Editing Welsh literature in English (section)

===Fiction===
An early work of the first wave of Anglo-Welsh writers was ''The Withered Root'' (1927) by [[Rhys Davies (writer)|Rhys Davies]] (1901–78) from the Rhondda Valley. While he probably wrote more fiction about the industrial world of the [[South Wales Valleys]] than anyone else, Rhys Davies was in fact a grocer's son who was living in London by the time he was twenty. Unlike that of other writers from the mining community, his fiction is more concerned with individuals, in particular women, than with politics.<ref>''A Hundred Years of Fiction'', p. 64.</ref> [[D. H. Lawrence]] was a major influence on Rhys, though similarities with Caradoc Evans have been noted, and it has been suggested that he had "The tendency to process images of the Welsh valleys for consumption by English audiences".<ref>''A Pocket Guide'', p. 104.</ref> Another Anglo-Welsh novelist (and playwright) was [[Jack Jones (novelist)|Jack Jones]] (1884–1970), a miner's son from [[Merthyr Tydfil]] who was himself a miner from the age of 12. He was active in the union movement and politics, starting with the [[Communist Party of Great Britain|Communist Party]], but in the course of his life he was involved, to some degree, with all the major British parties. Amongst his novels of working-class life are ''[[Rhondda Roundabout]]'' (1935) and ''Bidden to the Feast'' (1938). The political development of a young miner is the subject of ''Cwmardy'' (1937), [[Lewis Jones (writer)|Lewis Jones]]'s (1897–1939) largely autobiographical novel.

[[Gwyn Thomas (novelist)|Gwyn Thomas]] (1913–81) was also a coalminer's son from the Rhondda, but won a scholarship to Oxford and then became a schoolmaster. He wrote 11 novels as well as short stories, plays, and radio and television scripts, most of which focused on unemployment in the Rhondda Valley in the 1930s. He has been described by [[Stephen Thomas Knight]] as "about the most verbally brilliant writer of Welsh fiction in English".<ref>''A Hundred Years of Fiction'', p. 93.</ref> His inaugural novel ''Sorrow for Thy Sons'' (1937) was rejected by Gollancz and not published until 1986. Thomas's first accepted book was a collection of short stories, ''Where Did I Put My Pity: Folk-Tales From the Modern Welsh'', which appeared in 1946. He was also known for his negative attitude to the Welsh language, and Glyn Jones sees him as falling "short of being a completely representative figure ... in his attitude to Wales and Welshness," as Gwyn Thomas "appears in his writing to have little sympathy with the national aspirations and indigenous culture of our country".<ref>''The Dragon Has Two Tongues''. p. 115</ref> Another writer who escaped from his proletarian background was [[Gwyn Jones (author)|Gwyn Jones]] (1907–1999). He wrote about this world in novels and short stories, including ''Times Like These'' (1936) which explores the life of a working-class family during the 1926 [[miners' strike]]. Jones founded ''The Welsh Review'' in 1939, which he edited until 1948; this journal was important for raising discussion of Welsh issues. What is probably the most famous novel about Wales, [[Richard Llewellyn]]'s ''[[How Green Was My Valley]]'', was published in 1939. It is described by Glyn Jones in ''The Dragon Has Two Tongues'' as a "staggering and accomplished piece of literary hokum" (p.&nbsp;51), "a book [that Jones finds] impossible to take seriously, though much of it [he] read with absorption" (p.&nbsp;53). (See also [[Margiad Evans]] [Peggy Eileen Whistler] (1909–58); [[Richard Hughes (writer)|Richard Hughes]] (1900–76); [[Alexander Cordell]] (1914–97).)