Editing Saunders Lewis (section)

== Return to Wales ==
After his return from the trenches, Lewis entered the literary field by arguing that three conditions needed to be met for [[Welsh literature]] to become truly meaningful. Firstly, "a more professional attitude to Welsh drama". Secondly, the reestablishment of a direct link between [[Welsh culture]] with that of mainland Europe, and particularly with [[French culture]], and, lastly, a more continual religious and cultural exploration of pre-[[English Reformation|Reformation]] Wales by Welsh writers and intellectuals.<ref name="Jelle Krol 2020 Page 75"/>

In a 22 October 1919 letter to ''The Cambria Daily Leader'', called for a revival of drama in the Welsh language, beginning with the improvement of dramas set in the villages, "All the plays we have seen so far describe, and rather idyllically describe, village manners. But village life is more than 'manners'. It includes memories and traditions and song and even dance and mummery. Village and peasant drama, if it should tell the round truth, must include romance, the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', the [[monastery]], [[witchcraft]], [[Annwn|fairyland]], and all the [[Welsh mythology|ancient playgrounds]] of men. Let us widen our field."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 98.</ref>

In a letter of 25 October 1919 to the same newspaper, Lewis urged Welsh-language [[playwright]]s and the theatre going public to both, "take note of the dramatic history of Europe." Lewis continued, "And so it seems to me we should begin anew with [[literary translation|translation]]. We should translate into Welsh the plays of the acknowledged masters, of [[Euripides]], of [[Corneille]], of [[Jean Racine|Racine]], of [[Moliere]], of [[Ibsen]], of the [[Spanish Golden Age|Spaniards]], and we should act them continually; we should learn the classics."<ref> Jelle Krol (2020), ''Minority Language Writers in the Wake of World War One: A Case Study of Four European Authors'', Palgrave. Page 98.</ref>

In 1922, he was appointed as lecturer in Welsh literature at the [[University of Wales, Swansea|University College of Wales, Swansea]]. During his time at Swansea he produced some of his most significant works of literary criticism: ''A School of Welsh Augustans'' (1924), ''[[William Williams Pantycelyn|Williams Pantycelyn]]'' (1927), and ''{{lang|cy|{{ill|Braslun o hanes llenyddiaeth Gymraeg|cy}}}}'' (An outline history of Welsh literature) (1932).<ref name="Kendall2007">{{cite book|last=Kendall|first=Tim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09LB6-dYwCUC&pg=PA342|title=The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry|date=22 February 2007|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928266-1|page=342}}</ref> He continued in this post until his dismissal for a political act of arson at Penyberth, Gwynedd, in 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/saunders-lewis/|title=BBC - Saunders Lewis|website=BBC}}</ref>