William Glynne-Jones (1907–1977) was a Welsh fiction and children's writer, broadcaster and journalist. His stories were broadcast weekly on BBC '' Children's Hour''.

Early life and career

He was born and brought up in

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

and went to Llanelli Boys' County School. His love of literature and his childhood desire to be a writer was fed by the books read in Llanelli library. Glynne-Jones worked between the ages of 16 and 36 as a steel-foundry moulder at Glanmor Foundry. He would then type his writings in the evening. He was a fluent Welsh speaker, but suffered from a cleft palate and hare lip. He was released from the foundry on medical grounds in 1943. While his wife and son remained initially in Wales, he went to London to pursue an ambition to earn his living as a freelance writer and novelist. His stories for children and adults were broadcast weekly on Children's Hour and regularly on the mid-morning story hour by the BBC. His full name of William Glynne-Jones was necessary to distinguish him from other writers with similar names.

Writings and writers

Glynne-Jones wrote with fidelity and feeling about many aspects of life in industrial South Wales in the 1920s, notably the steel foundries and the Llanelli area. He addressed those who lived there and outsiders. His circle of literary friends, acquaintances, and correspondents included: Glyn Jones, Doris Lessing,

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, George Ewart Evans,

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(a first cousin), Gwyn Jones, Gwyn Thomas, Dylan Thomas, Brian Forbes,

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, Clifford Evans,

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and

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Bibliography

Glynne-Jones's published work includes four major novels, 12 books for children, Welsh short story collections and school readers for children. A full list of his published work appears here, but more remains in manuscript.

Novels

Short stories

*''Welsh Stories. He Who had Eaten of the Eagle'' (William Maclellan, 1948)

Children's books

School readers

*''The Golden Boy'' (Blackie & Son, 1951 – Kingfisher Books Third Series) *''If Pigs Had Wings'' (Blackie & Son 1954 – Kingfisher Books Third Series) *''The Buccaneers'' (Thomas Nelson – Nelson's Speedwell Readers) *''Yukon Gold'' (Tomas Nelson – Nelson's Speedwell Readers)

Magazine contributions

Awards and recognition

Glynne-Jones was awarded a £300 "Atlantic Award" for literature by the Rockefeller Foundation in 1946. He received medals from the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

in 1970, 1976 and 1979 for contributions to children's literature. He is also represented in the

De Grummond Children's Literature Collection The McCain Library and Archives is the chief reserve library for The University of Southern Mississippi. It houses the items in Southern Mississippi's possession that are not available for checkout. Besides being the archives, the building also h ...

. His name appears on the January 1982 '' National Geographic'' map of Novelists of the British Isles. He also features in the ''Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales'' and ''Author and Writers Who's Who''. In December 2015, a commemorative panel to Glynne-Jones was placed in the foyer of Llanelli Library, honouring his work as an author.

References

External sources

* (A short biography by his son and daughter in law) *''Llanelli Miscellany'' 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Glynne-Jones, William 1907 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Welsh writers People from Llanelli