Saunders Lewis (John Saunders Lewis) (October 15, 1893 - September 1, 1985) was a
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, dramatist,
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
, literary critic, and political activist. He was a prominent
Welsh nationalistWelsh nationalism refers to a nationalist stance applied to Wales or the ethnic Welsh people. It emphasizes the distinctiveness of Wales in its language, culture, and history...
and a founder of the Welsh National Party (later known as
Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union.Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
). Lewis is usually acknowledged to have been among the most prominent figures of twentieth-century Welsh-language literature. Lewis was a 1970 Nobel nominee for literature, and in 2005 was voted 10th as Wales' 'greatest-ever person' in a
BBC WalesBBC Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside London,...
poll.
Early life
Born into a Welsh family living in
WallaseyWallasey is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England, on the mouth of the River Mersey, at the northeastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1893, Lewis was studying
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
and
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
at Liverpool University when the
First World WarWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
broke out. After serving as an officer with the South Wales Borderers he returned to university to graduate in English.
In 1922, he was appointed as a lecturer in Welsh at the University College of Wales, Swansea. During his time at Swansea he produced some of his most exciting works of literary criticism:
A School of Welsh Augustans (1924),
Williams Pantycelyn (1927), and
Braslun o hanes llenyddiaeth Gymraeg (=An outline history of Welsh literature) (1932).
Founding Plaid Cymru
His experiences in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, and his sympathy for the cause of
Irish independenceIrish independence may refer to:* Irish War of Independence - a guerrilla war fought between the Irish Republican Army, under the Irish Republic, and the United Kingdom* Anglo-Irish Treaty - the treaty that brought the Irish War of Independence to a close...
, brought him to Welsh
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
, and in 1925 he met with H.R. Jones and
Lewis ValentineLewis Edward Valentine was a Welsh politician, Baptist pastor, author, editor and Welsh language activist-Early life:Valentine was born in Llanddulas, Conwy, son of Samuel Valentine, a limestone quarryman, and his wife Mary...
and others at a 1925 National Eisteddfod meeting, held in
PwllheliPwllheli is a community and the main market town of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, north-western Wales. It has a large Welsh-speaking population . Pwllheli is the place where Plaid Cymru was founded. It is the birthplace of Albert Evans-Jones - Cynan - the Welsh poet.-History:The town's name...
,
GwyneddGwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although one of the biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
, with the aim of establishing
a Welsh party.
Discussions for the need of a "Welsh party" had been circulating since the 19th century. With the generation or so before 1922 there "had been a marked growth in the constitutional recognition of the Welsh nation," wrote
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
Dr. John DaviesJohn Davies is a Welsh historian, and a television and radio broadcaster.Davies was born in the Rhondda, Wales, and studied at both University College, Cardiff, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is married with four children...
. By 1924 there were people in Wales "eager to make their nationality the focus of Welsh politics."
Lewis and Jones both represented two other organizations, founded only the previous year, with Lewis heading
The Welsh Movement and Jones heading the
Welsh Home Rulers. The principal aim of the party would be to foster a Welsh speaking Wales. To this end it was agreed that party business be conducted in Welsh, and that members sever all links with other British parties. Lewis insisted on these principles before he would agree to the Pwllheli conference.
According to the 1911 census, out of a population of just under 2.5 million, 43.5% of the total population of Wales spoke Welsh as a primary language. This was a decrease from the 1891 census with 54.4% speaking Welsh out of a population of 1.5 million.
With these prerequisites Lewis condemned "'Welsh nationalism' as it had hitherto existed, a nationalism characterized by inter-party conferences, an obsession with
WestminsterThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. It alone has parliamentary sovereignty, conferring upon it ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories...
and a willingness to accept a subservient position for the Welsh language," wrote Dr. Davies. It may be because of these strict positions that the party failed to attract politicians of experience in its early years. However, the party's members believed its founding was an achievement in itself; "merely by existing, the party was a declaration of the distinctiveness of Wales," wrote Dr. Davies.
The Lewis Doctrine 1926-1939
During the inter-war years,
Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru was most successful as a social and educational pressure group rather than as a political party. For Saunders Lewis, party president 1926 - 1939, "the chief aim of the party [is] to 'take away from the Welsh their sense of inferiority... to remove from our beloved country the mark and shame of conquest.'" Lewis sought to cast
Welshness into a new context, wrote Dr. Davies.
Lewis wished to demonstrate how Welsh heritage was linked as one of the 'founders of European civilization. Lewis, a self-described "
strong monarchistMonarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch.In this system, the Monarch may be the...
