List of Welsh women writers

This is a list of women writers who were born in Wales or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

A

  • Jane Aaron (born 1951), literature scholar, researcher and non-fiction writer
  • Jane Arden (1927–1982), film director, actress, screenwriter, playwright and poet
  • Tiffany Atkinson (born 1972), poet, educator
  • Trezza Azzopardi (born 1961), novelist and short story writer: The Hiding Place

B

  • Mary Balogh (born 1944), Welsh-Canadian historical novelist
  • Rachel Barrett (1874–1953), suffragette and newspaper editor
  • Anne Beale (1816–1900), popular novelist, poet and children's writer
  • Anna Maria Bennett (c. 1750–1808), novelist
  • Ruth Bidgood (1922–2022), poet
  • Emily Rose Bleby (1849-1917), non-fiction writer and temperance activist
  • Natasha Bowen, Nigerian Welsh novelist
  • Jane Brereton (1685–1740), poet and contributor to The Gentleman's Magazine
  • Rhoda Broughton (1840–1920), novelist and short story writer
  • Fanny Bulkeley-Owen (1845–1927), historian and author

C

  • Catrin ferch Gruffudd ap Hywel (fl. 1555), poet
  • Brenda Chamberlain (1912–1971), artist and poet
  • Grace Coddington (born 1941), fashion writer, director of Vogue, memoirist
  • Gillian Clarke (born 1937), poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster
  • Hafina Clwyd (1936–2011), educator and journalist
  • Jasmine Cresswell (born 1941), novelist

D

  • Fflur Dafydd (born 1978), novelist, playwright, poet and singer, in Welsh and English
  • Catherine Glyn Davies (1926–2007), historian and translator
  • Deborah Kay Davies, contemporary poet, novelist and educator
  • Margaret Davies (fl. 1700s), poet and scribe
  • Mary Davies (1846–1882), poet
  • Amy Dillwyn (1845–1935), novelist and industrialist

E

  • Dorothy Edwards (1903–1934), fiction writer
  • Fanny Winifred Edwards (1876–1959), children's author, dramatist and schoolteacher
  • Rhian Edwards (active from 2000s), poet
  • Sally El Hosaini (born 1976), British-Egyptian film director and screenwriter
  • Elen Egryn (1807–1897), Welsh-language poet
  • Menna Elfyn (born 1952), Welsh-language poet, playwright, columnist and editor
  • Christine Evans (born 1943), poet
  • Margiad Evans (1909–1958), poet and novelist

F

G

  • Menna Gallie (1919–1990), novelist and translator
  • Isabella Gifford (1825–1891), marine botanist
  • Annabel Giles (born 1950), broadcaster, novelist and actress
  • Beatrice Green (1894–1927), labour activist and feminist/socialist writer
  • Ann Griffiths (1776–1805), Welsh-language poet and hymn writer
  • Bethan Gwanas, pen name of Bethan Evans (born 1962), Welsh-language novelist and children's writer

H

  • Ann Hatton (1764–1838), (Ann of Swansea) English-language novelist
  • Myfanwy Haycock (1913–1963), poet, artist and broadcaster
  • Felicia Hemans (1793–1835), English-born Welsh poet writing in English
  • Ann Harriet Hughes (1852–1910), Welsh-language novelist and poet
  • Ellen Hughes (1867–1927), Welsh-language writer, poet and suffragist
  • Emily Huws (born 1942), Welsh-language children's writer

I

J

L

  • Eiluned Lewis (1900–1979), novelist, poet and journalist
  • Gwyneth Lewis (born 1959), Welsh-language poet, national poet of Wales, also in English
  • Martha Llwyd (1766–1845), poet and hymnist

M

  • Ruth Manning-Sanders (1886–1988), poet and children's writer
  • Ursula Masson (1945–2008), educator, literature researcher and non-fiction writer
  • Gwerful Mechain (15th century), Welsh-language poet
  • Nia Medi, since 2005, Welsh-language novelist and actress
  • Dorothy Miles (1931–1993), poet, in English and sign language
  • Moelona, pen name of Elizabeth Mary Jones (1877–1953), Welsh-language novelist, children's writer and translator
  • Jan Morris (born James Morris, 1926–2020), Welsh historian and travel writer
  • Ann Moray (1909–1981), novelist, short story writer and singer
  • Elaine Morgan (1920–2013), non-fiction writer on anthropology, playwright and columnist
  • Elena Puw Morgan (1900–1973), Welsh-language novelist and children's writer
  • Eluned Morgan (1870–1938), Welsh-language author from Patagonia, travel writer and non-fiction writer
  • Gwenllian Elizabeth Fanny Morgan (1852–1939), non-fiction writer and mayor
  • Penelope Mortimer (1918–1999), journalist, biographer and novelist
  • Wendy Mulford (born 1941), poet and feminist

N

O

  • Pixie O'Harris (1903–1991), Welsh-born Australian artist, poet, autobiographer and illustrator

P

R

S

  • Carole Seymour-Jones (born 1963), biographer, columnist and literary non-fiction writer
  • Norena Shopland author, historian in LGBTQ+ history and Welsh history
  • Dorothy Simpson (born 1933), mystery novelist and crime-fiction writer
  • Mari Strachan (born 1945), novelist and librarian
  • Jennifer Sullivan (born 1945), children's writer and critic
  • Rosie Swale-Pope (born 1946), non-fiction writer and marathon runner

T

V

  • Hilda Vaughan (1892–1985), fiction writer, playwright: The Invader

W

  • Jo Walton (born 1964), Welsh-Canadian romance and science fiction novelist: Tooth and Claw
  • Anna Laetitia Waring (1823–1910), poet and hymnist
  • Sarah Waters (born 1966), novelist: Fingersmith
  • Susie Wild (born 1979), novelist, journalist and editor
  • Sioned Wiliam (born 1962), novelist and broadcasting executive
  • Anna Williams (1706–1783), poet
  • Jane Williams (1806–1885), biographer and non-fiction writer

Y

  • Paula Yates (1959–2000), non-fiction writer and television presenter

See also

References

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Lists of women writers by nationality