Glyn Jones (Welsh writer) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Glyn Jones
Glyn Jones
Born	(1905-02-28)28 February 1905 Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Died	10 April 1995(1995-04-10) (aged 90) Cardiff, Wales
Occupation	Author, poet, translator
Nationality	British
Genre	Literature, novel, poetry
Literary movement	Anglo-Welsh literature

Morgan Glyndwr Jones, known as Glyn Jones, was a Welsh writer, poet, and historian. He was born on February 28, 1905, and passed away on April 10, 1995. He was a very important person in Anglo-Welsh literature, which is writing in English by Welsh authors.

Glyn Jones was the Chairman and President of the English-language part of the Welsh Academy. His book The Dragon Has Two Tongues (1968) talks about how the time between the two World Wars affected Welsh writers of his generation.

Early Life and Education

Glyn Jones was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, in 1905. His family spoke Welsh at home. His father worked at the post office, and his mother was a teacher. Even though Welsh was his family's language, he went to school in English. This was common for most students in Wales during the first half of the 20th century.

He went to Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School. By the time he finished school, he had almost forgotten how to speak Welsh well. However, he later taught himself Welsh again. All his books and poems were written in English. After grammar school, he went to St Paul's College in Cheltenham.

Beliefs and Early Career

From a young age, Glyn Jones was a strong Christian. His parents were Welsh Nonconformists, a type of Protestant Christian. He went to Sunday School as a child. Later in life, he was a member of a church in Cardiff. His Christian faith and his Welsh background influenced all his creative work. This was true even when many writers at the time were moving away from religion.

After finishing his education, Jones became a teacher. He moved from Merthyr to Cardiff for a job. He was very upset by how poor his students were. This experience shaped his political views, and he became a socialist. A socialist believes in fairness and equality for everyone. Even though he had left-wing ideas, he was never a member of the Labour Party. Later in life, he supported the goals of Plaid Cymru, a political party that supports Wales.

In 1935, he married Phyllis Doreen Jones. He dedicated all his books to her.

Starting His Writing Journey

Glyn Jones's first poems were published in 1933 in The Dublin Magazine. In 1935, his friend Dylan Thomas suggested he write a collection of short stories. This collection was called The Blue Bed.

His stories in The Blue Bed were set in different places. Some were in magical, undefined locations. Others showed Welsh village life in a funny and very visual way. Reviewers in London praised his work. One story, "I was Born in the Ystrad Valley," was about a rebellion. It was inspired by his own experiences living in the poorer areas of Cardiff.

His early writings were influenced by another Welsh author, Caradoc Evans. However, The Blue Bed was not as harsh as Evans's work.

During World War II

During the Second World War, Glyn Jones decided not to fight. He registered as a conscientious objector in 1940. This meant he believed it was wrong to take part in war. Because of this decision, he lost his teaching job in Cardiff. But he soon found another teaching job in Glamorgan.

Literary Achievements

Glyn Jones kept writing. He published a collection of poems in 1939. He also studied English Romantic poetry. He liked its strong images and rich language. He was especially interested in the poets D. H. Lawrence and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Jones wrote an essay about how Hopkins used Welsh poetry styles.

In the 1940s, he published two more works. These were a second poetry collection, The Dream of Jake Hopkins (1944), and another book of short stories, The Water Music and other stories (1944). Like his earlier work, the stories in The Water Music were set either in the industrial Merthyr of his childhood or the green countryside of Carmarthenshire.

Writing Novels

In the 1950s and 1960s, Jones focused on writing three novels:

• The Valley, The City, The Village (1956)
• The Learning Lark (1960)
• The Island of Apples (1965)

His first novel, The Valley, The City, The Village, is about a young artist growing up. It is full of descriptions and interesting characters. Some critics thought it lacked a clear structure or used language that was too unusual. However, others, like Meic Stephens, believed Jones's different writing styles made the book very powerful.

His second novel, The Learning Lark, is a funny story about the education system in a mining village. It shows teachers who were not always fair. But the book is mostly humorous, not harsh. Jones used it to show the funny side of human flaws.

His third novel, The Island of Apples, is set in a made-up version of Merthyr. It uses an old Welsh legend, Ynys Afallon, to explore the sadness of losing childhood. This story is also told through the eyes of a young narrator.

A Literary Disagreement

In the 1960s, Glyn Jones was part of a literary disagreement. A Scottish poet named Hugh MacDiarmid used lines from one of Jones's short stories in his own poem, Perfect. He used them word for word. Glyn Jones did not say anything about it himself. But supporters of both writers argued about it in The Times Literary Supplement. MacDiarmid later said he had a very good memory and must have used Jones's lines without realizing it. Later, when the two poets met, they were able to laugh about the situation.

