'Welsh Writing Taken Seriously': by Dr John Pikoulis
[The following article was published in the spring 1989 edition of the Welsh Books Council's magazine Llais llyfrau/Book News from Wales (p. 6). It is reproduced here by kind permission of John Pikoulis and the Welsh Books Council.]
Dr. John Pikoulis is Senior Lecturer in English in the Department of Extra-mural Studies at University of Wales College of Cardiff. Here he sets out the aims of the new Association of which he is Chairman.
‘The University of Wales Association for the Study of Welsh Writing in English’ is a somewhat ungainly title, but it means what it says. The Association was founded at the end of 1984 to bring together all staff members of the University of Wales who are interested in the English-language literature of Wales. Over the years, several of them have established courses of study at their respective colleges, both at undergraduate and graduate level, but no specific provision for structured development in this field has been made in the University where it tends to fall between two stools, i.e. English and Welsh literatures, and it was to remedy this deficiency that the Association was formed.
Our first initiative was to launch a series of publications which would make available many of the texts teachers, students and general readers would be glad to have. These would include collected editions of major writers, critical and other studies, and important individual works, with commentary or notes. The first of these has already appeared, John Harris’s edition of My People, published by the Seren Press. Others due to appear in the near future include another Caradoc Evans, Nothing to Pay (also edited by John Harris, this time for the Carcanet Press), Michael Parnell’s edition of Three Plays by Gwyn Thomas, James A. Davies’s edition of Three Plays by Dannie Abse, and Wynn Thomas’s edition of A Toy Epic by Emyr Humphreys (all for the Seren Press) as well as two from the University of Wales Press, Belinda Humfrey’s edition of Glyn Jones's The Island of Apples and Tony Conran’s Selected Longer Poems of Idris Davies. The general editors of the series have been James A. Davies, of University College, Swansea, and Belinda Humfrey, of St David’s University College, Lampeter.
Conferences at Gregynog
Two colloquia have been held at Gregynog, the first in 1986 and the second in 1987. The former, organised by Ned Thomas (Aberystwyth), included seminars on the state of book publishing in Wales, a subject of vital interest to us all, as well as a talk on our sister Association for Scottish Literary Studies by Cairns Craig, Reviews Editor of The Scottish Literary Journal. The latter conference was organized by members of the English Department at Swansea, led by Wynn Thomas and James A. Davies, and included talks on such figures as R. S. Thomas and Emyr Humphreys.
We are very conscious of the need to co-operate with others in the field so that we may build a joint approach to the subject. We have recently been in discussion with Huw Davies, the Officer for English in Wales with the National Language Unit of Wales, and are negotiating with English advisors in the different counties about setting up meetings with school teachers and others who might be interested in including Welsh/English texts on their syllabuses now that these have become more flexible.
It is evident that the range of things needed to do in order to encourage the further use of Welsh texts in English is formidable. There are relatively few of us in the Association and we are all burdened with many other interests. Nonetheless, we have made a start and are in good spirits. All of us are committed to the subject, meet regularly, plan new initiatives and try not to bite off more than we can chew. We hope, in the end, to have something substantial to show for our efforts: the establishment of Welsh literature in English as a discipline worthy of study, like any other, in schools, colleges and other institutions of learning, but particularly in the University of Wales.
Another publishing venture has been undertaken in collaboration with the English-language section of the Welsh Academy, thanks to the initiative of Belinda Humfrey: the appearance of The New Welsh Review, which she edits (Assistant Editor: Peter J. Foss). The review is funded, initially for a period of three years, by the Welsh Arts Council, and has already established itself as a distinctive and handsome magazine, probably the best designed that has ever appeared in Wales. Four members of the Association sit on the Editorial Board: Tony Brown, from the University College of North Wales, Bangor; Walford Davies, from University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; J. P. Ward, from University College, Swansea, and myself.
‘The University of Wales Association for the Study of Welsh Writing in English’ is a somewhat ungainly title, but it means what it says. The Association was founded at the end of 1984 to bring together all staff members of the University of Wales who are interested in the English-language literature of Wales. Over the years, several of them have established courses of study at their respective colleges, both at undergraduate and graduate level, but no specific provision for structured development in this field has been made in the University where it tends to fall between two stools, i.e. English and Welsh literatures, and it was to remedy this deficiency that the Association was formed.
Our first initiative was to launch a series of publications which would make available many of the texts teachers, students and general readers would be glad to have. These would include collected editions of major writers, critical and other studies, and important individual works, with commentary or notes. The first of these has already appeared, John Harris’s edition of My People, published by the Seren Press. Others due to appear in the near future include another Caradoc Evans, Nothing to Pay (also edited by John Harris, this time for the Carcanet Press), Michael Parnell’s edition of Three Plays by Gwyn Thomas, James A. Davies’s edition of Three Plays by Dannie Abse, and Wynn Thomas’s edition of A Toy Epic by Emyr Humphreys (all for the Seren Press) as well as two from the University of Wales Press, Belinda Humfrey’s edition of Glyn Jones's The Island of Apples and Tony Conran’s Selected Longer Poems of Idris Davies. The general editors of the series have been James A. Davies, of University College, Swansea, and Belinda Humfrey, of St David’s University College, Lampeter.
Conferences at Gregynog
Two colloquia have been held at Gregynog, the first in 1986 and the second in 1987. The former, organised by Ned Thomas (Aberystwyth), included seminars on the state of book publishing in Wales, a subject of vital interest to us all, as well as a talk on our sister Association for Scottish Literary Studies by Cairns Craig, Reviews Editor of The Scottish Literary Journal. The latter conference was organized by members of the English Department at Swansea, led by Wynn Thomas and James A. Davies, and included talks on such figures as R. S. Thomas and Emyr Humphreys.
We are very conscious of the need to co-operate with others in the field so that we may build a joint approach to the subject. We have recently been in discussion with Huw Davies, the Officer for English in Wales with the National Language Unit of Wales, and are negotiating with English advisors in the different counties about setting up meetings with school teachers and others who might be interested in including Welsh/English texts on their syllabuses now that these have become more flexible.
It is evident that the range of things needed to do in order to encourage the further use of Welsh texts in English is formidable. There are relatively few of us in the Association and we are all burdened with many other interests. Nonetheless, we have made a start and are in good spirits. All of us are committed to the subject, meet regularly, plan new initiatives and try not to bite off more than we can chew. We hope, in the end, to have something substantial to show for our efforts: the establishment of Welsh literature in English as a discipline worthy of study, like any other, in schools, colleges and other institutions of learning, but particularly in the University of Wales.
Another publishing venture has been undertaken in collaboration with the English-language section of the Welsh Academy, thanks to the initiative of Belinda Humfrey: the appearance of The New Welsh Review, which she edits (Assistant Editor: Peter J. Foss). The review is funded, initially for a period of three years, by the Welsh Arts Council, and has already established itself as a distinctive and handsome magazine, probably the best designed that has ever appeared in Wales. Four members of the Association sit on the Editorial Board: Tony Brown, from the University College of North Wales, Bangor; Walford Davies, from University College of Wales, Aberystwyth; J. P. Ward, from University College, Swansea, and myself.
The photograph at the top of this page (taken from an original © Aidan Byrne) shows the book-lined corridor outside The Library at Gregynog Hall.
