A Carnival of Voices in Independent Publishing

Based in Cardigan/Aberteifi on the west coast of Wales, Parthian is a literary publishing success story. The company was established in 1993 by Publishing Director Richard Lewis Davies to publish his first novel, Work, Sex and Rugby. Since then, Parthian has risen to become one of the most respected publishers in Wales – and one with international resonance. Our list incorporates an innovative range of new fiction, poetry and drama, from writers as varied as Deborah Kay Davies, Dai Smith, Rachel Trezise, Glen Peters, John Harrison, Stevie Davies, Cynan Jones, Tyler Keevil and Niall Griffiths.

Central to our mission is our belief in the power of a great book, and what we publish reflects a diverse and contemporary Wales that casts a keen eye on the wider world. Exciting, vibrant, surprising, relevant and original – the only thing predictable about Parthian is our quality. In recent years, our authors have garnered critical acclaim and prestigious accolades including The Dylan Thomas Prize, The Betty Trask, the Wales Book of the Year, the Orange Futures Award, The Rhys Davies Prize and The Stonewall Award.

We’re also committed to discovery, and our Bright Young Things series brings you the stars of tomorrow today. The series has included sparkling novels, short stories and travelogues by Tyler Keevil, J. P. Smythe, Susie Wild and Wil Gritten. Full details can be found by visiting www.brightyoungthings.info/. In 2012 poets Anna Lewis and Alan Kellermann joined the series with highly accomplished and exciting collections musing on everything from the ghost in a martini to startling re-imaginings of the Mabinogion, and we issued a new paperback edition of Tyler Keevil's Fireball. Jemma King joins the series in 2013, with her debut poetry collection The Shape of a Forest.

We have developed good translation links throughout Europe and beyond, and our books have appeared in fifteen foreign-language editions including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Danish, Turkish, Portuguese and Russian. We have recently announced our first book deal with New Star publications in China for the thriller The Colour of a Dog Running Away.

For all Rights Enquiries please contact nikkigriffiths21@yahoo.co.uk

The Classics of Welsh Literature

We also publish the prestigious Library of Wales series which includes books such as Border Country, The Black Parade and Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve. Have a look at our recently released titles by Gwyn Thomas, Raymond Williams, Dannie Abse, Ron Berry and Brenda Chamberlain. 2013 will see publication of W. H. Davies Autobiography of a Super-tramp, and James Hanley's A Kingdom, along with a bumper, two volume, short story anthology. 

In Translation into English 

Our list also includes a growing number of titles in translation 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. Katie Gramich's vibrant translation of Kate Roberts' Feet in Chains was launched at the Eisteddfod in 2012.

Internships

In addition to Parthian HQ in Cardigan, there is a bustling Editorial and Marketing office at Swansea University, where we provide work experience and publishing tasters for students interested in developing publishing skills. We also work closely with Go Wales. 

The Parthian Team

Richard Lewis Davies

Richard Lewis Davies is one of the founding partners of Parthian. It was established in 1993 to publish his first novel Work, Sex and Rugby, and has now published over two hundred titles of which 194 are still in print. Richard has been involved in the literary scene in Wales since 1990 and is the current commercial director of Parthian and the Library of Wales series. 

In addition to publishing he has a parallel career as a creative writer. His novels include Tree of Crows and My Piece of Happiness, and he has also published a selection of literary essays As I Was a Boy Fishing and a critically acclaimed selection of stories Love and Other Possibilities. His work has received numerous awards, including the Rhys Davies short story competition and the John Morgan writing award.  He has worked extensively in Welsh theatre and has had six plays professionally produced, the most recent of which was Supertramp, Sickert and Jack the Ripper at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011. His work for younger readers includes a series of children’s picture books available in both English and Welsh Tai and the Tremorfa Troll, developed with the illustrator Hayley Acreman.  He is currently working on a stage adaptation of Mrs D’Silva’s Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta with Tin Can Theatre of Kolcatta as part of a British Council India project with the producer Rebecca Gould.

Gillian Griffiths

Gillian Griffiths is one the founding partners of Parthian and is the financial director. She has worked in fine art and photography and held a number of exhibitions in Wales including Child for a Moment and Freeways, both at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Her photography and art work has appeared on a wide range of covers for Parthian including Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful. She is working on a book of her work and completing a course in traditional woodland management techniques with the Coppice wood college in the Teifi valley.

Claire Houguez 

Claire Houguez is an editor and marketing officer for Parthian and cheerily (wo)mans the Swansea office. She joined Parthian as an Editorial Assistant in 2010, helped to develop Parthian's ebook list, and has been Marketing Officer since 2011. In addition to editing and marketing, Claire is also involved in the production process. Originally from Warwickshire, Claire fell in love with Swansea on a holiday as a child. She is a graduate of Swansea Metropolitan University and Swansea University, where she received a Distinction in her Creative Writing MA. She is a regular face (and voice) at poetry events in Swansea and is working towards a PhD with a fiction collection exploring the neo-burlesque revival.

