A jewel from Jane Fraser on Radio 4
A new short story from one of Wales' finest fiction writers gets the audio treatment.
Some of the best Welsh writers of fiction frequently crop up on BBC Radio 4. It is either a new phenomenon that fizzles away under the radar, or a trend that has gone on for decades under my radar and now I’ve cottoned on. Either way, from Joe Dunthorne to Jo Lloyd to Rachel Trezise - the Welsh short story is well represented. This is of particular interest to me as I have dedicated quite a bit of space in my new book (did I mention I have a new book coming out?!) to the art of the Welsh short story, and to the question of whether the shorter form is indeed the Welsh form. For reasons I won’t go into here (as I got into them in the book), I think there might be something in it, and something that is intrinsic to the Welsh character/ experience/ identity.
My book focusses only writers that are dead - it’s a proviso for inclusion - but frequently cites the words and works of the living when looking at the history of Welsh literature. One of those writers cited is Jane Fraser, a writer whose fiction is umbilically connected to the geography and people of her native Gower. Last week a new story emerged into focus through the noise of online, and the first story of Fraser’s I’ve encountered since her debut collection The South Westerlies was published by Salt in 2019. She has had a novel out since, in 2021 (I regret to say The Advent remains on one of my TBR piles scattered around the house like sandcastle turrets). “Paraphernalia” reminds me of that careful, delicate voice I came to in her collection, and it is read by the peerless Hannah Daniel (of who I became an unwavering fan when I saw her in a one woman show about the NHS in Edinburgh in 2019).
Fraser’s control of tone is masterful and her connection to the landscape of that edge of Wales is akin to Du Maurier’s relationship with Cornwall. This new story is a bitter, dark little treat.
And you can listen to it here.
Gary Raymond is a novelist, author, playwright, critic, and broadcaster. In 2012, he co-founded Wales Arts Review, was its editor for ten years. His latest book, Abandon All Hope: A Personal Journey Through the History of Welsh Literature is available for pre-order and is out in May 2024 with Calon Books.