
There is not much to add: just a big thank you to the Reading Agency and Y Lolfa for their work in getting the book into Welsh. It's now official and available from the Y Lolfa website:
Just a footnote: the literal translation is "Square Wheel". The Reading Well project officer in Wales told me: "The title has been transliterated rather than directly translated. Unfortunately, a literal translation of "Slow Puncture" to Welsh would have given a title that was long-winded, clunky and unimaginative, so to better convey the title's meaning "Olwyn Sgwar" (which does rather awkwardly translate back to Square Wheel!) was chosen despite not being strictly accurate. It conveys the sense of something being forced to slow down and that pushing forwards becomes harder and harder over time in much the same way as 'slow puncture' does in English. Translation is always something of a transformative process, but the most crucial priority is to get across the original's meaning and feeling. The Welsh title was reviewed and discussed by a range of BCW's professional editors, all of whom have expertise in the Welsh language and Welsh translation, and all agreed that this was the most nuanced and inspiring translation."
And I can't argue with that! Ymlaen ac i fyny...(onwards and upwards, just to save anyone Google translating).
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