 

 

Susie Wild

 

 

General Editor Susie Wild looks after our fiction and creative non-fiction lists. Following an MA in Journalism at Goldsmiths College, Susie cut her journalism teeth at The Guardian. Returning to Wales in 2004 she edited Swansea's art magazine Platform for four years. She has since contributed content to numerous publications including Mslexia, Planet, New Welsh Review, Cambria, Metro, the BBC, Red Handed, Clash Magazine, and The Big Issue, and is a regional reviewer for The Stage.

 

Having looked after the social networking and chaired bookish discussions for numerous literary shindigs and organisations including Hay Poetry Jamboree and The Laugharne Weekend, Susie began contributing towards Parthian's online content and social networking, marketing, literary launches and events in 2009, later setting up Literary Salons in Cardiff and Swansea, xx minifest of women's writing and all sorts of things to do with the Library of Wales series. She also programmes the literature events for Do Not Go Gentle festival in Swansea. She stepped up to an editorial role at Parthian in 2012 and extended her role to general editor in 2013.

 

Susie is also a published writer and regular live lit performer. One of Parthian's original set of Bright Young Things, The Art of Contraception (2010) was her first book and was long-listed for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2011. In May 2011 her novella Arrivals was published as a Kindle ebook. In the same year she was also a recipient of a Writer's Bursary from Literature Wales to spend time on her next project, a novel. Her poetry has been published in Bugged, Nu2, Leaf Writer's Magazine, The Antagonist, Rising, Poetry Digest and Spilt Milk. Susie recently moved from her Cardiff garret to a growned up house with an office where she is finishing that novel and her first poetry collection.

 

Jessica Mordsley

Jessica works as an editor for Parthian Books. Jess is an editor and copywriter who also produces events, and manages, consults on and evaluates artistic projects. After several years in Wales, during which she acquired a PhD in Critical and Cultural Theory from Cardiff University and worked on some early Parthian projects, she is now back in her home town of London. In 2009 she co-produced the conference ‘Telling Stories’ for the Wellcome Trust in Bangalore, India, and in 2012 was part of the consultancy team who developed the Creative Vision for the Dylan Thomas 100 Centenary celebrations. Jessica lives in north London and has a two-year-old daughter.

Alan Kellermann

Poetry Editor Alan Kellermann was born in Wisconsin, USA and lives in Swansea. In 2001, he won the Eleanor B. North and Judson Q. Owen awards from Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. In 2011 he completed a PhD in Poetry at Swansea University, where he has led seminars in creative writing. Published by major British and Irish journals, including New Welsh Review, Agenda and Poetry Ireland Review, Alan is already considered a 'one to watch' in British poetry. He has been described as 'a young writer of ambition and sophistication', his debut poetry collection You, Me and the Birds was published by Parthian in 2012, and his poetry also appeared in Ten of the Best (2011).

Nikki Griffiths

Nikki Griffiths has many years experience working in publishing in the areas of rights licensing, contract negotiation and a stint in international sales and has worked for Penguin Books, Random House and Bloomsbury. Nikki will be representing us at the 2013 London Book Fair and looks forward to meeting existing publishing partners from around the world, making new contacts and spreading the Parthian word. Should you wish to consider any of our books or need more information on our authors and titles please do contact Nikki at nikkigriffiths21@yahoo.co.uk.

Dai Smith

Dai Smith is the series editor of the Library of Wales and Professor in the Cultural History of Wales at Swansea University. Having studied History at Balliol College, Oxford, and Literature at Columbia University, New York City, he was awarded a Ph.D. at Swansea University for a thesis on the South Wales Miners' Federation, which subsequently became the subject of his book, with Hywel Francis, The Fed. He has written extensively about modern Wales, including Aneurin Bevan and the World of South Wales (1993) and Wales: A Question for History (1998). The latter was an extensively revised version of the book associated with six documentary films he wrote and presented under the title Wales! Wales?

 He became Editor of BBC Radio Wales in 1993 and was Head of Broadcast (English) there from 1994 until 2000 when he was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Glamorgan. His critically acclaimed biography of Raymond Williams was published in 2008 as Raymond Williams: A Warrior's Tale. He is currently the chair of the Arts Council of Wales. 

Kate Ellis

Kate is spending 3 months at Parthian as part of a GO Wales placement. After getting her MA in English from Swansea University, she left the grey shores of Wales and manned it out in sunny Greece for 15 months before returning home to make it as an editor. Kate is working on developing Parthian’s ebook titles and is hoping to one day add Dr to her name and NYC to her place of residence.  

Estefania Rodicio

Estefania Rodicio is a Spanish girl that is currently doing an internship in Parthian due to the Leonardo Programme. She was born in 1987 in Rota, Cadiz. She completed a Degree in English and then she did a Master’s Degree in International Communication and Translation. Working in an editorial company is something new for her but she could improve her skills and she is learning a lot about editing, design and marketing. She is currently creating some Library of Wales booklets for us.

The Parthian publishing programme is produced with support from of the Welsh Books Council.

The Library of Wales project is a Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Books Council initiative.