AmeriCymru: Hi Sue and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Care to introduce yourself and your work for our readers? 

Sue: Hello! It’s a pleasure to be here. ‘Here’ for me is near Porthmadog in North Wales. However, I lived near Aberystwyth in Mid-Wales until I was ten years old, and then lived on Anglesey (Ynys Môn) until my early twenties. 

I currently work as a proofreader and editor of English, and as a Welsh-to-English literary translator. But I didn’t start off that way! 

After school I trained as a cartographer, and then worked drawing maps by hand (that’s how old I am) for various local authorities. I went to university as a mature student, but that still didn’t get me any closer to doing what I do now – my degree is in a science subject. 

By my mid-forties I had some health issues that meant that working from home and at my own pace would be better for me than working in an office, which is what I was doing at the time. I decided to retrain as a proofreader and work freelance, which is what I do now. 

AmeriCymru: What is your Welsh language background? 

Sue: I grew up in Wales, but within a monoglot English family that was culturally English and (mostly) English language social settings. I had to do compulsory Welsh at school, but back when I was at school there wasn’t the same emphasis on the language as there is now, and I failed my Welsh O Level exam at 16. And that was that, or so I thought then. 

After realising that I’d need Welsh to work in the public sector in North Wales, and after many evening classes, I got my Welsh O Level at twenty-seven years of age. I secured a job with the Snowdonia National Park (now Eryri National Park), which meant I moved to live in a very culturally Welsh area. More adult Welsh classes, and just being sunk in a Welsh community, means that I’m now a fluent speaker and comprehender, a reasonably fluent reader, and an adequate writer of emails. 

AmeriCymru: How did you become involved in translation work? 

Sue: Through my proofreading work I was in contact with publishing houses in Wales, and was asked by Myrddin ap Dafydd at the publisher Gwasg Carreg Gwalch to translate poetry selections for a bilingual book called  Hud a Lledrith Llŷn / Llŷn a Magical Place  into English. My Welsh reading skills were still quite shaky at this point. (As an aside: I later learned that being asked to translate literature is quite rare; mostly translators pitch books they think would work in translation to publishers.) 

Since then, I’ve translated another thirteen books for Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, including eight novels for older children. Through doing this my reading skills have improved. I also took the basic Welsh-to-English translation test to qualify for membership of the Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru (the association of Welsh translators and interpreters), although I’m no longer a member. 

In 2020 I was the recipient of a mentoring award that was jointly funded by Literature Wales, Wales Literature Exchange, and the UK’s National Centre for Writing. This helped me to expand into translating adult literary fiction, and the outcome is my first translation of a novel for adults,  This House , which was published by 3TimesRebel Press in March 2024. (AmeriCymru readers may be pleased to see that it’s available as an ebook from Amazon.) 

Sian Northey is the author of the original novel, which is called  Yn y Tŷ Hwn . She and I are busy on the promotional trail at the moment as a bit of a double act

.

AmeriCymru: Where is the best place to go online for anyone seeking a wide selection of Welsh language children's books? 

Sue: The  Gwales  website, which is part of the Books Council for Wales, is a good place to start. Go to ‘Browse by Category’ and you’ll get a list divided into fiction and non-fiction, and by age groupings. However, you should be aware that some of the books listed are adaptations into Welsh of English books, such as those by David Walliams. 

AmeriCymru: You have translated many Welsh language children's books. Any favorites that you would particularly like to mention? 

Sue: The children’s books I’ve translated are by Myrddin ap Dafydd. They are all rollicking adventure stories, as well as providing a fun way of teaching aspects of Welsh history (and other lessons). I think he has done an especially good job with  The Moon is Red ,  Faster than the Swords  and  Fleeing the Fascists . All the novels are exciting, but what these three have in common is particularly gripping scenes of physical jeopardy. 

I also learned a lot by translating them and several of them introduced me to unfamiliar parts of Wales. I try and make a point of visiting the locations where the stories are set. I do this in my own time, of course, and this has made for some interesting trips. I also feel that it helps with the translation process if I have the lie of the land in my head. (Remember, I’m a geographer and cartographer at heart!). 

