Product Description

At his death in 2000, R. S. Thomas was widely considered to be one of the major poets of the English-speaking world, having been nominated for the Nobel prize for Literature. An outspoken Welsh nationalist, he was also priest in the Church of Wales for many years, and his later work is thought of as some of the late twentieth-century's outstanding religious poetry. It expresses the anguish and difficulty of faith and the search for God in a seemingly godless contemporary world. Tony Brown provides an introduction to R. S. Thomas's life and work, as well as new perspectives and insights for those already familiar with the poetry. His approach is broadly chronological, interweaving life and work in order to evaluate Thomas's poetic achievement. In addition to presenting a full discussion of Thomas's poetry, and its movements over time between personal, spiritual and political concerns, Tony Brown also examines Thomas's contribution to the culture of Wales, not just in his writing but also his political interventions and activism on behalf of Welsh language and culture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #654177 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 120 pages

Review
"This is a very welcome addition to the splendid 'Writers of Wales' series and is a valuable contribution to the ever-growing canon of critical works in the field of Welsh writing in English. Tony Brown has produced a book which all admirers of R. S. Thomas's work should read. I shall keep it on my shelves next to the Collected Poems." Gwales "An expanded and updated introduction to the poet is urgently needed. In this new Writers of Wales study, Tony Brown, an established critic of modern Welsh writing in English, meets that need with a focused and engaged overview of Thomas's life and work." "Brown shows a thorough knowledge of scholarly work on Thomas." David Lloyd, Planet, Issue 181

Publisher Comments
Part of the Writers of Wales series, which includes Roland Mathias (0708312853), James Kitchener Davies (0708317243), and Dylan Thomas (708310664)

About the Author
Tony Brown is Senior Lecturer in English, Director of the Humanities Research Centre and co-Director of the R. S. Thomas Study Centre at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has edited many books including The Collected Stories of Glyn Jones (UWP, 1999) and Glyn Jones's The Dragon Has Two Tongues (UWP 2001)