The Dragon Has Two Tongues : Essays on Anglo-Welsh Writers and Writing

First published in 1968, The Dragon has Two Tongues was the first book-length study of the English-language literature of Wales. Written by one of Wales’s major English-language writers of fiction and poetry, it includes chapters dealing with the work of Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies, all of whom Glyn Jones knew personally.This first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with the shrewdness of Glyn Jones’s critical comments, established The Dragon Has Two Tongues as an invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. At the same time, it contains Glyn Jones’s own autobiographical reflections on his life and literary career, his loss and rediscovery of the Welsh language, and the cultural shifts which resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century.Although a classic study, The Dragon Has Two Tongues has long been out-of-print. Tony Brown had the opportunity to discuss the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 and has had access to Glyn Jones’s own proposed revisions and to manuscript drafts. This first paperback edition therefore includes some updating of the text and a new bibliography. The classic study of the English-language writing of Wales in the first half of the twentieth century by Glyn Jones, drawing on his personal acquaintance with writers like Dylan Thomas, Idris Davies and Caradoc Evans. Tony Brown had the opportunity to discuss the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 and has had access to Glyn Jones's own proposed revisions and to manuscript drafts. This first paperback edition therefore includes some up-dating of the text and a new bibliography. Glyn Jones's first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with his shrewdness of critical comments, established the book as an invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. At the same time the autobiographical, first chapter in which Glyn Jones examines his own life and literary career - the boy who goes from a Welsh-speaking home in Merthyr, loses his Welsh as a result of his English-language education and cultural changes in industrial Merthyr, takes a job teaching in the slums of Cardiff, re-discovers as an adult the Welsh language and its rich literary tradition and becomes, in a full awareness of that tradition, one of Wales's major English-language writers of fiction and poetry - provides a "case study" of the cultural shifts which resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century. "First published in 1968, The Dragon Has Two Tongues was the first book-length study of the English-language literature of Wales. Written by one of Wales's major English-language writers of fiction and poetry, it includes chapters dealing with the work of Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies, all of whom Glyn Jones knew personally." "This first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with the shrewdness of Glyn Jones's critical comments, established The Dragon Has Two Tongues as an invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. At the same time, it contains Glyn Jones's own autobiographical reflections on his life and literary career, his loss and rediscovery of the Welsh language, and the cultural shifts which resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century." "Although a classic study, The Dragon Has Two Tongues has long been out of print. Tony Brown had the opportunity to discuss the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 and has had access to Glyn Jones's own proposed revisions and to manuscript drafts. This first paperback edition therefore included some updating of the text and a new bibliography."--BOOK JACKET First published in 1968, The Dragon has Two Tongues was the first book-length study of the English-language literature of Wales. Written by one of Waless major English-language writers of fiction and poetry, it includes chapters dealing with the work of Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies, all of whom Glyn Jones knew personally. This first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with the shrewdness of Glyn Joness critical comments, established The Dragon Has Two Tongues as an invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. At the same time, it contains Glyn Joness own autobiographical reflections on his life and literary career, his loss and rediscovery of the Welsh language, and the cultural shifts which resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century. Although a classic study, The Dragon Has Two Tongues has long been out-of-print. Tony Brown had the opportunity to discuss the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 and has had access to Glyn Joness own proposed revisions and to manuscript drafts. This first paperback edition therefore includes some updating of the text and a new bibliography. First published in 1968, The Dragon Has Two Tongues was the first book-length study of the English-language literature of Wales. Glyn Jones (1905–95) was one of Wales's major English-language writers of fiction and poetry, and the book includes chapters dealing with the work of Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies, all of whom the author knew personally. This first-hand knowledge of the writers, coupled with the shrewdness of Glyn Jones's critical comments, established The Dragon Has Two Tongues as a classic and invaluable study of this generation of Welsh writers. It also contains Glyn Jones's own autobiographical reflections on his life and literary career, his loss and rediscovery of the Welsh language, and the cultural shifts that resulted in the emergence of a distinctive English-language literature in Wales in the early decades of the twentieth century. This edition of The Dragon Has Two Tongues was edited by Tony Brown, who discussed the book with Glyn Jones before his death in 1995 with unique access to the author's proposed revisions and manuscript drafts, and it was first published by the University of Wales Press in 2001. Contents 8 Preface to revised edition 10 Acknowledgements 12 Editor’s acknowledgements for the revised edition 13 Introduction 14 I: Letter to Keidrych 34 II: Autobiography 38 III: Background 70 IV: Introduction to short stories and novels 79 V: Three prose writers 93 VI: Introduction to poetry 150 VII: Three poets 164 VIII: Conclusion 225 Notes 230 Bibliography 244 Index 253 A 253 B 253 C 253 D 253 E 254 F 254 G 254 H 254 I 255 J 255 K 255 L 255 M 255 N 256 O 256 P 256 R 256 S 256 T 257 U 257 V 257 W 257 Y 257 Z 257 First published in 1968, this text is a comprehensive study of the English-language literature of Wales, and contains chapters on several of the main writers, including Dylan Thomas, Caradoc Evans, Jack Jones, Gwyn Thomas and Idris Davies. By Glyn Jones. Originally Published: London : Dent, 1968. Includes Bibliography And Index.