Novelist Fflur Dafydd was born in 1978 in Wales and grew up speaking Welsh as her first language. She studied English and Creative Writing at Aberystwyth and the University of East Anglia, followed by a PhD from the University of Wales.

Fflur first came to prominence as a writer while still a student at Aberystwyth by winning the Literature Medal at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in 1999. The National Eisteddfod of Wales is a major festival that serves as one of the oldest platforms for Welsh culture, language, and the arts. By age 20 Fflur had published a collection of short stories and poems entitled Y Gwir Am Gelwydd (The Truth About Lies).

After writing professionally for radio, film, and theater, Fflur began writing long fiction and produced two novels, both written in Welsh: Lliwiau Liw Nos (Colors by Night) in 2005 and Atyniad (Attraction) in 2006. Her first English-language novel, Twenty Thousand Saints, was published in 2008. A literary thriller and black comedy set on a small island off the West coast of Britain, Twenty Thousand Saints tells the criss-crossing story of island visitors and residents.

In addition to writing Fflur performs as a singer/songwriter. Her band, Y Barf (The Beard), has released a number of albums and singles and performs regularly across Wales and beyond. Fflur cites some of her musical influences as Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Steve Eaves, Ben Folds, Kate Bush, James Taylor, and Aimee Mann.

Fflur travels all over the world to attend literary festivals and to hold readings and performances. She also publishes academic articles on R.S. Thomas and teaches creative writing at the University of Wales, Swansea.  In 2009, Fflur won the Oxfam Emerging Writer of the Year Award for Twenty Thousand Saints and in August was also awarded the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize for her newest novel Y Llyfrgell (The Library).

WELSH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

According to the Welsh Language Board, there are close to 600,000 Welsh-speakers in Wales as of the 2001 census (about 20% of the Welsh population). The Welsh language has a strong literary tradition that dates back to around the sixth century with the classic poets Taliesin and Aneirin. The language is written phonetically and uses the same letters as English, though the sounds for each letter are different.

Fflur’s contemporary writing is a vital new strand of this vibrant tradition.  Fflur describes her Welsh upbringing as “all important” to her writing and that Welsh identity is “integral” to her ideas. She chose to study English while at university and looks at writing novels in English as a new and welcome challenge. Relatively few people outside of Wales speak Welsh (Cymraeg) but Fflur’s novels have been translated into a number of other languages including English and Norwegian.