Saunders Lewis (John Saunders Lewis), (1893-1985), was a Welsh poet, dramatist, historian, literary critic and political activist. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist and founder of the Welsh National Party (later known as Plaid Cymru). Lewis is usually acknowledged to have been the most prominent figure in twentieth-century Welsh-lanaguage literature.

Life

Born into a Welsh family living in Cheshire in 1893, Lewis was studying English and French at Liverpool University when the First World War 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).

His experiences in World War I, and his sympathy for the cause of Irish independence, brought him to nationalism, and in 1925 he co-founded the Welsh National Party (to be known later as Plaid Cymru). He became its president in 1926 and remained so until 1939.

Lewis was the son and grandson of prominent Welsh Calvinistic Methodist ministers. In 1932, he converted to Roman Catholicism.

In 1936, along with Lewis Valentine and D. J. Williams, Lewis was involved in an arson attack on an air force base at Penyberth in northwest Wales for which he was imprisoned, losing his lecturing post as a result. The sequence of events raised his personal profile and that of Plaid Cymru. Until he was appointed a senior lecturer in Welsh at Cardiff in 1952 he supported himself through journalism, farming and teaching in schools.

After his retirement from teaching in 1957, he continued to express militant views. In 1962 he gave the Annual BBC Wales Radio lecture on the subject Tynged yr iaith (=The fate of the Welsh language) and as a result Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (=The Welsh Language Society) was formed to campaign for basic rights for Welsh speakers and for support to be given to enable the Welsh language to survive.

In 1970, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. His literary works include plays, poetry, novels and essays. He wrote mostly in Welsh, but he also wrote some works in English. By the time of his death in 1985 he was amongst the most celebrated of Welsh writers.

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), Siwan (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 Beckett's En attendant Godot into Welsh.

He also published two novels, Monica (1930) and Merch Gwern Hywel (=The daughter of Gwern Hywel) (1964), and two collections of poems. He also published 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 1854111957.
• Lewis, Saunders (1985-2002), The plays of Saunders Lewis. 4 vols. Translated by Joseph P. Clancy. ISBN 0954056949, 0715406485, 0954056957, 0715406523.
• Lewis, Saunders (1993), Selected poems. Translated by Jospeh P. Clancy. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0708311946.

Sources

• Griffiths, Bruce (1989), Saunders Lewis. Writers of Wales series. Cardiff : University of Wales Pres. ISBN 0708310494.
• Jones, Alun R. & Gwyn Thomas (Eds.) (1973), Presenting Saunders Lewis. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 070830852X.
• Jones, Harri Pritchard (1991), Saunders Lewis : a presentation of his work. Illinois : Templegate. ISBN 0872431878.
• 'Lewis, Saunders (1893-1985)'. In Meic Stephens (Ed.) (1998), The new companion to the literature of Wales. Cardiff : University of Wales Press. ISBN 0708313833.

External links

• Saunders Lewis and the "Tynged yr iaith" (=The fate of the Welsh language) lecture from the National Library of Wales website
• Saunders Lewis, 'The Banned Wireless Talk on Welsh Nationalism' (Caernarvon, 1930) from the Gathering the Jewels website.