If you’re interested in reading more fiction by Welsh authors, this list might give you some inspiration. It’s a mix of ‘classics’ and contemporary novels and short stories from across the decades and across genres. But is by no means an exhaustive list. If you think there is a key book missing, do let me know. I’d like to get the list to 100….
Just in case you were thinking I’ve made a huge mistake and left off How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn, it was a deliberate decision. Although Llewellyn’s parents were Welsh he was born in England – claims that he was born in the city of St David’s were disproved after his death.
Unknown Authors
The Mabinogian (14th century – authors unknown)
Nineteenth Century
Machen, Arthur: The Great God Pan (1890 – revised 1894)
Twentieth Century
The Withered Root, by Rhys Davies (1927)
Rhapsody by Dorothy Edwards (1927)
Winter by Dorothy Edwards (1928)
The Hill of Dreams by Arthur Machen (1907)
The Battle to the Weak by Hilda Vaughan (1925)
Cwmcardy by Lewis Jones (1930)
Glastonbury Romance, John Cowper Powys (1932)
Selected Stories, Rhys Davies (from 1930s republished 2018)
Turf or Stone, Margiad Evans (1934) Read 2020. Reviewed here.
Black Parade, Jack Jones (1935)
A Time to Laugh, Rhys Davies (1937) Read 2022. Reviewed here
We Live, Lewis Jones (1939)
Congratulate the Devil, Howell Davies (2008)
The Dark Philosophers, Gwyn Thomas (1946)
Off to Philadelphia in the Morning by Jack Jones (1947) Reviewed here.
The Alone to the Alone by Gwyn Thomas (1947) Reviewed here
Voices of the Children, George Ewart Evans (1947)
In the Green Tree, Alun Lewis (1948)
All Things Betray Thee, Gwyn Thomas (1949)
A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (1952)
Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (1953)
Song at the Year’s Turning by R. S. Thomas (1955)
The Valley, The City, The Village by Glyn Jones (1956)
A Toy Epic by Emyr Humphreys (1958)
Strike for a Kingdom, Menna Gallie (1959)
Border Country, Raymond Williams (1960)
Jampot Smith, Jeremy Brooks (1960)
One Moonless Night/Un Nos Ola Leuad, Caradog Pritchard (1961) Reviewed here
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
The Water-castle, Brenda Chamberlain (1964)
Flame and Slag, Ron Berry (1968)
The Elected Member by Bernice Rubens (1969) Reviewed here
So Long, Hector Bebb by Ron Berry (1970)
Dai Country, by Alun Richards (1973)
Home to an Empty House, by Alun Richards (1973)
I Sent a Letter to My Love, by Bernice Rubens (1975)
The Caves of Alienation, by Stuart Evans (1977)
A Kingdom, by James Hanley (1978)
The Volunteers, by Raymond Williams (1978)
Shifts by Christopher Meredith (1985)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (1986)
The Old Devils by Kingsley Amis (1986) Reviewed here
A Man’s Estate, Emyr Humphreys (1988)
Dat’s Love and Other Stories, Leonora Brito (1991
Twenty-First Century
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi (2000)
In and Out of the Goldfish Bowl, by Rachel Tresize (2000)
Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds (2001)
Strange Blood, by Lindsay Ashford (2006)
Gold by Dan Rhodes (2007)
The White Camelia by Juliet Greenwood (2016)
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies (2007) Brief review here
Resistance, Owen Sheers (2007)
Submarine by Joe Dunthorne (2008)
Last Bird Singing, Allan Bush (2008)
Back Home, Bethan Darwin (2009)
Blacklands by Belinda Bauer (2010) . Reviewed here
The Heyday in the Blood, Geraint Goodwin (2013)
The Aftermath by Rhidian Brook (2013)
Awakening by Stevie Davies (2013)
Significance, Jo Mazelis (2014)
The Long Dry by Cynan Jones. (2014). Reviewed here
The Dig by Cynan Jones (2015)
I Saw a Man by Owen Sheers (2015) Reviewed here
Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer (2015) Reviewed here
Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies (2015) Reviewed here
Wicked Game by Matt Johnson (2016) Reviewed here
Cove by Cynan Jones (2016) Reviewed here
Pigeon by Alys Conran (2016) Reviewed here
The White Camellia by Juliet Greenwood (2016) Reviewed here.
None So Blind, Alis Hawkins (2017). Reviewed here
Not Thomas, Sara Gethin (2017) Reviewed here
West by Carys Davies (2018) Reviewed here
The Woman In The Dark by Vanessa Savage Reviewed here
On the Red Hill: Where Four Lives Fell into Place by Mike Parker (2019)
The Mission House by Carys Davies (2021). Reviewed here
The Fortune Men by Nadia Mohamed (2021)