Senior lecturer's book launched at the National Eisteddfod

A senior lecturer at the School of Welsh has launched his new book at the Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod 2024.

On Thursday morning, the 8th of August, the launch of ‘Trawsffurfio’r Seintiau’ by Dr David Callander took place on University of Wales Press’ stand, who have also published the book. There was an audience of people at the launch, who learnt more about the book while Dr Callander discussed the content with Dr Iwan Wyn Rees, a senior lecturer in the School.

As the title suggests, the saints are the main focus of 'Trawsffurfio’r Seintiau'. The book involves one particularly important manuscript which had remained anonymous in the field of Celtic Studies so far.

The book contains a collection of stories of the saint’s life, copied by the versatile author and scholar Robert Davies II from Wysanau, Flintshire, in the first half of the 17th century. Dr Callander edits a number of hagiographic texts from the manuscript, in Welsh, Latin and English, as well as highlighting Cybi’s life, a completely unique version of the saint’s life story that is associated with Anglesey.

This is the second book to be published by Dr Callander. He began working on it in 2018 after he came across the manuscript in the Beinecke Library catalogue in the United States of America.

Commenting on the process of writing the book, Dr Callander said: "I really enjoyed writing the book. It is a rare opportunity to edit a text, especially one such as Cybi’s life that was not known in this form previously.

"Editing forces you to relate directly to the manuscript, warts and all. And then try to mediate between the manuscript and today's reader. It requires all of one’s critical skills and knowledge to think about the meaning of an unknown word, or an obscure reference as you try to interpret it all. Coming face to face with the past like this is always a thrill."

Following the launch at the National Eisteddfod, Dr Callander will now turn his attention to publishing the volume 'Early Welsh Poetry' in collaboration with Dr Rebecca Thomas from Cardiff University's School of History, Archaeology and Religion. The volume, which will be published in the future, has been commissioned by Liverpool University Press for their 'Translated Texts for Historians' series.