In 2008 I was commissioned to adapt Welsh poetry into English for the book Llŷn a Magical Place. At the time I had no track record in translation. I got bitten by the bug and I continue to translate Welsh into English as a sideline to my day job, which is proofreading and editing English (trading as Sue Proof).
The title of this blog is the Welsh for ‘Sue’s Writing’. But that doesn’t alliterate so – as it started out mostly as a place to put my translations of Welsh poetry – ‘’Sgwennu Sue’ seemed more fitting. In recent years I’ve branched out into translations from other languages and have been writing more original work in English.
I am the first person to be selected for Literature Wales’ new Mentoring Scheme for a literary translator/writer. As an emerging literary translator, I won my place on this 2020 pilot scheme with a sample translation into English from Sian Northey’s first novel, Yn y Tŷ Hwn. As a result of the Mentoring Scheme I aim to complete the novel’s translation to a high literary standard, and to approach prospective publishers with my English version. You can follow my progress in this endevour on my other blog, Saesneg Sue.