Adulterer's Tongue

Six Welsh Poets: A Facing-Text Anthology

Elfyn Menna

In the food chain, language is the harrier.
How it craves young breath.

Yn y gadwyn fwyd
iaith ydyw'r boda ac mae'n rhaid cael cnawd
ac anadlu ifanc os yw'r heliwr am fyw.
from Gwyneth Lewis, "Ewyllys yr Iaith" / "The Language's Will and Testament"

"The Adulterer's Tongue" casts a brilliant light on the world of Welsh-language poetry. Poetry has been written in Welsh for over fifteen hundred years: an ancient literature, it is also a vibrant part of the culture of modern Europe, often overlooked by English speakers. Robert Minhinnick's translations bring six outstanding contemporary Welsh language poets into the spotlight, providing the Welsh texts en face. Minhinnick, himself a leading poet, is conscious of the responsibilities of translating out of a minority language. His versions take risks, but honour the originals' forms and intentions, making audible a wide array of individual styles and voices. The poets here each in different ways remake the language and culture they inherit. This collection testifies to the abiding creative energy of the Welsh language and culture. The poets are: Bobi Jones, Menna Elfyn, Emyr Lewis, Iwan Llwyd, Gwyneth Lewis and Elin ap Hywel.

About the Author

Menna Elfyn (b. 1952) is a poet and playwright who writes with passion of the Welsh language and identity. She describes herself as a Christian anarchist and has published seven volumes of Welsh-language poetry: including "Aderyn Bach Mewn Llaw" (1990), winner of a Welsh Arts Council Prize; the bilingual "Eucalyptus: Detholiad o Gerddi" / "Selected Poems 1978-1994" from Gomer and her previous collection, "Cell Angel" (1996) from Bloodaxe.

When not travelling the world for readings or television work and theatre productions, she lives in Llandysul. She is currently editing a major anthology of Welsh poetry in translation for Bloodaxe with John Rowlands. Her Welsh originals in this book have facing English translations by Joseph Clancy, Gillian Clarke, Tony Conran, Nigel Jenkins and Elin ap Hywel. She has read at festivals around the world and worked in New York City on Libretti.

Her television projects include documentaries on Vietnam and the street children.

Author of 5 plays, 2 television drama, 1 novel and 8 volumes of poetry.

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