Posted on 25 November 2011
Dorothy Edwards by Claire Flay (University of Wales Press)
Bringing to light previously unpublished material, the University of Wales Press will be launching Claire Flay’s new biography Dorothy Edwards on Friday, 25 November at 7pm in Ogmore Primary School, Ogmore Vale.
Dorothy Edwards is the first full-length critical literary study of the enigmatic author, who was born in the small mining valley of Ogmore Vale in 1903.
Combining close textual analysis with comprehensive biography, the book brings to light previously unpublished material, and considers Edwards’ work in the light of her views and experiences.
Flay argues that Edwards’ upbringing deeply influenced her perception of gender, class, and nationality, and ultimately led her to that creation of a small but fascinating body of work in her 1927 short-story collection Rhapsody and 1928 novel Winter Sonata, before her tragic suicide in 1934.
Professor Tony Brown of the School of English at Bangor University, said:
“A full appreciation of the achievement of Dorothy Edwards in her fiction has only recently begun to emerge and Claire Flay’s study—the first book-length critical biography—is a major contribution to our understanding of this subtle and remarkable writer.
“Drawing extensively and perceptively from newly-available manuscript material, Claire Flay thoughtfully demonstrates how Edwards draws on her inner personal tensions—her sense of female marginalization, her lonely search for love, her struggle to define the nature of her Welsh identity—to create her unique fictional world.
“Hers is a genuinely Modern voice.”
Claire Flay holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Glamorgan. She has recently edited and introduced Dorothy Edwards’ 1928 novel, Winter Sonata, in the Honno Classics series, which will also be launched at the event.
The Ogmore Valley Local History and Heritage Society - an active group of historians based in the community in which Dorothy Edwards was born and raised - will host the event as part of its annual journal launch. RSVP to
cflay@glam.ac.uk.
/Ends
Notes to Editors:
Dorothy Edwards by Claire Flay £16.99 | PB| 9780708324400 | 216x138 mm | 164pp
For more information on the University of Wales Press visit:
www.uwp.co.uk The University of Wales has decided to merge with the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David and Swansea Metropolitan University. The unified institution will be merged under the historic 1828 Royal Charter of the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David. This is a historic decision and offers the transformed University the opportunity to continue to serve higher education both within a Welsh and international context. It is envisaged that the three institutions will have integrated by 1 August 2012.
For press and media information, please contact Tom Barrett, Communications Officer, University of Wales:
t.barrett@wales.ac.uk