A Machynlleth Triad/Triawd Machynlleth

1993 Morris, Jan (1926-2020). A Machynlleth Triad/Triawd Machynlleth. By Twm Morys. Illus. Brenda Berman. The English text was first published Newtown, Powys, Wales: Gwasg Gregynog. 400 copy ed. 101 pp. Rpt. with the Welsh text. New York/London: Viking, 1994; and London: Penguin, 1995. 182 pp. PPiU

The book is divided into three parts, The Past: Y Gorfennol, The Present: Y Presennol, and The Future: Y Dyfodol, with the English and Welsh reversed in the part titles in the Welsh half of the book, with all three in the town of Machynlleth. The past is the early fifteenth century, the present is 1993, and the future is sometime in the first half of the twenty-first century in which Machynlleth is the capital of an independent Welsh republic within the European Confederation and a founding member of the League of Neutrals. The future Wales is a utopia, albeit not without problems, based on the “Principle of Simplicity” or “Egwyddor Symlrwydd,” “a commitment to restraint in all things” (64), which is enshrined in the constitution. The section on the future is present as a tour and description of Machynlleth Triad of the Saint David’s Day or Republic Day when Wales is celebrating twenty-five years of independence. The author was born James Humphrey Morris and had sex reassignment surgery in 1972 and adopted the name Jan Morris. She self-identified as Welsh and lived in Wales for many years.