Y Lolfa has held its first book launch since Christmas 2019, for Penygroes author Jerry Hunter’s new novel, Safana.

The launch took place on Thursday, 1 July at Pant Du, Penygroes with Gareth Evans-Jones, who asked Jerry questions about the book. Both Jerry and Gareth are members of the Welsh Department at Bangor University.

A young spy is the main character in Jerry’s new Welsh-language novel which is, according to Gareth, “essential reading for today”. Also an author, and a scholar who studies slavery, Gareth added that the novel is “extremely powerful and timely”.

“It deals deftly with various attitudes such as history and unhistory, slavery and freedom, and the relationship of the individual with his/her community,” he said.

Grasi is an orphan with African and Indigenous American heritage. She was welcomed at George Whitefield’s children’s home, on the outskirts of Savannah, and soon was understood to be extremely intelligent. She grew up to be a brave young woman, ready to do dangerous work to ensure that Georgia stays free. As support for slavery grows, Grasi and everyone that is part of the secret council which services Savannah must be ready to act against people like George Whitefield to suppress the monster that is slavery.

Jerry said: “The dark sides of American history are things that I’ve always thought about. Like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series, Safana is an exciting story set in a different version of our world. This is a means to examine the influence of institutional religion on society.”

The genre of the novel has been described as ‘unhistory’ by the author, a genre that differs from ‘alternative history’, and is “a mirror that allows us to see real historical facts in a clearer way”, according to Jerry Hunter, who added: “I had several other creative projects simmering but felt that this story needed writing. The subject matter is extremely relevant to the current need to address the history of slavery that came with the help of the Black Lives Matter movement. The novel explores the relationship between the individual and their society, including moral attitudes. It questions whether it’s right to use violence to reach a goal.”

Slavery in Georgia, North America, during the eighteenth century is also a strong thread in the novel – the unfairness of the actions of people like George Whitefield, a man who supported slavery, and who owned his own plantation with slaves, the income from which went to keep a home for orphans of every race, including children with African or Native American heritage, such as the main character.

The novel has been dedicated to Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight Action, a movement which promotes fair elections in America and educates voters on their voting rights and fights the suppression of black and young voters in Georgia, which inspired Jerry.