Islwyn Ffowc Elis was born in Wrexham in 1924. He is considered by many to be the pre-eminent Welsh-language author of the 20th Century. This book, originally published in Welsh as ‘Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd’, has influenced the thinking of generations of Welsh readers and its visions of the future remain fresh and compelling, even as the time he imagined becomes almost close enough to touch.

‘A time traveller arrives in Wales in the year 2033 to find a peaceful and thriving country. He falls in love and plans to make a life in this new version of his homeland – only to be forced back to his own time. Searching for a way back, he finds himself in a dystopian mirror-universe version of his beloved nation, and despairs. Will he find his way back to the golden future that he saw was possible? Will Wales? This is the first translation into English of the classic Welsh-language time-travel novel, written in 1957.’

Find out more here.


ABOUT CAMBRIA FUTURA LTD

The partners of Cambria Futura were brought together through their appreciation of ‘A Week in Future Wales’, and a desire to make this work available to a broader audience.

Stephen Morris chose to translate ‘A Week in Future Wales’ because he found Elis’ vision of what Wales could become absolutely inspiring. With the time when it is set drawing ever closer, he loves the idea of a free, prosperous and independent Wales, at ease with itself and its neighbours, and he wanted to play his part in making it a reality.

A Wrexham man like Islwyn Ffowc Elis himself, by profession he is a physicist who works on microchips and dabbles in politics.

Geraint Lewis discovered ‘A Week in Future Wales’ through the webcomic XKCD while looking for books on time-travel. He found Stephen’s website and unpublished translation, and based on the strength of the story wanted to help bring the book to a broader audience.

Morris is an astronomer and Professor of Astrophysics, his research hunts for the dark side of the Universe, the matter and energy that completely dominate the Universe we inhabit. He is the author of three books on physics, cosmology, and our place in the multiverse.

Geraint is from Neath and the Dulais Valley in Wales, and now lives in Sydney, Australia.

Danielle Pepin reads philosophical and utopian works, and when camping in Bala in 2019, she searched for utopias set in Wales and found this untranslated work. After eventually finding some online samples of Stephen’s translation, she offered to help move the work toward publication. She is inspired by the classic utopian themes of Elis’ vision such as pacifism, egalitarianism, pastoralism, community, and progress through science. Danielle is American, and lives in London, UK.

Gweirydd ap Gwyndaf is an entrepreneur who read ‘Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd’ as a teenager, over twenty years ago. He discovered ‘A Week in Future Wales’ online and connected with Stephen through the future.wales website and Stephen’s translation project. He shares Stephen’s goal of an independent Wales and joined the partnership to support this endeavour.


Back to Authors