This decade also saw Jones publish his most important work, The Dragon has Two Tongues. This book looked at Anglo-Welsh literature. It was also an autobiography, exploring how education, religion, and politics affected Welsh writers between the two World Wars. It is an important record of his friendships with other Welsh writers like Caradoc Evans, Dylan Thomas, Gwyn Jones, and Keidrych Rhys.

In the 1970s, Jones returned to writing poetry and short stories. He published two collections of stories, Selected Short Stories (1971) and Welsh Heirs (1977). In between, he released a poetry collection, Selected Poems (1975).

Translating Welsh Works

In the 1980s, Glyn Jones spent more and more time translating works from Welsh into English. By this time, he could speak Welsh very well. However, he never wrote his own creative works in Welsh. He once said that Welsh was "the language of adolescence," not the main language an artist would use for writing.

Jones first translated Welsh texts in 1954. He worked with T. J. Morgan on The Saga of Llywarch the Old. In 1981, he worked on his own translations with When the Rose Bush brings forth Apples. This was followed by Honeydew on the Wormwood: a further selection of old Welsh verses in 1984.

Friendship with Dylan Thomas

In 1934, Glyn Jones wrote to Dylan Thomas after reading his poem The Woman Speaks. Both writers were not very well known at the time. But their letters led to a long friendship. They met in May 1934. Jones had a car, and they drove to Laugharne. Thomas later described Jones to his girlfriend as "a nice, handsome young man with no vices."

Later that year, they met again to visit another poet, Caradoc Evans. After the visit, Jones told Thomas a story about a Welsh eccentric, Dr. William Price. Price had cremated his young son without official permission after the child's death. Thomas later used this story in his own tale, "The Burning Baby." The next year, Thomas invited Jones to London. Jones noticed that Thomas would act differently depending on who he was talking to, which made Jones feel a bit uneasy.

As Dylan Thomas became more famous, he and Jones saw less of each other. But in December 1949, Jones was going to interview his old friend for a BBC radio show. Jones traveled to Laugharne to meet Thomas at his home, the Boathouse. Jones was surprised by how much his friend had changed; he looked unwell. They talked about what they would say on the show. But a few days before Christmas, the producers heard from Thomas's wife that he was ill. The interview never happened.

Awards and Later Life

Glyn Jones was seen as an important and influential writer in Welsh literary groups. He was chosen as President of the Welsh Academy. In 1985, he became the Academy's first honorary member. Before that, in 1971, he received an award from the Arts Council of Wales for his contributions to Welsh literature.

He also received honorary Doctor of Literature degrees from the University of Glamorgan in 1994 and an Honorary Fellowship from Trinity College, Carmarthen. In 1988, he became an honorary member of the Gorsedd of Bards, a group that celebrates Welsh culture.

In his final years, Glyn Jones's health declined. He had to have his right arm removed. But he continued to write letters to other writers. He saw this as an important way to connect with the history of Welsh literature. He passed away in Cardiff on April 10, 1995.

Published Works

Novels

• The Valley, The City, The Village (1956)
• The Learning Lark (1960)
• The Island of Apples (1965)

Poetry

• Poems (1939)
• The Dream of Jake Hopkins (1944)
• Selected Poems (1975)
• Selected Poems: fragments and fictions (1988)
• The Collected Poems of Glyn Jones (edited by Meic Stephens) (1996)

Short Stories

• The Blue Bed (1937)
• The Water Music and other stories (1944)
• Selected Short Stories (1971)
• Welsh Heirs (1977)
• The Collected Stories of Glyn Jones (edited and introduction by Tony Brown) (1999)

Translations

• The Saga of Llywarch the Old: a reconstruction by Glyn Jones with the verse and interludes (with T. J. Morgan) (1955)
• When the Rose Bush brings forth Apples (1981)
• Honeydew on the Wormwood: a further selection of old Welsh verses (1984)
• The Story of Heledd (with T. J. Morgan, edited by Jenny Morgan) (1994)
• A People’s Poetry: hen benillion (1997)

Criticism

• The Dragon Has Two Tongues (1968. Reprinted 2001)
• Profiles: a visitor’s guide to writing in twentieth century Wales (with John Rowlands) (1980)

Biography

• Tony Brown, ed., Collected Stories of Glyn Jones, University of Wales Press, 1999