AmeriCymru: Are you working on any translation projects at the moment? 

Sue: I have just started on my next children’s novel translation for Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. The Welsh version will be out in May – just in time for the Urdd National Eisteddfod – with the title  Rhedyn, Merlyn y Mawn . I guess the English version will be published later this year, or early next. 

Not a current project, but I’d like to translate another of Sian Northey’s novels:  Perthyn . But I guess we need to see how successful  This House  turns out to be before I can consider pitching  Perthyn . I blogged about my year of being mentored while writing  This House , and about the subsequent search for a publisher. If you wish to see whether my  Perthyn  dream comes to fruition, I’m still posting on that  blog  every six months or so. 

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru? 

Sue: If you read any of my translations, I hope you enjoy them!

Sister Envy return with their awesome second single  ‘Tide’  on the 10th of May. The follow up to their warmly received debut single ‘ Mourning Sickness’ , the cinematic psychedelia of  ‘Tide’ , grows from enveloping heart on the sleeve melodies, decorated in a carousel of psych tinged guitars into a sprawling epic anthem.

‘I’ll be the one to saves you’  promises Joliffe in a track that’s woozy, romantic, mysterious yet with a sting in the tail. Gradually swelling into a fuzz laden chorus that has elements of the shoegaze anthems of Ride. Verve or the grungy gaze of early Smashing Pumpkins. It's another fascinating glimpse of Sister’s Envy’s sonic arsenal and world of intrigue and ambition that looks at the horizon beyond their North Walian homes. 

Sister Envy hail from the North Wales coast, a place of mystery, harshness, and beauty, a place where opportunity is blocked for younger people yet dreams can break through. It’s here that Sister Envy met at college, this fast-emerging Alternative Psychedelic rock quartet are a brand new signing to North Wales label Yr Wyddfa Records Snowdonia(home to Holy Coves). 

Sister Envy have been busy honing their sound in the studio with Welsh producers  Owain Ginsberg (Hippies Vs Ghosts) & Scott Marsden (Holy Coves) over recent months getting ready for the release of a trio of initial tracks. 

Their initial three singles were recorded in Liverpool at the famous Motor Museum Studio with Ben Harper. Mixed in France by Welsh legend Owain Ginsberg and mastered in Austin Texas by American producer Erik Wofford (The Black Angels).  Over the next twelve months, Sister Envy will invite you into their fascinating world over a series of singles releases and shows including a debut performance at Focus Wales in May.  Gradually revealing the different faces of their tapestry of sound and fledgling experience. 

  "Compelling, intense and brooding...something atonal beneath that sets it apart" Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales .

 “Full of complexities, Verve-esque vibes from the early days, shoe-gaze tonalities with an undercurrent that is reminiscent of bands like Velvet Undergound, a heady blend of rock fused with 60’s psychedelia and delivered in a way that makes your head spin”  Upcoming Bands

“A raw and visceral blend of 90s Brit Rock with a twinge of psychedelic rock, with the spark and earnest nature of the early 2010s NME scene.”  We All Want Someone 

Sister Envy band members

Kameron Jolliffe - Vocals and Lead Guitar

Matty Waring - Guitar

Callum Jones - Bass

Ryan Roberts - Drums

Sister Envy  return with their awesome second single  ‘Tide’  on the 10th of May. The follow up to their warmly received debut single ‘ Mourning Sickness’ , the cinematic psychedelia of  ‘Tide’ , grows from enveloping heart on the sleeve melodies, decorated in a carousel of psych tinged guitars into a sprawling epic anthem.

‘I’ll be the one to saves you’  promises Joliffe in a track that’s woozy, romantic, mysterious yet with a sting in the tail. Gradually swelling into a fuzz laden chorus that has elements of the shoegaze anthems of Ride. Verve or the grungy gaze of early Smashing Pumpkins. It's another fascinating glimpse of Sister’s Envy’s sonic arsenal and world of intrigue and ambition that looks at the horizon beyond their North Walian homes. 

