Going South

About this book

Set in the North Wales slate quarries at the end of the nineteenth century, these stories represent a time of unparalleled cultural wealth and economic hardship. With a simplicity that belies their emotional impact, they depict the quarrymen united by humour and friendship against the oppression and upheaval of their time. Richard Hughes Williams, nicknamed Dic Tryfan (1878-1919), was proclaimed as a Welsh Gorky in his day, but only now has a body of his work been translated. A liberal, a secularist and an internationalist, he yet depicts his compatriots with loyalty, with humour and with never-failing compassion. **About the Author** Richard Hughes Williams (also known as Dic Tryfan; b. Rhostryfan, Gwynedd, 1878; d. Tregaron, Ceredigion, 1919) was a writer and journalist and an early innovator and populariser of the short story in Welsh. His short stories were published in a range of Welsh magazines and newspapers during his lifetime, and in two volumes of short stories, *Straeon y Chwarel* (Cwmni y Cyhoeddwyr Cymreig, 1914) and *Tair Stori Fer* (Hughes a’i Fab, 1916). A collection of his work, *Storïau Richard Hughes Williams*, was published posthumously (Cardiff: Hughes a’i Fab, 1932/1994); while an individual short story, ‘Yr Hogyn Drwg,’ was translated by Dafydd Rowlands as ‘Good-for-Nothing,’ and appears in Alun Richards (ed.), *The Second Penguin Book of Welsh Short Stories* (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1994). **About the Translator** Rob Mimpriss is the author of three short-story collections, *Reasoning*, *For His Warriors* and *Prayer at the End*. His recent short fiction has been translated into Arabic by Hala Salah Eldin for an anthology of fiction published by Albawtaka, Cairo, and has been short-listed for the Rhys Davies Prize. He has published criticism and reviews of Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, Robert Olmstead and others for *New Writing*, *New Welsh Review* and elsewhere. In 2011 he was elected to Membership of the Welsh Academy, in recognition of his contributions to Welsh writing. He lives at http://www.robmimpriss.com and in Bangor.