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Gwyn Thomas (6 July 1913 – 13 April 1981) was a Welsh writer who has been called 'the true voice of the English-speaking valleys'.

Life

Gwyn Thomas was born in Porth in the Rhondda Valley, the youngest of 12 children to coalminer Walter Morgan Thomas and his wife. His mother died when he was aged six, and he was resultantly brought up by his sister, often with handouts from the local soup kitchen.^[1]

After winning a scholarship, Thomas studied Spanish at the University of Oxford, and spent a summer and a term at the end of his second year at the University of Madrid, thanks to a miners' scholarship. On graduation and wanting to be a writer, he struggled to establish himself during the depression. He took on part-time lecturing jobs across England, while trying to get his novel Sorrow For Thy Sons published.

He married his childhood friend in Pontypridd Registry Office on 5th January 1938. Failing to pass the medical at the outbreak of World War Two thanks to 20years of smoking, he returned to Wales in 1940 and taught at the WEA. He then became a schoolteacher, first teaching French in Cardigan, and then Spanish in Barry at Barry County Boys School for 20 years.^[2]

A prolific novelist and short-story writer, he became a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1962.

Gwyn Thomas was commemorated at an event in Barry Memorial Hall on Saturday 21 November 2009, when Pride In Barry announced it was placing a Blue Plaque on the Old College Inn, Barry, where his old school classrooms used to be.

Bibliographic Works

Novels

A Welsh Eye (Drawings by John Dd. Evans) ^[3]
Where Did I Put My Pity? ^[3]
The World Cannot Hear You ^[3]
Point Of Order ^[3]
The Love Man ^[3]
Now Lead Us Home ^[3]
The Stranger At My Side ^[3]
Gazooka ^[3]
Ring Delirium 123 ^[3]
The Dark Philosophers (1946)
The Alone to The Alone (1947)
All Things Betray Thee (1949)
A Frost on My Frolic (1953)
Sorrow For Thy Sons (1986)

Plays

The Keep (1962)
Sap (1974)
The Breakers (1976)
Loud Organs ^[3]
Jackie The Jumper ^[3]

Autobiography

A Few Selected Exits (1968)

Footnotes

^ "Gwyn Thomas". BBC Wales. Retrieved August 16, 2010.
^ Davies, John (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 863. ISBN 9780708319536. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Detail from the copy of book entitled A Welsh Eye - First edition published by Hutchinson London in 1964 with no ISBN.

External links

BBC Wales on his life.
His comments] after meeting Jacob Bronowski

[1] "Gwyn Thomas". BBC Wales. Retrieved August 16, 2010.

[2] Davies, John (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 863. ISBN 9780708319536. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[Thomas-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Detail from the copy of book entitled A Welsh Eye - First edition published by Hutchinson London in 1964 with no ISBN.

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@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Life==
-Gwyn Thomas was born in [[Porth]] in the [[Rhondda]] Valley, the son of a coalminer. He studied Spanish at Oxford University, and also spent six months at the University of Madrid thanks to a miners' scholarship. He also taught at the [[Workers' Educational Association|WEA]] in South Wales before becoming a schoolteacher, first teaching French at Cardigan and then Spanish in [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |coauthors=Jenkins, Nigel |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff|page=863 |isbn=9780708319536}}</ref>
+Gwyn Thomas was born in [[Porth]] in the [[Rhondda]] Valley, the youngest of 12 children to coalminer Walter Morgan Thomas and his wife. His mother died when he was aged six, and he was resultantly brought up by his sister, often with handouts from the local [[soup kitchen]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/halloffame/arts/gwyn_thomas.shtml|title=Gwyn Thomas|publisher=BBC Wales|accessdate=August 16, 2010}}</ref>
+After winning a scholarship, Thomas studied [[Spanish language|Spanish]] at the [[University of Oxford]], and spent a summer and a term at the end of his second year at the [[University of Madrid]], thanks to a miners' scholarship. On graduation and wanting to be a writer, he struggled to establish himself during the depression. He took on part-time lecturing jobs across England, while trying to get his novel ''Sorrow For Thy Sons'' published.
+He married his childhood friend in Pontypridd Registry Office on 5th January 1938. Failing to pass the medical at the outbreak of [[World War Two]] thanks to 20years of smoking, he returned to Wales in 1940 and taught at the [[Workers' Educational Association|WEA]]. He then became a [[schoolteacher]], first teaching [[French language|French]] in Cardigan, and then Spanish in [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]] at Barry County Boys School for 20 years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |coauthors=Jenkins, Nigel |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales |year=2008 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff|page=863 |isbn=9780708319536}}</ref>
 A prolific novelist and short-story writer, he became a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1962.