This module seeks to introduce students to a range of literary texts written in English by Welsh authors in the twentieth century. It offers the opportunity to build on work done in the Year 1 module ‘Literature, Culture, and Place’, providing a thought-provoking, complementary account of writing from the British Isles to set beside students’ knowledge of English and American literature of the same period. The range of set texts, encompassing both fiction and poetry, will be studied in their cultural, historical, and literary contexts. Authors studied include well-known names such as Dylan Thomas and Gillian Clarke, alongside less well-known but fascinating and accessible writers such as Gwyn Thomas and Dorothy Edwards. Students will engage with such questions as national identity and belonging, language, gender, place, class, ethnicity, migration, and social change, as well as paying close critical attention to the literary and stylistic aspects of the set texts. Relevant theoretical perspectives will also be explored, including some of the seminal work of the Welsh cultural critic, Raymond Williams.

• demonstrate a thorough understanding of the set texts and an awareness of their cultural and historical contexts;
• display a knowledge of the development of Welsh writing in English during the twentieth century;
• discuss the major themes and concerns of modern Anglophone Welsh writing.

This module will be taught in one semester. Timetabled sessions comprise a one-hour weekly lecture and a two-hour weekly seminar. The lectures will introduce and contextualize modern Anglophone Welsh literature and provide an overview of the field, as well as an introduction to the life and work of individual writers. In the seminars, students are expected to be prepared to participate in discussion of the set texts. Lectures are usually supplemented with handouts, which are also normally made available to students on Learning Central. Audio and Powerpoint are used occasionally in this module. 

This module will enable students to practise and improve their critical writing, as well as their skills of oral communication. Its subject-specific content will contribute to their awareness and understanding of cultural and linguistic difference, and may be particularly relevant for students later seeking employment in Wales. The written and oral practice will enhance students’ awareness of register and will help to improve skills in building an argument.

The module is assessed by means of two pieces of written work of equal length and weighting. One essay will focus primarily on fiction, and the other on poetry. Students will have had an opportunity to submit unassessed, formative pieces in preparation for this assessed work.

This module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Lecture 1 Fathers and Mothers of Welsh Fiction in English

Lecture 2 Welsh Poetry in English: An Introduction

Lecture 3 Borders, Gender and Nationhood

Lecture 4 Poetry of Place and Belonging

Lecture 5 Writing the Industrial Experience

Lecture 6 Form, Language and Style in Fiction and Poetry

Lecture 7 Contemporary Women Writers and the ‘Land of My Fathers’

Lecture 8 Elegy, Comedy and Satire: Modes of Modern Writing

Lecture 9 Changing Wales: History and Politics in the Novel and Poetry

Lecture 10 Dialogues with Tradition

Lecture 11 Conclusion and Essay Advice

The main readings for this module are contained in a published anthology of poems and in the set novels and short stories. Secondary reading includes books and journal articles, some of which are available online. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format.  

Primary texts in semester one are likely to vary from year to year.

The short stories studied will normally be provided as photocopies; students are expected to acquire their own copies of the novels and the poetry anthology.

Semester One set texts:

‘Allen Raine’, ‘Home Sweet Home’ (short story, 1908)

Caradoc Evans, stories from My People (Bridgend: Seren, 1987 [original ed. 1915])

Dorothy Edwards, ‘The Conquered’ (short story, 1927)

Rhys Davies, ‘Blodwen’ (short story, 1931)

Margiad Evans, Country Dance (Cardigan: Parthian, 2005 [original ed. 1932])

B.L. Coombes ‘Twenty Tons of Coal’ (short story, 1937)

Gwyn Thomas, ‘Oscar’ (novella, 1946)

Menna Gallie, The Small Mine (Dinas Powys: Honno, 2000 [original ed. 1962]) 

Siân James, ‘Happy as Saturday Night’(short story, 1990s)

Clare Morgan, ‘Losing’ (short story, 1990s)

Chris Meredith, Shifts, (Bridgend: Seren, 1997 [original ed. 1988])

Cynan Jones, The Long Dry (Cardigan: Parthian, 2006)

Semester Two set text:

Stephens, Meic (ed.) Poetry 1900-2000 (Library of Wales Series), Cardigan: Parthian, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-902638-88-

Indicative Secondary sources

Aaron, Jane, et al. ed., Our Sisters' Land : The Changing Identity of Women in Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994)

Bohata, Kirsti Postcolonialism Revisited (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2004)

Conran, Tony, Frontiers in Anglo-Welsh Poetry (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1997)

Davies, Damian Walford, Cartographies of Culture: New Geographies of Welsh Writing in English (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2012)

Davies, Diane, ‘Anglo-Welshness: the semantics of hyphenation’, in Keith Cameron, ed., The Nation: Myth or Reality? (London: Intellect Books, 1994) pp. 23-9.

Garlick, Raymond, An Introduction to Anglo-Welsh Literature (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1970)

Gramich, Katie, ‘Cymru or Wales?: Explorations in a Divided Sensibility’ in Studying British Cultures ed. Susan Bassnett, (London: Routledge, 1997)

Gramich, Katie, Twentieth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales: Land, Gender, Belonging (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008)

Gramich, Katie, ed., Mapping the Territory: Critical Approaches to Welsh Fiction in English (Cardigan: Parthian, 2010)

Gregson, Ian, The New Poetry in Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007)

Harris, John, A Bibliographical Guide to Twenty-Four Modern Anglo-Welsh Writers, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994)

Hooker, Jeremy, Imagining Wales: A View of Modern Welsh Writing in English (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001)

Humphreys, Emyr, The Taliesin Tradition, (London: Black Raven Press, 1983)

Jarvis, Matthew, Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2008)

Jones, Glyn, The Dragon has Two Tongues, (London: Dent, 1968; reprint Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2001)

Jones, Gwyn, The First Forty Years: Some Notes on Anglo-Welsh Literature, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1957)

Lloyd, David, ed., The Urgency of Identity: Contemporary English-Language Poetry from Wales (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1994)

Mathias, Roland,  A Ride Through the Wood: Essays on Anglo-Welsh Literature, (Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press, 1985)

Mathias, Roland,Anglo-Welsh Literature: An Illustrated History, (Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press, 1986)

Stephens, Meic, ed., The New Companion to the Literature of Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998)

Thomas, M. Wynn, ed., Welsh Writing in English, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2003)

Thomas, M. Wynn, In the Shadow of the Pulpit: Literature and Nonconformist Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2010)

Thomas, Ned, The Welsh Extremist: Modern Welsh Politics, Literature and Society, original ed. 1971, reprint with additional chapter, (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 1991)

Williams, Daniel, ed., Slanderoustongues: Essays on Welsh poetry in English 1970-2005 (Bridgend: Seren, 2010)

Williams, Raymond, Who Speaks for Wales?: Nation, Culture, Identity , ed. Daniel Williams (Cardiff : University of Wales Press, 2006)