," wrote "Civilization is more than an abstraction. It must have a local habitation and name. Here its name is Wales." Additionally, Lewis strove for the stability and well-being of Welsh-speaking communities, decried both capitalism and socialism and promoted what he called
perchentyaeth; a policy of 'distributing property among the masses."
Tân yn Llŷn 1936
Welsh nationalism was ignited in 1936 when the UK government settled on establishing a bombing school at
PenyberthPenyberth was a farmhouse at Penrhos, on the Llŷn Peninsula near Pwllheli, Gwynedd, which had been the home to generations of patrons of poets, but destroyed in 1936 in order to build a training camp and aerodrome for the RAF....
on the
Llŷn PeninsulaThe Llŷn Peninsula extends into the Irish Sea from north west Wales, southwest of the island of Anglesey. It is part of the modern county and historic region of Gwynedd. The name is thought to be of Irish origin, and to have the same root — Laighin in modern Irish — as the word Leinster...
in
GwyneddGwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although one of the biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
. The events surrounding the protest, known as
Tân yn Llŷn (
Fire in Llŷn), helped define
Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru. The UK government settled on Llŷn as the sight for its new bombing school after similar locations
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
and
DorsetDorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county at . Between its extreme points Dorset measures from east to west and north to south, and has an area of...
were met with protests.
However, UK Prime Minister
Stanley BaldwinStanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, statesman, and major figure on the political scene in the interwar years...
refused to hear the case against the bombing school in Wales, despite a deputation representing half a million Welsh protesters. Protest against the bombing school was summed up by Lewis when he wrote that the UK government was intent upon turning one of the 'essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature' into a place for promoting a barbaric method of warfare. Construction of the bombing school building began exactly 400 years after the first Act of Union annexing Wales into England.
On 8 September 1936, the bombing school building was set on fire and in the investigations which followed Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine, and D.J. Williams claimed responsibility. The trial at Caernarfon failed to agree on a verdict and the case was sent to the
Old BaileyThe Central Criminal Court in the United Kingdom, commonly known as the Old Bailey, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court. The Crown Court sitting at the Central Criminal Court deals with major criminal cases from Greater London and, in...
in London. The "Three" were sentenced to nine months imprisonment in
Wormwood ScrubsHM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is a Category B men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner-West London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
, and on their release they were greeted as heroes by fifteen thousand Welsh at a pavilion in
CaernarfonCaernarfon is a royal town in Gwynedd, northwest Wales....
.
Many Welsh were angered by the judge's scornful treatment of the Welsh language, by the decision to move the trial to London, and by the decision of University College, Swansea, to dismiss Lewis from his post before he had been found guilty.
Dafydd Glyn JonesDafydd Glyn Jones is a Welsh scholar and lexicographer, born in the village of Carmel, Gwynedd. He is a specialist in Middle Welsh prose, and his other interests include Welsh history, Robert Jones, Rhoslan, and the life and work of Emrys ap Iwan....
wrote of the fire that it was "the first time in five centuries that Wales struck back at England with a measure of violence... To the Welsh people, who had long ceased to believe that they had it in them, it was a profound shock."
However, despite the acclaim the events of
Tân yn Llŷn generated, by 1938 Lewis' concept of
perchentyaeth was firmly rejected as
not a fundamental tenet of the party. In 1939 Lewis resigned as
Plaid Genedleathol Cymru president citing that Wales was not ready to accept the leadership of a Roman Catholic.
Lewis was the son and grandson of prominent
Welsh Calvinistic MethodistThe Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival in the eighteenth century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...
ministers. In 1932, he converted to
Roman CatholicismThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
.
Second World War
Lewis maintained a strict neutrality in his writings through his column
Cwrs y Byd in
Y Faner. It was his attempt at an unbiased interpretation of the causes and events of the war.
Outside of the party's initial position on the war, party members were free to choose for themselves their level of support for the
war effortIn politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
.
Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru was officially neutral regarding involvement the Second World War, which Lewis and other leaders considered a continuation of the First World War. Central to the neutrality policy was the idea that Wales, as a nation, had the right to decide independently on its attitude towards war, and the rejection of other nations to force Welshmen to serve in their armed forces. With this challenging and revolutionary policy Lewis hoped a significant number of Welshmen would refuse to join the
British ArmyThe Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation in War:...
.
Lewis and other party members were attempting to strengthen loyalty to the Welsh
nationA nation is a body of people who share a real or imagined common history, culture, language or ethnic origin. The development and conceptualization of the nation is closely related to the development of modern industrial states and nationalist movements in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries,...
"over the loyalty to the British
StateA sovereign state is a political association with effective internal and external sovereignty over a geographic area and population which is not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state...
." Lewis argued "The only proof that the Welsh nation exists is that there are some who act as if it did exist."
