Caradog Prichard was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and novelist writing in 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...

. His daughter, Mari Prichard, was married to the late Humphrey Carpenter

Humphrey Carpenter

Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster.-Biography:...

.

Caradog Prichard was born and grew up in the Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

 slate-quarrying town of Bethesda

Bethesda, Wales

Bethesda is a town lying on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, colloquially called Pesda by the locals.- History :...

, in north-west Wales.
Prichard began his career as a journalist with Welsh language

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...

 newspapers in Caernarfon

Caernarfon

Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...

, Llanrwst

Llanrwst

Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....

 and Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, before moving to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he spent much of his life.

Un Nos Ola Leuad

His best-known work is Un Nos Ola Leuad (1961), set in a mythologically subversive version of his native area. The novel was made into a film in 1991 by the Gaucho Company.

Translations of the novel

• Full Moon 1973 (English) partial translation by Menna Gallie
  Menna Gallie
  Menna Patricia Humphreys Gallie was a Welsh novelist and translator.She was born in Ystradgynlais. She married the philosopher W. B...
  
  
• Une Nuit de Pleine Lune 1990 (French}
• One Moonlit Night 1995 (English) full translation by Philip Mitchell
  Philip Mitchell
  Philip Mitchell is an English author, playwright, poet and translator. Born in Manchester, England he is an established author with BBC Radio Drama and was a question-setter on the UK game show 'Bacha Hi O'Ma!' but is perhaps best known for his acclaimed translation of Caradog Prichard's Welsh...
  
  .
• Za úplnku (Czech)
• Una Noche de Luna (Spanish)
• In einer mondhellen Nacht (German)
• Mia vuxta me feggapi Groeg (Greek)
• In de maneschijn (Dutch)
• En manelys nat (Danish)

Radio broadcasts

Following the success of his English translation, Philip Mitchell

Philip Mitchell

Philip Mitchell is an English author, playwright, poet and translator. Born in Manchester, England he is an established author with BBC Radio Drama and was a question-setter on the UK game show 'Bacha Hi O'Ma!' but is perhaps best known for his acclaimed translation of Caradog Prichard's Welsh...

 was commissioned by the BBC to adapt the book for broadcast in English as a radio play and this was transmitted as 'One Moonlit Night' in Radio 4's 'Afternoon Play' series on 28 March 1996.

Poetry and other works

In addition to Un Nos Ola Leuad, he also wrote a number of short stories, Y Genod yn Ein Bywyd (1964) and a striking semi-fictional autobiography, Afal Drwg Adda (1973). He had made his mark as a poet at an early age and won the Crown in the National Eisteddfod in 1927. At their best his poems are as powerful and disturbing as Un Nos Ola Leuad. His published collections of verse are:

• Canu Cynnar (1937)
• Tantalus (1957)
• Llef Un yn Llefain (1963)

A full collected edition of his poems was published in 1979.