Gwyn Thomas was born, the last of twelve children, into a Rhondda mining
family in 1913. After a childhood marked by the strikes of the 1920s, he
went off to study Spanish at Oxford University and in Madrid, where he
met the poet Federico García Lorca and witnessed the turmoil which would
lead to the Spanish Civil War. On his return, amidst the economic mire
of the 1930s and his own burgeoning teaching career in Barry in the
1940s, he picked up his pen and began to write. For more than forty
years, until his death in 1981, as novelist, screenwriter, master of the
short story, and prizewinning playwright, Gwyn Thomas delivered
compelling and comedic portraits of his world of South Wales. His
creative genius earned enduring fame on both sides of the Atlantic and
on both sides of the European Cold War divide. As a provocative and
insightful broadcaster, he embraced the possibilities of radio and
television, whilst leaving his hosts and guests alike in fits of knowing
laughter. This landmark biography, enriched with unrivalled access to
private papers and international archives, tells the remarkable story of
one of modern Wales's greatest literary voices.