However, most party members who claimed conscientious objection status did so in the context of their moral and religious beliefs, rather than on political policy. Of these almost all were exempt from military service. About 24 party members made politics their sole grounds for exemption, of which twelve received prison sentences. For Lewis, those who objected proved that the assimilation of Wales was "being withstood, even under the most extreme pressures."
University of Wales by-election, 1943
Prior to 1950, universities could elect and return representatives to the UK parliament. In 1943 Lewis contested the
University of WalesUniversity of Wales was a university constituency electing one member to the British House of Commons, from 1918 to 1950.-Boundaries:This university constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.The...
parliamentary seat at a by-election, his opponent was former
Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru deputy vice-president Dr.
William John GruffyddProfessor William John Gruffydd was a Welsh academic, poet, writer, and politician.-Family and Education:...
. Gruffydd had voiced doubts about Lewis' ideas since 1933, and by 1943 he had joined the
Liberal partyThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
. The "brilliant but wayward" Gruffydd was a favorite with Welsh-speaking intellectuals and drew 52.3 per cent of the vote, to Lewis' 22 per cent, or 1,330 votes.
The election effectively split the Welsh-speaking intelligentsia, and left Lewis embittered with politics and retreated from direct political involvement. However, the experience proved invaluable for
Plaid Cymru, as they began to refer to themselves, as "for the first time they were taken seriously as a political force." The by-election campaign led directly to "considerable growth" for the party's membership.
Tynged yr Iaith and the 1961 census
see also Tynged yr iaith"Tynged yr Iaith" was a radio lecture delivered in Welsh by Saunders Lewis on February 13, 1962. Reaction to it brought about a major change in the politics of Wales...
In 1962 Lewis gave a radio speech entitled
Tynged yr iaith"Tynged yr Iaith" was a radio lecture delivered in Welsh by Saunders Lewis on February 13, 1962. Reaction to it brought about a major change in the politics of Wales...
(
The Fate of the Language) in which he predicted the extinction of the Welsh language unless action was taken. Lewis' intent was to motivate
Plaid Cymru into more direct action promoting the language, however it led to the formation of
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (
the Welsh Language Society) later that year at a
Plaid Cymru summer school held in
PontardawePontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...
in
GlamorganGlamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying names and boundaries until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three preserved...
. The foundation of
Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg allowed for
Plaid Cymru to focus on electoral politics, while the
Cymdeithas focused on promoting the language.
Lewis gave his radio speech responding to the 1961 census, which showed a decrease in the number of Welsh speakers from 36% in 1931 to 26%, out of a population of about 2.5 million. In the census; Merionnydd, Ynys Mon, Carmarthen, and Caernarfon averaged 75% concentration of Welsh speakers, with the most significant decrease in the counties of
GlamorganGlamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying names and boundaries until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three preserved...
,
FlintFlint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in color, and...
, and
Pembroke-United Kingdom:*Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, a town in West Wales*Pembroke Dock, a nearby town*Pembrokeshire, a county-Canada:*Pembroke, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia*Pembroke, Nova Scotia*Pembroke, Ontario-Republic of Ireland:...
.
Responding on the calls of Welsh devolution, in 1964 the
LabourJames Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, PC was a British Labour Party politician; one of the most prominent British politicians of the latter half of the 20th century, he served two terms as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, firstly from 1964 to 1970, and again from 1974...
Government gave effect to these proposals establishing the unelected
Welsh OfficeThe Welsh Office was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post which had been created in October 1964...
and
Secretary of State for WalesThe Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the United Kingdom cabinet. He is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
.
Nobel Nominee
In 1970, he was nominated for the
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901...
for Literature. His literary works include plays, poetry, novels and essays. He wrote mostly in
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
, but he also wrote some works in
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
. By the time of his death in 1985 he was amongst the most celebrated of Welsh writers.
Political criticisms
Lewis' perceived "elitist views,"and a "condescending attitude towards some aspects of
nonconformistNonconformism refers to the Protestant Christians of England and Wales who refused to "conform", or follow the governance and usages of the Church of England.- Origins and use :...
,
radicalRadicalisation or Radicalization is the transformation from passiveness or activism to more revolutionary, militant or extreme postures...
and pacifist traditions of Wales" drew criticism from fellow nationalist such as
D.J. DaviesDr. D.J. Davies , was a Welsh economist, industrialist, prize winning essayist, author, political activist, pilot, and an internationalist...
, a leftist party member. Davies argued in favour of engaging English-speaking Welsh communities, and stressed the territorial integrity of Wales. Davies pointed towards
Scandinavian countriesScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
as a model to emulate, and was active in the economic implications of Welsh self-government.
