Caradog Prichard (3 November 1904 – 25 February 1980) was a Welsh

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

writing in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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

Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkli ...

. Caradog Prichard was born and grew up in the

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

slate-quarrying town of Bethesda, in north-west Wales. His father died when he was a baby, and his mother suffered from mental illness. Prichard began his career as a journalist with

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

newspapers in

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he spent much of his life.

Un Nos Ola Leuad

His best-known work is ''

Un Nos Ola Leuad ''Un Nos Ola Leuad'' (''One Moonlit Night'') is a novel written by Welsh writer Caradog Prichard. It was first published in 1961. It has been translated into English by Philip Mitchell. Plot The novel is an account of childhood, and depicts ...

'' (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 (translated from Prichard's Welsh) * Une nuit de pleine lune 1990 (French) (translated from Prichard's Welsh) * One Moonlit Night 1995 (English) full translation by Philip Mitchell. (translated from Prichard's Welsh) * Za úplnku (Czech) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * Una noche de luna (Spanish) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * In einer mondhellen Nacht (German) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * Mia núhta me fengári (Greek) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * In de maneschijn (Dutch) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * En manelys nat (Danish) (translated from Philip Mitchell's English translation) * Jedna księżycowa noc 2017 (Polish) translation from Welsh by Marta Listewnik

Radio broadcasts

Following the success of his English translation, Philip Mitchell 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. In June 2023 a dramatisation by Rhiannon Boyle was broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and a Welsh version broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru later in the month

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 was crowned Bard of the

National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitors ...

three years running between 1927 and 1929. He also won the chair at the Llanelli National Eisteddfod in 1962 for his poem ''Llef un yn Llefain''. 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prichard, Caradog 1904 births 1980 deaths Welsh-speaking writers Crowned bards Welsh-language writers 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh poets People from Bethesda, Gwynedd