Sister Envy hail from the North Wales coast, a place of mystery, harshness, and beauty, a place where opportunity is blocked for younger people yet dreams can break through. It’s here that Sister Envy met at college, this fast-emerging Alternative Psychedelic rock quartet are a brand new signing to North Wales label Yr Wyddfa Records Snowdonia(home to Holy Coves). 

Sister Envy have been busy honing their sound in the studio with Welsh producers  Owain Ginsberg (Hippies Vs Ghosts) & Scott Marsden (Holy Coves) over recent months getting ready for the release of a trio of initial tracks. 

Their initial three singles were recorded in Liverpool at the famous Motor Museum Studio with Ben Harper. Mixed in France by Welsh legend Owain Ginsberg and mastered in Austin Texas by American producer Erik Wofford (The Black Angels).  Over the next twelve months, Sister Envy will invite you into their fascinating world over a series of singles releases and shows including a debut performance at Focus Wales in May.  Gradually revealing the different faces of their tapestry of sound and fledgling experience. 

"Compelling, intense and brooding...something atonal beneath that sets it apart" Adam Walton, BBC Radio Wales .

“Full of complexities, Verve-esque vibes from the early days, shoe-gaze tonalities with an undercurrent that is reminiscent of bands like Velvet Undergound, a heady blend of rock fused with 60’s psychedelia and delivered in a way that makes your head spin” Upcoming Bands

“A raw and visceral blend of 90s Brit Rock with a twinge of psychedelic rock, with the spark and earnest nature of the early 2010s NME scene.”  We All Want Someone 

Sister Envy band members

Kameron Jolliffe - Vocals and Lead Guitar

Matty Waring - Guitar

Callum Jones - Bass

Ryan Roberts - Drums

Our first translation from Welsh comes out this March. The fair trade independent publisher 3TimesRebel Press is excited to announce the publication of This House . It is the sixth fiction title in our groundbreaking and debate-sparking catalogue of works in translation written exclusively by women in minority languages. This House is written by Sian Northey and translated by Susan Walton. It is a novel that comes out of a booming Welsh literary scene, as attested by last year’s Yoto Carnegie medal being awarded for a translation of a Welsh YA novel.

Out 21 March 2024

Grief, solitude, and the inner call to be freed from her past are the threads that beautifully and tightly intertwine in this novel.

Anna has lived alone for decades. She is cocooned by, and marooned in, an isolated cottage called Nant yr Aur in the Welsh mountains. The arrival of Siôn, a young man who seems strangely at home in the house, leads to an unpicking of Anna’s past.

As Anna’s relationship with Siôn develops, her perspective on the solidity of her past shifts. Uncertainty, distortion, illusion and subtle betrayal are gradually exposed. Ultimately, a quietly devastating revelation changes the lives of both Siôn and Anna.

Sian Northey writes with economy and precision, setting out what the life of a middle-aged woman with an emotionally complicated past feels like from the inside.

'Astute, understated, compassionate. Sian Northey gently unpicks the threads of love and memory that bind us to place and to each other. A beautiful, glowing gem of a novel, now brought to a wider audience by Susan Walton's wonderful translation.'

Angharad Price, Welsh academic and novelist.

Sian Northey has been a full-time writer for the last fourteen years. Almost all her work is written and published in Welsh. She is the author of three novels for adults, one poetry collection, three short story collections, several scripts, and numerous children’s and teens’ novels. Her novels are Yn y Tŷ Hwn (Gwasg Gomer, 2011), Rhyd y Gro (Gwasg Gomer, 2016), and Perthyn (Gwasg Gomer, 2019). In 2022 she co-edited the bilingual poetry anthology A470: Poems for the Road/Cerddi'r Ffordd (Arachne Press, 2022).

Sian Northey is also a literary translator. She translated into Welsh the memoir The Journey is Home by John Sam Jones, and Alys Conran’s debut novel, Pigeon , which in its original English won the Wales Book of the Year Award in 2017. Both books were published in English and Welsh by Parthian Books in 2021 and 2016, respectively. She recently translated the award-winning The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery (Penguin Random House, 2022) under the title Y Llwynog Tân Olaf (Firefly Press, 2022).