In many ways it was Davies' ideal of Welsh nationalism which was adopted after the Second World War, wrote Dr. Davies. But it was Lewis' "brilliance and charismatic appeal" which was firmly associated with
Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru in the 1930s.
In 1936, in the midst of the turmoil of
Tân yn Llŷn, Lewis praised
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
when he said "At once he fulfilled his promise — a promise which was greatly mocked by the London papers months before that — to completely abolish the financial strength of the Jews in the economic life of Germany."
However, within the
contextContext is a notion used in the language sciences in two different ways, namely as*verbal context*social context...
of the 1930s, other UK politicians of other parties offered endorsements for fascist leaders. In 1933
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
characterized Mussolini as 'the greatest lawgiver among men', and later wrote in his 1937 book
Great ContemporariesGreat Contemporaries is a collection of 25 short biographical essays about famous people written by Winston Churchill.The original collection of 21 essays published in 1937 were mainly written between 1928 and 1931. Four were added to the book in the 1939 edition, about Lord Fisher, Charles...
, "If our country were defeated, I hope we should find a champion as admirable (as Hitler) to restore our courage and lead us back to our place among the nations". In the same work, Churchill expressed a hope that despite Hitler's apparent dictatorial tendencies, he would use his power to rebuild Germany into a worthy member of the world community. And in August 1936,
Liberal partyThe Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become...
member
David Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British statesman and the only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; he is also the only one to have spoken English as a second language, Welsh having been his first.During a long tenure of office, mainly as Chancellor of the...
met Hitler at
BerchtesgadenBerchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
and offered some public comments that were surprisingly favourable to the German dictator, expressing warm enthusiasm both for Hitler personally and for Germany's public works schemes (upon returning, he wrote of Hitler in the
Daily Express as "the greatest living German", "the George Washington of Germany").
Literary activity
Lewis was above all a dramatist. His earliest published play was
Blodeuwedd (The woman of flowers) (1923-25, revised 1948). Other notable plays include
Buchedd Garmon (The life of Germanus) (radio play, 1936),
SiwanSiwan is the title of a play written in the Welsh language by Saunders Lewis, first produced in 1956. The first English language translation of the play appeared in 1960....
(1956),
Gymerwch chi sigarét? (Will you have a cigarette?) (1956),
Brad (Treachery) (1958),
Esther (1960), and
Cymru fydd (Tomorrow's Wales) (1967). He also translated
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalist....
's
En attendant GodotWaiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait for someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere.Voted "the most significant English...
into
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh border and in the Welsh immigrant colony in the Chubut Valley in Argentine Patagonia....
.
He published two novels,
MonicaMonica is a novel by Saunders Lewis, written in the Welsh language and originally published in 1930. Lewis is better known for poetry and plays, and this was his first novel.-Plot summary:...
(1930) and
Merch Gwern Hywel (The daughter of Gwern Hywel) (1964) and two collections of poems as well as numerous articles and essays in various newspapers, magazines and journals. These articles have been collected into volumes including:
Canlyn Arthur (Following Arthur) (1938),
Ysgrifau dydd Mercher (Wednesday essays) (1945),
Meistri'r canrifoedd (Masters of the centuries) (1973),
Meistri a'u crefft (Masters and their craft) (1981) and
Ati ŵyr ifainc (Go to it, young men) (1986).
Works in English and translations
- Lewis, Saunders (1997), Monica. Translated by Meic Stephens. Bridgend: Seren. ISBN 1-85411-195-7.
- Lewis, Saunders (1985-2002), The plays of Saunders Lewis. 4 vols. Translated by Joseph P. Clancy. ISBN 0-9540569-4-9, 0715406485, 0954056957, 0715406523.
- Lewis, Saunders (1993), Selected poems. Translated by Joseph P. Clancy. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1194-6.
Sources
- Griffiths, Bruce (1989), Saunders Lewis. Writers of Wales series. Cardiff : University of Wales Pres. ISBN 0-7083-1049-4.
- Jones, Alun R. & Gwyn Thomas (Eds.) (1973), Presenting Saunders Lewis. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0852-X.
- Jones, Harri Pritchard (1991), Saunders Lewis : a presentation of his work. Illinois : Templegate. ISBN 0-87243-187-8.
- 'Lewis, Saunders (1893-1985)'. In Meic Stephens (Ed.) (1998), The new companion to the literature of Wales. Cardiff : University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1383-3.
- Chapman, T. Robin (2006), Un bywyd o blith nifer: cofiant Saunders Lewis. Llandysul, Gomer. ISBN 1-84323-709-1. In Welsh, but the only complete biography.
External links