figures joining us in Prague. The travel writer Jan Morris (1926-), celebrated all over the world for her descriptions of places and people, including Prague, is commonly portrayed as the ‘Flaubert of the jet age’ and as ‘perhaps the best descriptive writer of our time’. She is best known for her studies of Venice, Oxford, Manhattan, Sydney, Hong Kong, Spain, and Wales. Emyr Humphreys (1919-) is one of Wales’ foremost fiction writers and has been described as ‘the supreme interpreter of Welsh life’. The author of over twenty volumes, his work has won him several key prizes, including the Somerset Maugham Award and the Hawthornden Prize.

The latest books of both Morris and Humphreys are directly or indirectly about old age. Morris’s exquisite and unconventional Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere (2001), which she claims is her last book, has also been called one of literature’s most impressive and subtle meditations on old age. And in his latest volume, Old People Are a Problem (2003), Humphreys continues to write about social and political conscience, but here from the particular perspective of old age.

2003 also saw the publication by Parthian Books of a striking first novel, The Tower, by young writer Tristan Hughes, another Welsh writer who will be appearing in the guest of honour programme. Described as ‘soaring prose’ by The Independent, the novel questions the idea of cultural heritage, and marks Hughes as a writer to watch.

Book launches
Following the publication of several books in Czech translation by Welsh authors, including the anthology of contemporary poetry by Periplum publishers from which there will be readings during the book fair, a new anthology of short stories by women authors from Wales, Kočky na dražbě (Cats at an Auction) will be launched. The anthology is published by One Woman Press as part of a series of short stories by women writers from across the world. Francesca Rhydderch, editor of the literary magazine New Welsh Review, whose story appears in the volume, will be reading her work and discussing writing by women from Wales. The book fair will also see the launch of a book of essays by Robert Minhinnick with photographs by Toril Brancher, and published by Welsh Literature Abroad and Wales Arts International, introducing contemporary literature from Wales to an international audience.

Welsh publishers in Prague
The collective guest of honour stand will showcase a selection of books and magazines from Wales, including two of the UK’s most dynamic literary reviews, the New Welsh Review and Poetry Wales, whose editors will be present at the fair. Publishers attending include Seren, which specialises in literary fiction and art books, and Parthian Books, a vibrant small press, which has done much to encourage new writing. Amongst others present will be Y Lolfa, a publisher of a wide range of titles, including reference books, politics and history books, children’s books, Celtic interest titles and work by some of Wales’s best-known poets and fiction writers. Staff from the Welsh Books Council and Welsh Literature Abroad will be available throughout the duration of the fair on the guest of honour stand and can advise on translation grants available to foreign publishers. Books by the guest of honour authors will be available for sale, both in the original and in Czech translation. And finally, another opportunity for publishers and agents to find out more about publishing in Wales is the Publishers’ Breakfast. Please refer to the Book Fair programme for more information.

Further details
Read more about the writers, publishers, translators and literature of Wales on Welsh Literature Abroad’s website, available in four languages at www.welsh-lit-abroad.org. Books can also be bought directly through the Welsh Books Council’s on-line bookshop, www.gwales.com. Read about two of Wales’ best-known festivals, The National Eisteddfod of Wales and The Guardian Hay Festival at www.eisteddfod.org and www.hayfestival.co.uk.

Wales’ presence at BookWorld Prague 2004 is supported by the Welsh Books Council, Welsh Literature Abroad, Wales Arts International and the Arts Council of Wales.