Parthian Books
Encyclopedia
Parthian Books is an independent publishers based in Cardigan
. It was founded in 1993. Parthian is an editorially-led publishing house, which publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry
, drama
as well as art books. It is also involved in the Europe
an literary scene; its motto being “A Carnival of Voices in Independent Publishing”.
Some of the authors that Parthian Books has published include Deborah Kay Davies, Professor Dai Smith
, Rachel Trezise
, Lewis Davies, Glen Peters and Jeni Williams. Parthian has also published its first celebrity autobiography
this year with Boyd Clack
's Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. The publisher has also launched a new series in 2010 aimed at helping young writers get into print called Bright Young Things, it includes novel
s, short stories
and travelogues. The first four authors in this series are Tyler Keevil, J. P. Smythe, Suzie Wild and Wil Gritten.
Parthian Books works in partnership with Il Caduceo literary agency
in Genoa
who represents their writers in translation
. Parthian has developed translation links throughout Europe
and beyond, and its books have appeared in fifteen foreign language editions including French
, Italian
, Spanish
, Arabic
, Turkish
, Danish
, Portuguese
and Russian
. Parthian has also recently announced its first book deal with New Star publications in China
for the thriller The Colour of a Dog Running Away
by Richard Gwyn
.
Parthian also publishes titles translated into English
, such as To Bury the Dead, Under the Dust, The Bridge Over the River, Strange Language, Martha, Jac and Shanco' from Spanish, Catalan
, German
, Basque
and Welsh
.
Parthian receive financial support from of the Welsh Books Council
in the from of grants, they are also responsible for publishing the Library of Wales series, which is a Welsh Assembly Government
and Welsh Books Council joint initiative.
Cardigan, Ceredigion
Cardigan is a town in the county of Ceredigion in Mid Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire. It was the county town of the pre-1974 county of Cardiganshire. It is the second largest town in Ceredigion. The town's population was 4,203...
. It was founded in 1993. Parthian is an editorially-led publishing house, which publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
as well as art books. It is also involved in the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an literary scene; its motto being “A Carnival of Voices in Independent Publishing”.
Some of the authors that Parthian Books has published include Deborah Kay Davies, Professor Dai Smith
Dai Smith
Dai Smith was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer of the 1900s who at representative level played for Other Nationalities, and at club level for Salford, playing at , i.e...
, Rachel Trezise
Rachel Trezise
Rachel Trezise is a Welsh author, born in Cwmparc, Rhondda.-Background and career:Trezise studied at the University of Glamorgan in Wales and University of Limerick in Ireland. Her first novel, In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl, released in 2002 while she was still as a student, received broad...
, Lewis Davies, Glen Peters and Jeni Williams. Parthian has also published its first celebrity autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
this year with Boyd Clack
Boyd Clack
Boyd Clack is a Welsh writer, actor, and musician.He was born in Vancouver, Canada but grew up in Tonyrefail in Wales. His acting credits include Twin Town, High Hopes and Satellite City. He also co-wrote both High Hopes and Satellite City...
's Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. The publisher has also launched a new series in 2010 aimed at helping young writers get into print called Bright Young Things, it includes novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and travelogues. The first four authors in this series are Tyler Keevil, J. P. Smythe, Suzie Wild and Wil Gritten.
Parthian Books works in partnership with Il Caduceo literary agency
Literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers and assists in the sale and deal negotiation of the same. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwriters and major non-fiction writers...
in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
who represents their writers in translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
. Parthian has developed translation links throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and beyond, and its books have appeared in fifteen foreign language editions including French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. Parthian has also recently announced its first book deal with New Star publications in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
for the thriller The Colour of a Dog Running Away
The Colour of a Dog Running Away
The Colour of a Dog Running Away is a novel by the Welsh novelist Richard Gwyn published in 2005.-References:...
by Richard Gwyn
Richard Gwyn (Welsh writer)
Richard Gwyn is a Welsh writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. His works have been translated into many languages and he has had successful relations with the art and music communities of Europe....
.
