Megan Farr

Building Bridges: Language and Cultural Exchange in Children’s Publishing from Wales

Wales has one of the longest literary traditions in Europe, and its landscape, history, myths, people and language have long inspired children’s writers and illustrators from T Llew Jones, JRR Tolkein, Alan Garner and Susan Cooper to Catherine Fisher, Philip Pullman, Manon Steffan Ros and Jackie Morris…

By Megan Farr

As a bilingual nation, Wales publishes its children’s stories in both English and Welsh, providing a mirror for children to see themselves in Wales, and a window onto a different language and culture to those living outside of Wales. While those written in English can travel more easily, there are great stories waiting to be discovered written in the Welsh language.

Y Mabinogi /The Mabinogi tales are the oldest and most famous legends in Wales and hold a central place in the Welsh imagination, inspiring classic children’s books like The Owl Service by Alan Garner (Collins, 1967) and The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (Penguin. 1965 to 1977).

More recently, Pedair Cainc Y Mabinogi /The Four Branches of The Mabinogi (Rily, 2015) has been published as a picture book by Siân Lewis and illustrated by Valériane Leblond, retelling the stories of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan and Blodeuwedd for a new generation. Published by Welsh children’s publisher Rily in a Welsh and English edition, both have been bestsellers, with the Welsh edition winning the Tir na n’Og Children’s Book Award 2016.

This year, authors Matt Brown and Eloise Williams are aiming to publish The Mab with Unbound, a bilingual collection of retellings of the stories from The Mabinogion by 11 prominent children’s authors from Wales. Illustrated by rising star Max Low, this will be a phenomenal showcase of Welsh talent. You can support the project here.

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  3. […] Building Bridges: Language and Cultural Exchange in Children’s Publishing from Wales – A massive thank-you to Chris Lovegrove of Calmgrove for bringing this fascinating post from World Kid Lit to my attention, in which Megan Farr writes: “Wales has one of the longest literary traditions in Europe,” and as “a bilingual nation […] publishes its children’s stories in both English and Welsh, providing a mirror for children to see themselves in Wales, and a window onto a different language and culture to those living outside of Wales.” She goes on to discuss several titles ranging from Siân Lewis’s The Four Branches of the Mabinogi to The Clockwork Crow trilogy by Catherine Fisher, plus subjects such as the importance of national book awards and the publishing landscape in Wales. I thoroughly recommend you read this piece if you have an interest in children’s literature and hope to participate in the annual Wales Readathon (aka Dewithon 21) next March. […]

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