Today I have the honour of introducing "Library of Wales" and Parthian Books, who will be present at the Llandeilo Book Fair on Saturday and Sunday. Their exquisite catalogue includes several of our Lit Fest authors, too.
A
Carnival of Voices in Independent Publishing
Central to our mission is our belief in the power of a great
book, and what we publish reflects a diverse and contemporary Wales that casts
a keen eye on the wider world. Exciting, vibrant, surprising, relevant and
original... in recent years, our authors have garnered critical acclaim and
prestigious accolades including The Dylan Thomas Prize, The Betty Trask, the
Wales Book of the Year, the Orange Futures Award, The Rhys Davies Prize, the
Journey Prize, the Edge Hill Readers' Award and The Stonewall Award.
https://www.parthianbooks.com/https://www.parthianbooks.com/collections/library-of-wales
Poetry
New titles for 2017 include poetry collections from Terry Hetherington and
Robin Reeves winner Natalie Ann Holborow, Wales Young People’s Laureate Sophie
McKeand, Christina Thatcher, Eleni Cay and Susie Wild. Recent releases include
poetry from Kate Noakes, Jasmine Donahaye, Mark Blayney, M.A. Oliver-Semenov,
Norman Schwenk, Siôn Tomos Owen and Jemma L. King.
The
Classics of Welsh Literature
In
Translation
Over the years we have developed good translation links
throughout Europe and beyond, and our books have appeared in fifteen
foreign-language editions including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish,
Danish, Turkish, Portuguese and Russian. We have recently announced our
first book deal with New Star publications in China for the thriller The
Colour of a Dog Running Away.
Featuring eight writers - eight women - from six countries - from the Basque
coast at Donostia, to Slovakia, to Romania, to Germany, to Turkey and from
Wales - the new Parthian Europa Carnivale project represents a collection
of new European fiction and poetry, written by some of the most talented contemporary
female authors writing today.
The eight books we have chosen tackle a number of extremely important or
relevant themes, some of them universal despite their foundations in differing
languages, histories and cultures. These writers have woven the tales of a
number of extraordinary women challenged by religion, health, love, war and
politics; from The Equestrienne’s feeble Karolina, whose passion for
trick-riding is threatened by the goliath that is capitalism, to My Mother’s
Hands’s Nerea, who must battle more intimate, personal demons in the face of
her mother’s amnesia, each story, be it long or short, showcases a masterful
depiction of the human spirit in the face of adversity and oppression.
PEC, which began with the publication of Goldfish Memory by Monique
Schwitter in Spring 2015, has eight books either published or in the process of
translation, with new voices being discussed for 2017. The books already
released have garnered critical acclaim and a wealth of prestigious prizes,
including the PEN International/New Voices Award, the Beterriko liburua, the
Rotahornpreis and, most recently, the PEN Translates Award.
Our backlist also includes a growing number of titles in translation such
as Petrograd, Harry Selwyn’s Last Race, To Bury
the Dead, Under
the Dust, The Bridge Over the River, Strange Language, Martha, Jac and Shanco, Feet in Chains from
Spanish, Catalan, German, Basque and Welsh.
From 10am onwards on the Saturday the Book Fairy will be hiding books and vouchers for signed copies of books by festival and book fair authors all day long and all over town. A treasure map will be provided to help you find them.
