New Companion to the Literature of Wales

by Meic Stephens (Editor)

Wales, though a small country, has a literature among the oldest in Europe. The New Companion is an essential reference guide to its literature, whether in Welsh or in English, and to Wale's history and culture. It spans the period from the sixth century to the present, from early heroic poetry and the medieval Arthurian tales to the flowering of Welsh national consciousness in the late twentieth century. The individual entries contain a wealth of information about writers and their work, and taken as a whole present a panorama of Welsh society over the centuries. Among the subjects treated are books and periodicals, the principal genres, the complexities of Welsh prosody, myth, legend, and folklore, names of places and people with literary associations, and events, movements and institutions which have a literary dimension. There is also a chronology of the history of Wales, and an appendix listing the winners of the main literary prizes at the National Eisteddfod since 1861, together with the festival's annual location.

841 pages, Hardcover

First published September 23, 1998

About the author

Meic Stephens (1938-2018) was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator and poet.