Gwyn Thomas (1913 – 1981) was a writer, dramatist, Punch-columnist, radio broadcaster and raconteur, who has been called “the true voice of the English-speaking valleys”. Born in Cymmer, Porth, the youngest of twelve children, his mother died when he was aged six, he was brought up by his sister, often with handouts from the local soup kitchen. After winning a scholarship, Thomas studied Spanish at the University of Oxford. He started writing during the depression and took teaching jobs to survive. A prolific writer his work has been produced by the BBC and in 1993 Anthony Hopkins starred as Thomas in Selected Exits, a TV production about his life.
Novels
- The Dark Philosophers (1946)
- The Alone to The Alone (1947)
- All Things Betray Thee (1949)
- The World Cannot Hear You (1951)
- Now Lead Us Home (1951)
- A Frost on My Frolic (1953)
- The Stranger at My Side (1954)
- A Point of Order (1956)
- The Love Man (1958)
- Sorrow For Thy Sons (1986) [written 1936]
- The Thinker and the Thrush (1988) [written 1949]
Short Stories
- Where Did I Put My Pity? (1946)
- Gazooka and Other Stories (1957)
- Ring Delirium 123 (1960)
- A Welsh Eye (1964) (with drawings by John Dd. Evans; new edition 1984)
- The Lust Lobby (1971)
- The Sky of our Lives (1972)
- Selected Short Stories (1984) [new editions 1988, 1995]
- Meadow Prospect Revisited (1992)
Plays
- The Keep (1962)
- Sap (1974)
- The Breakers (1976)
- Three Plays (1990) [The Keep, Loud Organs, Jackie The Jumper]
Misc
- A Hatful of Humours (1965) [essays]
- A Few Selected Exits (1968) [autobiography; new editions 1985, 1993]
- High on Hope (1985) [journalism]