Amongst the collections at the Richard Burton Archives are novels, short stories, poetry and dramatic works for radio, stage and television by various authors.
Literature in the Archives
Novels, Short Stories, Poetry and Drama
Novels - Raymond Williams, Ron Berry, B L Coombes, Alun Richards ...
Amongst the collections at the Richard Burton Archives are novels by various authors. This guide gives an overview of the authors together with the titles of some of the texts held within the collections.
- Ron Berry (WWE/1)
Ronald Anthony [Ron] Berry (1920–1997) was born and brought up in Blaen-cwm, in the valley of the Rhondda Fawr, Glamorgan. He had a variety of jobs during his life including mining, military service and boxing. Chronic ill health prevented him from finding regular work but he began to write essays, stories and poems. His first novel was 'Hunters and Hunted' (1960), and other works followed.
The collection includes published and unpublished novels such as 'Flame and Slag', 'Hunters and Hunted', 'So Long, Hector Bebb', 'The Full Time Amateur', 'This Bygone', 'Travelling Loaded', 'Below Lord’s Head Mountain', 'Jonesy Makes Connections' and 'More Guts Than Sense'.
- Raymond Williams (WWE/2)
Raymond Henry Williams (1921–1988) is known as a literary scholar and novelist, but also wrote a number of short stories. He attended King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny, and later read English at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the no. 21 anti-tank regiment during World War Two. He taught as a staff tutor of the Oxford University extra-mural delegacy (1946–61) and later returned to Cambridge. He wrote prolifically and his output included academic works, fiction and book reviews, as well as writing for The Listener. His debut novel was 'Border Country' (1960)
The collection includes 'Border Country' and the associated 'Border Village' as well as 'The Fight for Manod', 'The Volunteers', 'The Grasshoppers' and 'People of the Black Mountains'.
- B L Coombes (SWCC/MND/14)
Bertie Lewis Coombes Griffiths (1893-1974) was born in Wolverhampton, brought up in Herefordshire, but later moved to South Wales. Before World War 1 he worked in the mines. In his 40s he turned to writing and was a protégé of John Lehmann. Coombes’ works were responses to events and attitudes, he became a self appointed guardian of the truth about the mining industry and communities. The social, political, cultural and industrial context in which he was living must be understood to understand his writings and their impact and significance. The works he is best known for are 'These Poor Hands: The Autobiography of a Miner Working in South Wales' (1939), 'These Clouded Hills' (1944), and 'Miners Day' (1945).
The collection includes 'The Singing Sycamore' and 'Castell Vale' together with many short stories.
- Alun Richards (WWE/4)
Alun Morgan Richards (1929-2004) was a prolific and professional writer whose work included television dramatisations, novels, short stories, plays, and pieces for radio. Before taking up writing full time he served in the Royal Navy and worked as a teacher in Cardiff and a probation officer in London. His work was particularly connected to the non-Welsh speaking south Wales and to maritime themes.
The collection includes text for the maritime novels 'Ennal’s Point' and 'Barque Whisper'.
The above provides a brief introduction to the texts of novels, published and unpublished, held in the Archives. If you are interested in finding out more about these items, or the literary and other collections that we hold please contact us.
Short Stories - Ron Berry, B L Coombes, Raymond Williams ...
Amongst the collections at the Richard Burton Archives are numerous short stories by various authors; the majority of these short stories are in English. This guide gives an overview of the authors together with the titles of some of the short stories held within the collections.
• Ron Berry (WWE/1)
Ronald Anthony [Ron] Berry (1920–1997) was born and brought up in Blaen-cwm, in the valley of the Rhondda Fawr, Glamorgan. He had a variety of jobs during his life including mining, military service and boxing. Chronic ill health prevented him from finding regular work but he began to write essays, stories and poems. A selection of his short stories within Collected Stories (2000), edited by Simon Baker were published posthumously.
The collection includes: ‘A Hero of 1938’, ‘Comrades in Arms’, ‘Spoils of Circumstance’, ‘The Foxhunters’, ‘Routes from Roots’, ‘Natives and Exiles’, ‘On Maintenance’, ‘Sarah-fach’, ‘The Disabled’ and others.
• B L Coombes (SWCC/MND/14)
Bertie Lewis Coombes Griffiths (1893-1974) was born in Wolverhampton, brought up in Herefordshire, but later moved to South Wales. Before World War 1 he worked in the mines. In his 40s he turned to writing and was a protégé of John Lehmann. Coombes’ works were responses to events and attitudes, he became a self appointed guardian of the truth about the mining industry and communities. The social, political, cultural and industrial context in which he was living must be understood to understand his writings and their impact and significance.
