It is involved in the European literary scene and has also published celebrity autobiographies, such as Griff Rhys Jones' Insufficiently Welsh[2] and Boyd Clack's Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.
Parthian Books was founded in Cardiff in 1993 by Richard Lewis Davies, who was then labouring on building sites,[5] artist Gillian Griffiths, and teacher Ravi Pawar.
[7] The novel Work, Sex and Rugby by Lewis Davies, Parthian's debut release, was launched at Chapter and Verse Bookshop during the Cardiff Literary Festival in September 1993, to critical and subsequently prize-winning acclaim.
Other titles released by Parthian in 1996 include From Empty Harbour to White Ocean by Robin Llywelyn, which is the English translation of O'r Harbwr Gwag i'r Cefnfor Gwyn, the winner of the National Eisteddfod Prose Medal in 1994, and Streetlife by playwright and screenwriter Karl Francis.
The New Welsh Review also published a feature article on Lewis Davies and Parthian to mark the company's tenth anniversary, which was written by literary critic John Pikoulis.
Parthian and the Library of Wales were the subject of a major feature by Mario Basini in the Western Mail in 2005, with accompanying photographs by Keith Morris.
[19] The launch of the Bright Young Things series in September 2010 marked the beginning of a new phase of talent spotting by Parthian, with debut releases by Tyler Keevil, Susie Wild, JP Smythe and Wil Gritten.
[21] Ten of the Best, an anthology of poetry featuring Mab Jones, Alan Kellermann, Anna Lewis, M. A. Oliver-Semenov and Siôn Tomos Owen, followed in 2011.
[27] Many of the winners of this award, including Mari Ellis Dunning, Natalie Ann Holborow, Jemma L. King and João Morais, have since released debut publications with Parthian.
Titles include Work, Sex and Rugby by Lewis Davies, Kiss and Tell: Selected Stories by John Sam Jones, Boys of Gold by George Brinley Evans, Cardiff Cut by Lloyd Robson, Fresh Apples by Rachel Trezise, Martha, Jack & Shanco by Caryl Lewis, and Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful by Deborah Kay Davies.
The Modern Wales series, edited by Dai Smith, was created in 2016 as a collaboration between Parthian Books and the Rhys Davies Trust.
Peter Wakelin) Parthian Books works in partnership with Il Caduceo literary agency in Genoa who represents their writers in translation.
Parthian has developed translation links throughout Europe and beyond, and its books have appeared in fifteen foreign language editions including French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Danish, Portuguese and Russian.
[39] Parthian has also recently announced its first book deal with New Star publications in China for the thriller The Colour of a Dog Running Away by Richard Gwyn.
As with his debut short fiction collection, All The Places We Lived, the Serbian language rights for Richard Owain Roberts' debut novel, The Guardian's Not The Booker prize winning Hello Friend We Missed You, have been acquired by Partizanska Knjiga, the first time Parthian Books have sold foreign translation rights ahead of English language publication.
[40] According to the publishing editor, "Roberts follows Jarett Kobek, Ben Lerner and Miranda July as the latest English-language novelist to have his work translated into Serbian.
"[41] Parthian also publishes titles translated into English from Basque, Catalan, German, Spanish and Welsh, including To Bury the Dead by Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Under the Dust by Jordi Coca, The Bridge Over the River by Johannes Gramich, Strange Language: An Anthology of Basque Short Stories edited by Mari Jose Olaziregi, and Martha, Jac and Shanco by Caryl Lewis.
[45] Some of the many authors that Parthian Books has published include Richard Owain Roberts, Auguste Courteau, Alys Conran, Peter Lord, Cynan Jones, Rebecca F John, Tristan Hughes, Deborah Kay Davies, Max Boyce, Professor Dai Smith, Rachel Trezise, Susmita Bhattacharya, Lewis Davies, Glen Peters and Jeni Williams.
[51][52] Following this success, two further Parthian titles have been nominated for the prize: Jemma L. King’s poetry collection The Shape of a Forest in 2013, and Alys Conran’s novel Pigeon in 2017.