Wales Literature Exchange and Literature Across Frontiers at London Book Fair 2023
Wales Literature Exchange and Literature Across Frontiers curated a busy programme for the London Book Fair 2023, which took place on April 18–20. It aimed to connect literary Wales internationally and promote the best of its literature and was packed with meetings and events featuring award-winning Welsh and international writers.
The London Book Fair is one of the most important events for the publishing industry; it enables international agents and publishers to meet, share new titles and negotiate rights to publish translations. It is also a major forum for conversations on the latest sector trends.
WLE and LAF participated in the Publishing Wales stand, supported by Creative Wales, and had a full three-day schedule of meetings with foreign publishers and a programme of events featuring international literary professionals, including award-winning writers Fflur Dafydd and Megan Angharad Hunter.
Works by both authors are featured in the WLE Bookshelf, an annual selection of titles showcased at festivals and book fairs and promoted for translation. International publishers can apply for WLE’s Translation Grants Fund to support the translation of books written by Welsh authors. Recent successes include Llyfr Glas Nebo (Y Lolfa, 2018) by Manon Steffan Ros, which has so far sold translation rights into nine languages, including Arabic, Italian, French and Spanish.
WLE’s Projects Officer, Elin Haf, said: “I was delighted to meet with international publishers at the stand coordinated by Publishing Wales and showcase books by Welsh authors in translation.”
Fflur Dafydd, Megan Angharad Hunter and Samvartha Sahil
The programme of events included a conversation between Fflur Dafydd and Iva Pezuashvili, Georgian winner of the 2022 European Union Prize for Literature, moderated by Casi Dylan. Megan Angharad Hunter, who has translated her award-winning novel tu ôl i’r awyr (Y Lolfa, 2020) into English, took part in a multinational discussion on access and accessibility in translation at the Literary Translation Centre. Megan recently participated in the Literary Europe Live India tour which was supported by Taith, Wales Arts International and similar organizations in other countries and organized by Director of LAF, Alexandra Büchler, who spoke in the ‘Translation in Motion’ session about Ulysses’ Shelter, the European exchange residency project for emerging writers and translators.
Fflur Dafydd also spoke at the ‘Page to Screen as Translation’ session with the renowned Austrian-German author and screenwriter Daniel Kehlmann and Samvartha Sahil, poet, translator and filmmaker who has joined the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) for three months this Spring as the 2023 Charles Wallace India Fellow in creative writing and translation.
During the book fair, WLE and LAF also met with partner organizations from ENLIT, the European Network for Literary Translation.
Alexandra Büchler, who is a board member of ENLIT, said: “We were delighted to be back at the London Book Fair with such a rich programme that gave literary Wales high international visibility.”
Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of CAWCS and Strategic Director of Wales Literature Exchange, said: “We are grateful to our funders who made it possible for us to attend London Book Fair this year and continue with our work of taking the best literature from Wales to the world and to enrich and further the careers of the Welsh writers we support though our international projects and multilingual programmes.”
Contact:
Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones: elin.jones@uwtsd.ac.uk
Alexandra Büchler: alexandra@lit-across-frontiers.org
Elin Haf: post@waleslitexchange.org
Note to Editor
1. For the full list of events please see attached PDF - Rhaglen - Programme 2023
2. The Wales stand at the London Book Fair was first launched in 2018 as a joint initiative of the Arts Council of Wales, Books Council of Wales, Literature Across Frontiers and Wales Literature Exchange. In 2023 the stand was for the first time supported by Creative Wales and coordinated by the Books Council of Wales and the newly established association Publishing Wales.
3. The Literary Translation Centre, established in 2010 by a consortium of organizations including LAF, is a buzzing hub for topical debates on translation with a programme that caters not only for literary translators but for other book sector professionals, including publishers, agents, authors and representatives of literary organizations. The full programme showcased at the Literary Translation Centre, can be found here. Other programme highlights included the PEN Literary Salon with debates on Ukraine, the country in focus at the fair.
4. Links to author biographies:
Fflur Dafydd
Samvartha Sahil
Megan Angharad Hunter
5. Background
Wales Literature Exchange was established in 1998 to promote books and authors from Wales and to contribute to the internationalization of Wales’s literary scene. Its activities are captured in its motto: “Translating Wales, reading the World.” Find more about WLE here.
Literature Across Frontiers is the European platform for literary exchange, translation and policy debate established in Wales in 2001 with support from the European Union. Find more about LAF here.
Both WLE and LAF are based at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, adjacent to the National Library, and are part of University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The activities of WLE and LAF are supported by the Arts Council of Wales and other funders. Both organizations have attended the London Book Fair annually for over 20 years, in addition to attending the Frankfurt Book Fair, the most important event in the global book sector’s calendar, as well as other book fairs in Europe and further afield.
The programme of the Literary Translation Centre is coordinated by Literature Across Frontiers in partnership with the British Council, the National Centre for Writing, English PEN, British Centre for Translation and other organizations. This year’s programme was supported by Arts Council of Wales, Creative Wales, Arts Council England, Charles Wallace India Trust and the European Union Prize for Literature.
The ENLIT network brings together 27 organizations promoting their national literature and supporting its translation from around Europe. LAF Director Alexandra Büchler currently serves on its board.
The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) was established by the University of Wales in 1985 as a dedicated research centre conducting team-based projects on the languages, literatures, culture and history of Wales and the other Celtic countries. It is located in Aberystwyth, adjacent to the National Library of Wales, which is an internationally renowned copyright library with excellent research facilities.
CAWCS offers unique opportunities for postgraduate students to work alongside specialists in a dynamic and supportive environment. We welcome enquiries about MPhil/PhD topics in any of our research areas. For more information about research opportunities, or for an informal chat about possible topics, contact our Head of Graduate Studies, Dr Elizabeth Edwards: e.edwards@wales.ac.uk
Further Information
Arwel Lloyd
Principal PR and Communications Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: arwel.lloyd@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467076