I think I've mentioned that our writing group is producing an anthology to sell in aid of Ukraine. I am in the process of putting all the text together, I have a designer working on the cover, and all we need now is a title.
In the car yesterday, on my way to the library the 'hiraeth' came to me. I don't think I was thinking about the anthology in particular but probably about books in general. Hiraeth is a wonderful Welsh word that doesn't have a direct translation other than homesickness but it's much more than that. It's a deep-seated longing for a time or place, especially when that time or place no longer exists.
It felt very appropriate for a book to be sold in aid of country that will never be the same again.
Browsing in the library later I flicked open the pages of a novel to the foreword, which gave the definition of hiraeth: a deep, bittersweet longing for a home, place, or time that is lost, unreachable, or never actually existed. That was a bit spooky!
Anyway, later that day I read the essay submitted by our Ukrainian writer and it's all bout the summers she spent on her grandparents' farm in the south of Ukraine. So the title Hiraeth felt very apt.
But then this morning I was talking to the designer and he asked it it was a good title if you had to keep explaining it. So I thought I'd ask you what you think.
I quite like the idea of having to explain it, to emphasise the changes that will have been wrought in Ukraine. Also most of the buyers will be Welsh and will have an inkling I believe. So, your thoughts, please.
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Having come back from very hot temperatures to Welsh autumnal temperatures I am feeling the cold. I even put a vest on this morning!
Meanwhile back in the south of France. One day we went for a wander around the town of Frejus. It's become a very popular resort these days and has its upmarket marina and promenade area, as well as its historic and arts centre.
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| French singer Johnny Hallyday |
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| An olive tree about 1,000 years old. |
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| Yarn-bombing! |
11 comments:
Hiraeth with an immediate explanation would work fine for me. Not for bullytext, which kept changing it to nursery!
Ha ha!
Thinking about and then reading the unusual word is quite a synchronicity. Is it serendipitous too, I wonder.
Could there also be a subtitle that explains the word in a phrase?
I think so.
Yes, that's a good idea, Kathy.
Don't you just love those eerie "coincidences"? I like the idea of including a subtitle.
On that note, I've been eyeing a particular bicycle at our local bike shop. I think your lovely sightseeing pics - many of which contain bicycles - are subliminally telling me to bring that bicycle home. Obviously.
Definitely, Abby.
A title I dont understand would put me off
Well I had no idea what the word meant so while it might be a great word for a title I would need a bit of an explanation with it.
I mention hiraeth in my latest blogpost. It's something I feel when I'm away from the bit of Wales I've been in love with for more than 20 years.
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