The Long Dry by Cynan Jones was shortlisted for the Best Novella category of the New Welsh Readers' Poll 2017. Since then. it has been through an astounding journey through its numerous translations in countries such as Spain, France, and Italy.
Currently, the novella has been long-listed for the European Literature Prize in the Netherlands through its Dutch translation. With the 2019 London Book Fair's lecture on the challenges of translation, Cynan's novella has been so widely successful that it has given this small section of Wales (Ceredigion) an international awareness. It shows the importance of translation and how it broadens the readership.
When I spoke to Cynan about the new readership he stated:
"The Argentinian deal is just the latest of a line of translations. They always come as a surprise. That this quiet little book has enough about it to find readers in Albanian, Macedonian, Italian, French, Arabic...the list goes on...the books are now in over twenty countries, and there are more deals in the pipeline. And all the books, to a large extent, are rooted in this small, specific part of Wales"
With his latest deal in Argentina, his Spanish readership has widened. This story is beautifully written and due to its success, many other countries can enjoy his work, not just Wales. During my time at The London Book Fair, I attended a lecture on identity and translation in Scotland, Wales, and Europe. On the panel, Karmele Jaio stated that "we need sample translation particularly with prose we need to build rapport relationships with agents, authors, and translators”, The Long Dry is one of many translations that brings many people together through the art of storytelling and make that accessible to a variety of countries.
-Written by Molly Holborn
