When I picture Tim, Tami, Aniq, Robyn and Cat today, I like to think they’ve ended up exactly where they wanted to be. They were sixteen years old when Y Pump was published back in 2021, which means that in an alternate universe, they’d now be twenty. Reunited in town for summer, ambling the prom at sunset, their pinkies linked in promise.
I was fortunate enough to re-enter the world of The Five as the translator of the series, which meant I could hold on to them for just that little bit longer. I got to sit with them and further understand their complexities and contradictions. I got to feel them grow.
Just as the original series was born from collaboration, so too was its adaptation. The process involved translating each novel in full, followed by rigorous revision and redrafting based on the authors’ invaluable feedback. I’m deeply grateful to Firefly, and to Elgan, my fellow authors and co-authors for their insights, generosity and trust throughout. I truly hope I’ve done justice to the five characters and given each of them a voice that feels faithful, yet distinct.
Based in north-west Wales, The Five is a novel rooted in the Welsh language and culture. Because of this, the process was a delicate and deeply creative one. It involved capturing the original rhythms and nuances, and at times, preserving Welsh words to retain authenticity. One deliberate choice was to keep the name Ysgol Gyfun Llwyd in Welsh, as it better preserved the story’s cultural and geographical identity. To help readers understand that Ysgol Gyfun Llwyd is a school, the motto was changed to Latin – a cue that clarified its role without compromising its Welshness. Throughout the process, the focus was on translating the English into Welsh, instead of the other way around.
When Y Pump was first published, it aimed to highlight the struggles many experience but that were rarely represented in literature. Four years on, despite prominent strides being made to redress this in the arts, the issues raised in The Five still exist in the UK and around the world today.
In light of all this, I return to thoughts of alternate universes, where Tim, Tami, Aniq, Robyn and Cat continue to live, breathe and grow. It brings to mind Walter Benjamin’s concept of translation as some sort of ‘afterlife’. A translation isn’t merely a copy of the original. Rather, it becomes something new – it takes on a life of its own. The five characters don’t just exist in this different language; they’re given a new voice, a new moment in time, and they keep on evolving beyond their first telling.
If this is true, then I hope the five are still on their way, towards that same sunset, far beyond the horizon.