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Twenty Thousand Saints

Twenty Thousand Saints was the first of its kind in terms of a newly reworked English-language version of a Welsh-language novel, and therefore involved a great deal of research by the author into various Welsh/English translations, with a view to producing something wholly distinctive in its field. It was also the first work of fiction to be set entirely on Bardsey Island since Brenda Chamberlain’s Tiderace in 1962, and involved research into the varying literatures of the island, both fictional and historical, in two languages. Its inception comes as a result of the author’s residency on the island in 2002, and much of the work is practice-led research, as a result of direct participation in many of the island’s ongoing projects at this time – volunteering at the archaeological dig, assisting staff of the bird observatory, carrying out ecological maintenance work. It has also involved broader research into the archaeological, mythical, ecclesiastical, ecological and geological history of the island and many other Welsh and European islands, the findings of which are represented by the characters of this novel. The research continued after this residency, with visits to other islands, such as Caldey (the home of one of the nuns featured in the novel), and also a visit to the Finnish Island of Suommenlinna, near Helsinki, where a meeting with the island’s artist-in-residence directly influenced the artist-in-residence character in the novel. The research surrounding the novel has also been written up as various opinion pieces for magazines, (Western Mail magazine), periodicals (Taliesin, New Welsh Review) and as academic papers for conferences (Swansea University Author-Translator conference) and has contributed new findings to the field of translation studies.