The collection includes: ‘The Opening Door’, ‘The Watch’, ‘The Inheritance’, ‘Always’, ‘The Stranger’, ‘Atmospherics’ and ‘I Saw the Headless Horseman’.
• Alun Richards (WWE/4)
Alun Morgan Richards (1929-2004) was a prolific and professional writer whose work included television dramatisations, novels, short stories, plays, and pieces for radio. Before taking up writing full time he served in the Royal Navy and worked as a teacher in Cardiff and a probation officer in London. His work was particularly connected to a non-Welsh speaking south Wales and to maritime themes. His collection of short stories Dai Country and The Former Miss Merthyr Tydfil (1979) are considered some of his finest work.
The collection includes: recordings of ‘The Former Miss Merthyr Tydfil’, ‘Going to the Flames’, ‘Dream Girl’, ‘Fly Half’, and ‘The Monument’; typescripts for ‘The Bass’, ‘The Girls in their Winter Woollies’, ‘Stop press’ and ‘A Short and Troubled History of One’s Life and Times’.
• John Wade (SWCC/MNB/PP/22)
The short stories about life in the coalfields of Wales by John Wade of Sutton, Surrey, are held within the Harold Finch collection. Harold Josiah Finch (1898-1979) was active within the mining and political worlds of south Wales. He was Labour MP for Bedwellty (1950-1970), and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Welsh Office (1964-1966) and the opposition spokesman on Fuel and Power (1959-1960). He was knighted in 1976.
The collection includes: ‘Body and Soul’, ‘Bones and Widows’ and ‘Nat o’ the Glen’.
• D G and Islwyn Williams (SWCC/MNC/PP/29)
D G Williams was a writer in Welsh of plays and short stories during the mid twentieth century.
Islwyn Williams (1903-1957) was educated at Trinity College, Carmarthen and wrote in a dialect form of the Swansea Valley. His two famous short story volumes are Cap Wil Tomos (1946) and Storiau a Portreadau (1954). Many of his plays and short stories were written for radio broadcast.
The collection includes: ‘Y Potsier’ and ‘Saron’ by DG Williams; and ‘Rhaglunieth’ by Islwyn Williams.
• Raymond Williams (WWE/2)
Raymond Henry Williams (1921–1988) is known as a literary scholar and novelist, but also wrote a number of short stories. He attended King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny, and later read English at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the no. 21 anti-tank regiment during World War Two. He taught as a staff tutor of the Oxford University extra-mural delegacy (1946–61) and later returned to Cambridge. He wrote prolifically and his output included academic works, fiction and book reviews, as well as writing for The Listener.
The collection includes: ‘Red Earth’, ‘I Live Through the War’, ‘The Writing on the Wall’, ‘The Liberation’, ‘While Men Worked’, and others.
The above provides a brief introduction to the short stories held in the Archives. If you are interested in finding out more about these items, or the literary and other collections that we hold please contact us.
Poetry - Vernon Watkins, Raymond Williams, Ron Berry ...
Amongst the collections at the Richard Burton Archives are a selection of poems by various authors; the majority of these are in English. This guide gives an overview of the authors together with the titles of some of the poems held within the collections.
- Ron Berry (WWE/1)
Ronald Anthony[Ron] Berry (1920–1997) was born and brought up in Blaen-cwm, in the valley of the Rhondda Fawr, Glamorgan. He had a variety of jobs during his life but chronic ill health prevented him from finding regular work. His first novel was Hunters and Hunted (1960), and other works followed including Peregrine Watching (1987).
The collection includes drafts of ‘Child, Mother, Father’ and ‘The Breaking in the Making: Sample One’ as well as a typescript of a poem by Kenneth Rexroth, ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill: a memorial to Dylan Thomas’.
- D G and Islwyn Williams (SWCC/MNC/PP/29)
The collection includes a poem by Islwyn Williams entitled ‘Y Beddau a Wlych y Glaw’.
- Raymond Williams (WWE/2)
Raymond Henry Williams (1921–1988) is known as a literary scholar and novelist, but also wrote a number of short stories. He attended King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny, and later read English at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the no. 21 anti-tank regiment during World War Two. He taught as a staff tutor of the Oxford University extra-mural delegacy (1946–61) and later returned to Cambridge. He wrote prolifically and his output included academic works, fiction and book reviews.