Parthian also publishes titles translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, such as To Bury the Dead, Under the Dust, The Bridge Over the River, Strange Language, Martha, Jac and Shanco' from Spanish, Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
Parthian receive financial support from of the Welsh Books Council
Welsh Books Council
The Welsh Books Council or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961 under the name of Cyngor Llyfrau Cymraeg . Today it is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Council's aims are to promote the interest in Welsh language books and English language books of interest to Wales...
in the from of grants, they are also responsible for publishing the Library of Wales series, which is a Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
and Welsh Books Council joint initiative.
Awards
Recent Parthian titles have won awards including:- The Orange Futures Award 2000 ('In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl)
- The World Book Day Award for Wales 2003 (Work, Sex and Rugby)
- The Stonewall AwardStonewall AwardsThe Stonewall Awards is an annual event to celebrate people who have had a positive impact on the lives of British LGBT people. The event was first held in 2006 at the Royal Academy of Arts and from 2007 were held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.-2006:...
2004 (Fishboys of Vernazza) - The Dylan Thomas PrizeDylan Thomas PrizeThe Dylan Thomas Prize is the world’s top cash prize for young writers. The annual prize, named in honor of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a cash award of £30,000 . It is open to published writers in the English language under the age of thirty. The prize...
2005 (Fresh Apples) - The Betty Trask AwardBetty Trask AwardThe Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. The awards were established in 1984 by the Society of Authors, at the bequest of the late Betty Trask, a reclusive author of over thirty romance novels...
2007 (The Long Dry) - The Welsh Book of the Year 2009 (Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful)
- The Rhys Davies Prize (Love and Other Possibilities)
Library of Wales
Parthian has also published the Library of Wales series, which is a selection of classic writing from Wales in the English language.- A Man's Estate, Emyr HumphreysEmyr HumphreysEmyr Humphreys is a leading Welsh novelist, poet and author. He was born at Prestatyn in Flintshire, and attended University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He registered as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of the Second World War...
- A Rope of Vines, Brenda ChamberlainBrenda ChamberlainBrenda Kay Chamberlain, PC was a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Guelph for the Liberal Party from 1993 until her resignation as of April, 2008....
- The Alone to the Alone, Gwyn ThomasGwyn Thomas (novelist)Gwyn Thomas was a Welsh writer who has been called 'the true voice of the English-speaking valleys'.-Early life:...
- Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve, Dannie AbseDannie AbseDaniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
- Battle to the Weak, Hilda VaughanHilda VaughanHilda Campbell Vaughan was a Welsh poet, novelist and short story writer.She was born in Builth Wells, the daughter of a solicitor. In 1923 she married the novelist Charles Langbridge Morgan, and they had two children...
- Black Parade, Jack JonesJack Jones (novelist)Jack Jones was a Welsh novelist and playwright who began writing in the 1930s.-Early years:Jack Jones was born in 1884 at Tai-Harri-Blawdd in Merthyr Tydfil, the son of a coal miner. He joined his father to work in the mine aged 12. At the age of 17 he joined the army and was posted to South...
- Border CountryBorder CountryBorder Country is a novel by Raymond Williams. The book was re-published in December 2005 as one of the first group of titles in the Library of Wales series, having been out of print for several years. Written in English, the novel was first published in 1960.It is set in rural South Wales, close...
, Raymond WilliamsRaymond WilliamsRaymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts... - The Caves of Alienation, Stuart EvansStuart EvansStuart Evans is a Welsh former rugby union and rugby league player. Born in Neath in 1963, Evans played for several rugby union clubs, including British Steel, for whom he once worked, Resolven, Swansea, Western Suburbs, Neath, and Barbarian F.C.. In September 1987 he switched codes, joining St....
- Congratulate the Devil, Howell DaviesHowell DaviesSir Howell Davies was a Welsh born leather merchant and Liberal politician.-Family:Davies was born in Narberth in Pembrokeshire, the son of Thomas Davies. He was educated privately. In 1882 he married Ada Mary Hosegood, the daughter of a Bristol Justice of the Peace. Lady Davies died in 1948 at...
- Country Dance, Margiad EvansMargiad EvansMargiad Evans was the pseudonym of Peggy Eileen Whistler , a poet, novelist and illustrator with a lifelong identification with the Welsh border country.-Life and works:...
- Cwmardy & We Live, Lewis JonesLewis Jones (writer)Lewis Jones, writer, and political activist of the left, was born in Clydach Vale in industrialized South Wales.Although his novels are more studied by academics now than by general readers, Jones occupies an honourable place in the history of left-wing politics in Britain, and in the ranks of...
