Editing Welsh literature in English (section)

===Poetry===
While the Welsh writing in English scene tended to be dominated by fiction in the 1930s, in the latter part of the twentieth century poetry flourished. A landmark event was the 1967 publication of Bryn Griffith's anthology ''Welsh Voices'', which, in Tony Conran's words, was "the most lively and exciting selection of contemporary Anglo-Welsh poetry ever to have appeared".<ref>"''Poetry Wales'' and the Second Flowering" in ''Welsh Writing in English'', ed. M. Wynn Thomas.</ref>
[[Tony Conran]] (born 1931) is an important figure in this so-called second flowering as critic, poet, and translator of Welsh poetry. His ''Penguin Book of Welsh Verse'' (1967) has been especially helpful in bridging the gap between the Welsh and English speaking. In his own poetry he makes use of Welsh tradition: for example, his elegy for Welsh soldiers killed in the Falklands War is modelled on Aneirin's ''Y [[Gododdin]]''.<ref>''Pocket Guide''.</ref> Swansea poet [[Harri Webb]]'s (1920–1994) verse, including ''The Green Desert'' (1969), is marked in its themes by a radical and uncompromising commitment to Welsh nationalist politics. Another important poet of the late twentieth century is [[Tony Curtis (Welsh poet)|Tony Curtis]] (born 1946) from Carmarthen: he is the author of several collections, most recently ''War Voices'' (1995), ''The Arches'' (1998), and ''Heaven's Gate'' (2001). John Tripp (1927–86), a convinced Welsh nationalist, was ironically aware of the fact that, while born in Wales, he had worked outside the Principality until his early forties.
[[Robert Minhinnick]], born in 1952, is a notable writer from the second half of the twentieth century. He has been the winner of a Society of Authors Eric Gregory Award, and has twice won the Forward Prize for best individual poem, while his collections of essays have twice won the Wales Book of the Year Award. Minhinnick edited ''Poetry Wales'' magazine from 1997 to 2008. His first novel, ''Sea Holly'' (2007) was shortlisted for the 2008 Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize.

Welsh writing in English tended from the beginning to be dominated by men, but the period after World War II produced some distinguished Welsh women poets, including [[Ruth Bidgood]] (born 1922), [[Gillian Clarke]] (born 1937), and [[Sheenagh Pugh]] (born 1950). Pugh was born in Birmingham, but lived for many years in Cardiff and taught creative writing at the [[University of Glamorgan]] until retiring in 2008. Her collection ''Stonelight'' (1999) won the Wales Book of the Year Award in 2000. She has twice won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition. She has also published novels. She now lives in [[Shetland]].

Although Ruth Bidgood was born near [[Neath]] in 1922, her first collection ''The Given Time'' appeared only in 1972. Gillian Clarke is a poet, playwright, editor, broadcaster, lecturer and translator from Welsh. She was born in Cardiff and raised there, in Penarth, and in Pembrokeshire. Both her parents were native Welsh speakers, yet she was brought up speaking English and learnt Welsh only as an adult. In the mid-1980s she moved to rural [[Ceredigion]], West Wales. She became the third National Poet for Wales in 2008.

Amongst other poets of the second half of the twentieth century, the names of [[Roland Mathias]] (1915–2007), [[Leslie Norris]] (1921–2006), [[John Ormond]] (1923–1990), [[Dannie Abse]] (born 1923), [[Raymond Garlick]] (born 1926), [[Peter Finch (poet)|Peter Finch]] (born 1947), Tony Curtis (b. 1946), Nigel Jenkins (b. 1949), Mike Jenkins (b. 1953), Paul Henry (b. 1959), Christopher Meredith and [[Paul Groves (poet)|Paul Groves]] (born 1947) have a significant place. With regard to the current situation of Welsh poetry in English, Ian Gregson suggests that "much of the most exciting poetry in Britain is being written in Wales". He singles out [[Oliver Reynolds]] (born 1957), [[Gwyneth Lewis]] (born 1959) – who also write in Welsh – and [[Stephen Knight (poet)|Stephen Knight]] (born 1960) as having fulfilled "their early promise".<ref>''The New Poetry in Wales''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007, p. 1.</ref>