''My People'' is a collection of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

Caradoc Evans David Caradoc Evans (31 December 1878 – 11 January 1945), was a Welsh story writer, novelist and playwright. Biography Evans was brought up in a Welsh-speaking community in Rhydlewis, Cardiganshire, and although he learned English at school ...

, first published in 1915 by

Andrew Melrose Andrew Melrose (5 February 1860 - 6 November 1928''The Times'' obituary; 7 November 1928) was a British publisher. Although he was noted for publishing theological works, he was also active in promoting new fiction, and offered a substantial ca ...

and highly controversial at the time. It is subtitled ''Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales'', and has been described as the first work of modern

Anglo-Welsh literature Welsh writing in English ( Welsh: ''Llenyddiaeth Gymreig yn Saesneg''), (previously Anglo-Welsh literature) is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers. The term ‘Anglo-Welsh’ replaced an earlier atte ...

. The work has been compared with

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

's '' Winesburg, Ohio'',

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writ ...

'' (which came out a year earlier although after the text of ''My People'' had been completed and submitted to - and rejected by - Stanley Unwin), and ''

The House with the Green Shutters ''The House with the Green Shutters'' is a novel by the Scottish writer George Douglas Brown, first published in 1901 by John MacQueen. Set in mid-19th century Ayrshire, in the fictitious town of Barbie which is based on his native Ochiltree, ...

'' by George Douglas Brown. In its context of early 20th century

Nonconformism Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

, the book was designed to shock, and there was even a move to ban it. Biblical language is used (Evans having learned English largely from this source) in stories where meanness and violence figure prominently. The '' Western Mail'' commented that its author "would appear to have raked in the garbage of the countryside for his characters." Many Welsh readers considered it a betrayal of their homeland.

References

External links

* Welsh short stories British short story collections 1915 short story collections {{1910s-story-collection-stub