Welsh-language literature tells a local, but universal story

With a relatively small audience, Welsh writing is nonetheless full of energy and invention – and grappling with cultural questions that we all face, writes the next national poet of Wales

We live in a world of plural identities – and Wales is no exception. I live in Caernarfon. The young man who runs the mobile phone shop is Indian, the guy from the Baptist church is from Tennessee, my children’s swimming instructor was Chinese. But what makes this different to other parts of Britain is that we all speak Welsh.

So, the first and most obvious thing to say about Welsh literary identity is that it’s mediated through two languages. Readers of this site will undoubtedly be familiar with Dylan Thomas and RS Thomas, Gillian Clarke and Owen Sheers. They are less likely to be familiar with the works of Caradog Prichard, Caryl Lewis or Menna Elfyn.

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