- Dai Country, Alun RichardsAlun RichardsAlun Morgun Richards was a Welsh novelist, best known for his novel Ennal's Point, about the work of a lifeboat crew in South Wales.Richards was born in King Edward Avenue, Caerphilly...
- The Dark Philosophers, Gwyn ThomasGwyn Thomas (novelist)Gwyn Thomas was a Welsh writer who has been called 'the true voice of the English-speaking valleys'.-Early life:...
- The Great God PanThe Great God Pan"The Great God Pan" is a novella written by Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication in 1894...
, Arthur MachenArthur MachenArthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror... - The Heyday in the Blood, Geraint GoodwinGeraint GoodwinGeraint Goodwin was a Welsh novelist and short story writer. He was born in the village of Llanllwchaearn, on the outskirts of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, the son of Richard Goodwin and Mary Jane Goodwin...
- Hill of Dreams, Arthur MachenArthur MachenArthur Machen was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror...
- Home To An Empty House, Alun RichardsAlun RichardsAlun Morgun Richards was a Welsh novelist, best known for his novel Ennal's Point, about the work of a lifeboat crew in South Wales.Richards was born in King Edward Avenue, Caerphilly...
- I Sent a Letter to My Love, Bernice RubensBernice RubensBernice Rubens was a Booker Prize-winning Welsh novelist.-Background:She was of Russian Jewish descent and born in Cardiff, Wales where she attended Cardiff High School. She came from a very musical family, both her brothers becoming well-known classical musicians. She was married to Rudi...
- In The Green Tree, Alun LewisAlun LewisAlun Lewis , was a poet of the Anglo-Welsh school, and is regarded by many as Britain's finest Second World War poet.- Education :...
- Jampot Smith, Jeremy BrooksJeremy BrooksJeremy Brooks was a novelist, poet, and dramatist. Best known for his novels and for his stage adaptations of classic works, particularly a series of Maxim Gorky plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company...
- Make Room for the Jester, Stead Jones
- Mapping the Territory, Katie Gramich (ed.)
- Poetry 1900–2000, Meic StephensMeic StephensMeic Stephens is a Welsh author and literary journalist. Stephens studied at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, the University College of North Wales, Bangor, and at the University of Rennes in France. From 1967 until 1990 Stephens was Literature Director of the Welsh Arts Council...
(ed.) - Rhapsody, Dorothy EdwardsDorothy Edwards (Welsh novelist)Dorothy Edwards , was a Welsh novelist of the early 20th century.Edwards was from Ogmore Vale in South Wales. She was educated at Howell's School for girls in Llandaff and at Cardiff University. She was politically active, working for socialist and Welsh nationalist causes, but wrote in English. ...
- So Long Hector Bebb, Ron BerryRon BerryRonald Anthony "Ron" Berry was a Welsh author of novels and short stories. Born in the Rhondda Valleys where he remained for most his life, his books reflect the working class of the industrial valleys though his vision is more optimistic and there is less concern for politics and religion which...
- SportSportA Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
, Gareth WilliamsGareth WilliamsGareth Williams may refer to:* Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn , Baron Williams of Mostyn* Gareth Williams , American actor* Gareth Williams , Latin Americanist, member of Latin American subaltern studies group...
(ed.) - Turf or Stone, Margiad EvansMargiad EvansMargiad Evans was the pseudonym of Peggy Eileen Whistler , a poet, novelist and illustrator with a lifelong identification with the Welsh border country.-Life and works:...
- The Valley, The City, The Village, Glyn Jones
- Voices of the ChildrenVoices of the ChildrenVoices of the Children is an Emmy-Award winning documentary film that tells the story of three people who were imprisoned as children in the Terezin concentration camp. 16mm - color - 80min.- Content :...
, George Ewart EvansGeorge Ewart EvansGeorge Ewart Evans was a Welsh-born schoolteacher, writer and folklorist who became a dedicated collector of oral history and oral tradition in the East Anglian countryside from the 1940s to 1970s, and produced eleven books of collections of these materials.-Life and career:Evans was born in a... - The Withered Root, Rhys DaviesRhys DaviesRhys Davies was a Welsh novelist and short story writer, who wrote in the English language....