Susan Walton has been commissioned to translate books from Welsh to English for the publishing house Gwasg Carreg Gwalch since 2009. She has had fourteen translated books published, including eight novels for older children/young adults. During 2020 Susan was mentored under the Literature Wales scheme as an emerging literary translator. This House is her first translation of adult fiction.

ABOUT 3TIMESREBEL PRESS

Based in Dundee, Scotland, and founded by Bibiana Mas, 3TimesRebel Press is an independent publisher like no other, looking to shake up the publishing world and contemporary society.

Challenging the mainstream by being rebel in three ways, 3TimesRebel Press exclusively publish books that are: written in minority languages originally; written by women; and finally written to inspire deep, challenging conversations.

As a pioneering fair-trade publisher, 3TimesRebel Press work to achieve equitable agreements with their authors, translators, illustrators and partners. Their books are locally printed in the UK using responsibly sourced paper, minimising carbon footprint and following environmentally friendly standards. This House is its first plastic-free publication.

3TimesRebel Press are keen to preserve an artisanal feel and meticulous attention to detail in everything they do. Their books are beautifully designed by award-winning master in typography Enric Jardí, and each has a visually striking cover created by a nominated artist.

Website : 3TimesRebel.com | X : @3TimesRebel | Instagram : @3TimesRebel

Bydd ein cyfieithiad cyntaf o'r Gymraeg yn ymddangos fis Mawrth eleni. Mae'r cyhoeddwr annibynnol marchnad deg 3TimesRebel wedi gwirioni eu bod yn cyhoeddi This House. Hwn fydd y chweched gyfrol ffuglen yn ein catalog arloesol sydd wedi ennyn cryn drafodaeth – cyfieithiadau Saesneg o lyfrau wedi'u hysgrifennu gan ferched mewn ieithoedd lleiafrifol. Ysgrifennwyd This House gan Sian Northey ac mae wedi cael ei gyfieithu gan Susan Walton. Fel y tystia llwyddiant The Blue Book of Nebo yn ennill gwobr Yoto Carnegie mae'r byd yn barod am gyfieithiadau o lyfrau Cymraeg.

Dyddiad cyhoeddi 21 Mawrth 2024

Galar, unigedd, ac angen menyw i gael ei rhyddhau oddi wrth ei gorffennol yw'r llinynnau sydd yn plethu yn dynn a chelfydd yn y nofel hon.

Mae Anna wedi byw ar ei phen ei hun ers degawdau. Caiff ei gwarchod, a'i hynysu, gan Nant yr Aur, ei chartref anghysbell. Yna mae Siôn yn ymddangos, dyn ifanc sydd fel petai'n od o gartrefol yn y tŷ, ac mae hynny'n arwain at ddatod gwead gorffennol Anna.

Wrth i berthynas Anna a Siôn ddatblygu, sylweddola nad yw ei gorffennol mor gadarn ag y dychmygai. Bob yn dipyn datgelir ansicrwydd, twyll a brad tawel. Yn y diwedd mae datguddiad distaw ddinistriol yn newid bywydau Siôn ac Anna.

Mae Sian Northey yn awdur eithriadol gynnil, ac yn cyflwyno bywyd mewnol menyw ganol oed sydd â gorffennol emosiynol gymhleth.

Craff, cynnil a thawel angerddol. Perl o nofel sy'n datod edefynnau cariad a'r cofion sy'n ein clymu wrth le ac i'n gilydd. A braf yw gweld dawn arbennig Sian Northey yn cyrraedd cynulleidfa ehangach trwy gyfieithiad meistrolgar Susan Walton.

Angharad Price

Bu Sian Northey yn awdur llawn amser ers bron i bymtheg mlynedd bellach. Mae wedi cyhoeddi tair nofel i oedolion, un casgliad o gerddi, tri chasgliad o straeon byrion, a sawl llyfr i blant. Mae hefyd yn sgriptio a golygu. Ei nofelau yw Yn y Tŷ Hwn (Gwasg Gomer, 2011), Rhyd y Gro (Gwasg Gomer, 2016), a Perthyn (Gwasg Gomer, 2019). Yn 2022 cyd-olygodd, gyda Ness Owen, A470:Poems for the Road/Cerddi'r Ffordd (Arachne Press, 2022).

