Jones, Cynan 1975-

PERSONAL:

Born February 27, 1975.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Near Aberaeron, Wales.

CAREER:

Writer; also runs a small wine business and works in construction.

AWARDS, HONORS:

One of twenty-five winners of Richard and Judy's national story competition, for "The Piano Player's Hands," 2003; Lorian Hemingway International Short Story Competition, honorable mention, 2004; Betty Trask Award, Society of Authors, 2007, for The Long Dry; awarded a grant by Academi, the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society for Authors.

WRITINGS:

After the Factory, AuthorHouse (Bloomington, IN), 2004.

The Long Dry, Parthian (Cardigan, Wales), 2006.

Contributor to the anthologies, including Richard and Judy's Winning Stories, Chrysalis Children's Books, 2003; and Urban Welsh, edited by Lewis Davies, Parthian, 2005. Also contributor of short fiction to periodicals, including Orbis. His short story "The Buzzard" has been published online by Scritture Giovani.

SIDELIGHTS:

Cynan Jones was born February 27, 1975. A writer with diverse interests, he also runs a small wine business and has worked on a number of building sites. As a boy growing up, he had no burning desire to become a writer. His interests varied, and he briefly entertained ambitions to be an artist or a rock star. However, he has always enjoyed the act of writing, of telling stories, and even now points to that as his motivation far more than any desire to be a writer. His story for children, "The Piano Player's Hands," was well received and was one of twenty-five winning stories chosen to be included in the anthology Richard & Judy's Winning Stories. His short fiction has appeared in several periodicals, such as Orbis, as well as the anthology Urban Welsh.

Jones's first novel, The Long Dry, was released in 2006. A portion of the story won honorable mention for the Lorian Hemingway International Short Story Competition in 2004, and the completed volume earned him the 2007 Betty Trask Award. The brief, tightly written work takes place over the course of a day in Wales, as Gareth, a farmer, struggles with twin difficulties: the problems on his farm and the problems in his marriage. The summer has been long, dry, and hot, and Gareth has spent it toiling away on the sheep and dairy farm he inherited from his father, and which he now runs with his family. He and his wife Kate have two children, teenaged Dylan and a little girl named Emmy. The reader soon suspects that Kate has been indiscreet, if only once, with a farm hand that works for the family, and Emmy was the result of her brief wandering. Gareth, however, remains blissfully ignorant of these circumstances. Jones hints at the troubles of this family and the future that lies ahead, which seems in some ways disconnected from the problems they are facing during the day that Jones shares. Emmy will eat a poison mushroom and die; Dylan is on the verge of leaving the farm. Although Gareth and Kate continue to face stresses in their marriage, they will, nevertheless, remain together. J.G. Matthews, reviewing for Library Journal, commented that the book "suggests … that redemption, fulfillment, and peace, though infrequent as a summer rain, are as inevitable as the sunrise."