At Parthian we love being part of international literature exchanges as we believe very strongly in promoting Welsh literature around the world and in bringing international literature to a Welsh audience.
That's why we're especially thrilled that the Italian publishing house PaginaUno is publishing Raymond Williams' monumental work Border Country, which is part of our Library of Wales-series.
The publishing project was facilitated and funded by Wales Literature Exchange | Cyfnewidfa Lên Cymru, an organisation which works with translation of literature in and out of Wales.
Border Country (it. Terra di Confine) is the story of the university lecturer Matthew who returns to his childhood home in Gynmawr when his father falls ill. The village of his childhood memories has changed markedly, but throughout the moving portrait of father and son shines the resilience of the small community.
Williams has previously had essays published in Italy, but this is the first time any of his novels are translated into Italian. The Italian edition comes with an introduction by the translator of the novel, Carmine Mezzacappa.
Reviews of the Italian edition call the novel 'the classic working-class novel' (di Silvia Albertazzi, Alias Domenica.) and highlight how the novel functions as Williams' fictional take on the issues he touched upon in his many essays on culture and politics.