Ond mae Sian hefyd yn gyfieithydd llenyddol ei hun. Cyfieithodd gofiant John Sam Jones, The Journey is Home , a nofel gyntaf Alys Conran, Pigeon , i'r Gymraeg o dan y teitlau Y Daith Ydi Adra a Pijin . Yn y Saesneg gwreiddiol enillodd Pigeon Lyfr y Flwyddyn yn 2017 a bu cynhyrchiad llwyfan dwyieithog llwyddiannus. Cyhoeddwyd y llyfrau hyn, yn Saesneg ac yn Gymraeg, gan Parthian. Yn ddiweddar cyfieithodd The Last Firefox gan Lee Newbery (Penguin Random House, 2022) o dan y teitl Y Llwynog Tân Olaf (Firefly Press, 2022). Mae The Last Firefox wedi ennill sawl gwobr.

Mae Susan Walton wedi bod yn cael ei chomisiynu i gyfieithu llyfrau o'r Gymraeg i Saesneg ar gyfer Gwasg Carreg Gwalch ers 2009. Bellach mae tri ar ddeg o lyfrau a gyfieithwyd ganddi wedi'u cyhoeddi, gan gynnwys saith nofel ar gyfer plant hŷn neu oedolion ifanc. Yn ystod 2020 derbyniodd Susan fentoriaeth dan nawdd cynllun Llenyddiaeth Cymru ar gyfer cyfieithwyr llenyddol newydd. Dyma'r tro cyntaf iddi gyfieithu nofel lenyddol ar gyfer oedolion.

GWYBODAETH AM WASG 3TIMESREBEL

Lleolir y wasg yn Dundee yn yr Alban a chafodd ei sefydlu gan Bibiana Mas. Mae 3TimesRebel yn gyhoeddwr annibynnol unigryw a'r nod yw gweddnewid y byd cyhoeddi a chymdeithas.

Gan herio'r prif-ffrwd trwy fod yn rebel mewn tair ffordd mae pob llyfr sy'n cael ei gyhoeddi gan 3TimesRebel wedi'i ysgrifennu yn wreiddiol mewn iaith leiafrifol, wedi'i ysgrifennu gan fenyw, ac yn olaf wedi'i ysgrifennu i ysbrydoli sgyrsiau dwfn a heriol.

Fel cyhoeddwr marchnad deg blaengar mae 3TimesRebel yn ymdrechu i gael cytundebau teg gyda'i awduron, cyfieithwyr, darlunwyr a phartneriaid. Mae'r llyfrau yn cael eu hargraffu yn lleol yn y DU gan ddefnyddio papur wedi'i gaffael yn gydwybodol, gan wneud yr ôl troed carbon mor fach â phosib a chan gadw at safonau amgylcheddol gyfeillgar. This House fydd y llyfr cyntaf iddynt lwyddo i'w gynhyrchu heb unrhyw blastig yn y clawr hyd yn oed, peth sydd yn anghyffredin iawn.

Mae 3TimesRebel yn awyddus i'r llyfrau gael eu cynhyrchu yn grefftus a chan roi sylw gofalu i'r manylion ym mhob ffordd. Creir dyluniad hardd y llyfrau gan y teipograffydd arobryn Enric Jardí, ac mae clawr trawiadol pob un wedi'i greu gan artist penodol.

Website : 3TimesRebel.com | X : @3TimesRebel | Instagram : @3TimesRebel

Worldcub release their new album ‘Back to the Beginning’ is out 17th of May.   New single 'One Small Mistake' out on the 12th of April. 

Worldcub  invites you on a jaunt through past lives and memory with their brand new concept album  'Back To The Beginning'  a carefully crafted collection of tracks containing sharp hooks, joyous West Coast pleasure trips and contemplative stop-offs along the way. Beguiling lead single and title track rumbles through time and space, that opens up new worlds on the arms of a kraut rock groove. spacey guitar licks, splashes of keyboards, floating harmonies, the vocal interplay guides you deep into the mind's eye of a melody, at once both wistful for a past and for a future of unknowns.