Anglo-Welsh Poetry - After World War II

After World War II

See above for Dylan Thomas, David Jones, & Vernon Watkins

R. S. Thomas (1913–2000) was the most eminent Welsh poet writing in English throughout the second half of the twentieth century, beginning with The Stones of the Field (1946) and concluding with No Truce with the Furies (1995). In the latter part of the twentieth century, Welsh poetry in English flourished. A landmark event was the 1967 publication of Bryn Griffith's anthology Welsh Voices. Tony Conran (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. Swansea poet Harri Webb's (1920–1994) verse, including The Green Desert (1969), is marked in its themes by his radical and uncompromising commitment to Welsh nationalist politics. Another prominent poet of the late twentieth century is Tony Curtis (1946- ) from Carmarthen. John Tripp (1927–86), a convinced Welsh nationalist, had worked outside Wales until his early forties. Robert Minhinnick, born in 1952, is also a notable poet from the second half of the twentieth century and edited Poetry Wales magazine from 1997 to 2008. Welsh writing in English from the beginning tended to be dominated by men, but the period after World War II produced some distinguished Welsh women poets, including Ruth Bidgood (1922- ), Gillian Clarke (1937- ), and Sheenagh Pugh (1950- ). Amongst other poets of the second half of the twentieth century, the names of Roland Mathias (1915–2007), Leslie Norris (1921–2006), John Ormond (1923–90), Dannie Abse (1923- ), Raymond Garlick (1926- ), Peter Finch (1947- ) and Paul Groves (1947- ) have a significant place. With regard to the current situation, Ian Gregson suggests that "much of the most exciting poetry in Britain is being written in Wales." He singles out Oliver Reynolds (1957- ), Gwyneth Lewis (1959- ), and Stephen Knight (1960- ) as having fulfilled "their early promise."