The collection includes ‘Dance of the Prospectuses’, ‘Ederyn’s Song’, ‘Nijmegen Bridge’, ‘On first looking in “New Lines”, and ‘The Vision’ for Wolf Mankowitz, together with untitled poems.
- Vernon Watkins (LAC/120)
Vernon Watkins (1906-1967) was an internationally renowned poet and a lecturer at the University College Swansea (Calouste Gulbenkian Fellow in Poetry). He was friends with Dylan Thomas. Together with his family Vernon Watkins moved out to the USA when he was made Visiting Lecturer on Modern Poetry, University of Washington in 1967.
The collection includes correspondence with Neville Masterman about the translation of a poetry, such as ‘Revolution’ by the Hungarian poet Sandor Petofi, and a transcript of comic verse by Vernon Watkins "A Survey of the German Romantic Movement" - satirizing Kant, Goethe, Schopenhauer, Heine, Lessing, Beethoven, etc.
The above provides a brief introduction to the poetry held in the Archives. If you are interested in finding out more about these items, or the literary and other collections that we hold please contact us.
Drama - Elaine Morgan, Ron Berry, Raymond Williams ...
Amongst the collections at the Richard Burton Archives are a selection of plays for stage, radio and television by various authors; the majority of these are in English. This guide gives an overview of a selection of the authors together with the titles of some of the dramas held within the collections.
- Ron Berry (WWE/1)
Ronald Anthony[Ron] Berry (1920–1997) was born and brought up in Blaen-cwm, in the valley of the Rhondda Fawr, Glamorgan. He had a variety of jobs during his life but chronic ill health prevented him from finding regular work. His first novel was Hunters and Hunted (1960), and other works followed including Peregrine Watching (1987), about the return to the Rhondda of the peregrine falcon.
The collection includes versions of ‘But Now They Are Fled’ and ‘Death of a Dog’, ‘Everybody Loves Saturday Night’, ‘Merrily, Merrily, Merrily Shall I Live’, ‘Uncle Rollo’ and ‘Where Darts the Gar, Where Floats the Wrack’ as well as other plays.
- D G and Islwyn Williams (SWCC/MNC/PP/29)
The collection includes three copies of untitled plays.
- Raymond Williams (WWE/2)
Raymond Henry Williams (1921–1988) is known as a literary scholar and novelist, but also wrote a number of short stories. He attended King Henry VIII Grammar School, Abergavenny, and later read English at Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the no. 21 anti-tank regiment during World War Two. He taught as a staff tutor of the Oxford University extra-mural delegacy (1946–61) and later returned to Cambridge. He wrote prolifically and his output included academic works, fiction and book reviews.
The collection includes ‘King Macbeth’, ‘KOBA’ (written as part of ‘Modern Tragedy’), ‘Liberation’, ‘Public Enquiry’, and ‘Revolt in Rome’, as well as untitled works.
- William Henry Harris (SWCC/MNA/PP/42)
The collection includes ‘Squire Hay’, ‘Arransmeyer’, ‘The Story I Shall Tell My Son’, ‘The White Slaves of England’, ‘Paul Colette’ and ‘Jane Douglas’.
- Elaine Morgan (WWE/3)
Elaine Morgan (1920-2013) studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and went on to have a long and varied career as a writer. In the 1950s she won a writing competition in Statesman and from that point she began regularly producing various writings and later joined the BBC when they began to produce her plays. As well as the screenplays for numerous well known dramas and adaptations for television, she was also known for her writing on biological anthropology as well as newspaper columns. She received numerous awards, including two BAFTAs, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2009 she received the OBE in 2009 for services to literature and education.
The collection includes ‘Dr Finlay’s Casebook’, ‘Marie Curie’, ‘Lil’, ‘Lloyd George’, as well as many other titles written or adapted by Elaine Morgan.
- Theatre Collection (LAC/106)
The collection contains items from the 18th century to 1890 and relates to Swansea Little Theatre, the University of Wales Swansea, the theatre in London, provincial theatres, 'The Portable Theatre', television productions, as well as miscellaneous items.
The collection includes ‘The Last Dread Penalty’ by W J Mackay (with a licence from the Lord Chamberlain for the production), as well as ‘No Trams to Lime Street’ and ‘A Little Winter Love’ by Alun Owen.
The above provides a brief introduction to the plays held in the Archives. If you are interested in finding out more about these items, or the literary and other collections that we hold please contact us.