Philip Mitchell
Encyclopedia
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!' (the Welsh equivalent of 'Blind Date') but is perhaps best known for his acclaimed translation of Caradog Prichard
's Welsh language
novel Un Nos Ola Leuad, as One Moonlit Night. (ISBN 0-8112-1342-0)
The translation was adapted for broadcast as a radio play (by Mitchell himself) and was transmitted on BBC Radio 4. It was also adapted for the stage and was performed at several theatres including Theatr Clwyd in Wrexham, Theatr Gwynedd in Bangor, and The Young Vic in London.
Mitchell discovered Prichard's novel when studying Welsh A-level (for which it was a set text) and was surprised to find that it had never been translated fully into English. Indeed, there were those who claimed the novel could not be translated into English as it is written entirely in a dialect common in the Bethesda district of North Wales (where Prichard was born) but little-known outside that area.
Canongate Press in Edinburgh
first accepted the translation for publication but the rights to publish Mitchell's translation were later acquired by publishers Penguin Books
in London
and New Directions in New York
.
Canongate republished the novel in January 2009 with a foreword by Jan Morris and an 'afterword' by Niall Griffiths. (ISBN 1847671071, ISBN 978-1847671073)
" . . . translated by Philip Mitchell in prose which miraculously conveys the incantatory biblical and Celtic cadences of the original." [The Guardian, 10/01/09]
"The translation by Philip Mitchell - the first complete one in English - is lovely." [The Observer, 11/01/09]
"Philip Mitchell's brilliant translation will help ensure that One Moonlit Night becomes a classic in the English-speaking world." [Washington Post]
Foreign language translations of Mitchell's English translation have made the book available to readers in several European countries.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
he is an established author with BBC Radio Drama and was a question-setter on the UK game show 'Bacha Hi O'Ma!' (the Welsh equivalent of 'Blind Date') but is perhaps best known for his acclaimed translation of Caradog Prichard
Caradog Prichard
Caradog Prichard was a Welsh poet and novelist writing in Welsh. His daughter, Mari Prichard, was married to the late Humphrey Carpenter....
's 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...
novel Un Nos Ola Leuad, as One Moonlit Night. (ISBN 0-8112-1342-0)
The translation was adapted for broadcast as a radio play (by Mitchell himself) and was transmitted on BBC Radio 4. It was also adapted for the stage and was performed at several theatres including Theatr Clwyd in Wrexham, Theatr Gwynedd in Bangor, and The Young Vic in London.
Mitchell discovered Prichard's novel when studying Welsh A-level (for which it was a set text) and was surprised to find that it had never been translated fully into English. Indeed, there were those who claimed the novel could not be translated into English as it is written entirely in a dialect common in the Bethesda district of North Wales (where Prichard was born) but little-known outside that area.
Canongate Press in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
first accepted the translation for publication but the rights to publish Mitchell's translation were later acquired by publishers Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
in 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...
and New Directions in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Canongate republished the novel in January 2009 with a foreword by Jan Morris and an 'afterword' by Niall Griffiths. (ISBN 1847671071, ISBN 978-1847671073)
" . . . translated by Philip Mitchell in prose which miraculously conveys the incantatory biblical and Celtic cadences of the original." [The Guardian, 10/01/09]
"The translation by Philip Mitchell - the first complete one in English - is lovely." [The Observer, 11/01/09]
"Philip Mitchell's brilliant translation will help ensure that One Moonlit Night becomes a classic in the English-speaking world." [Washington Post]
Foreign language translations of Mitchell's English translation have made the book available to readers in several European countries.