Questions of Identity

I’m writing a biography of a woman routinely described as Welsh and sometimes, more specifically, Cardiff – as in ‘Cardiff girl’, ‘Cardiff actress’ etc. To be fair, she has also, occasionally, been described as Irish – but my point is, she is rarely identified by the nationality she actually holds. She is now seventy-five years old and a full sixty-nine of those years have been spent outside Wales – including the first fourteen of her life.

This makes me think long and hard about what qualifies you (aside of the Vinnie Jones rule) to be claimed as Welsh.

For instance, at the other end of the spectrum is the distinguished writer Penelope Mortimer who was born in Rhyl, yet doesn’t merit an entry in either the New Companion to the Literature of Wales or in the Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales. She does, however, make the following appearance in the Oxford Companion to English Literature: ‘MORTIMER, Penelope Ruth, nee Fletcher (1918...) novelist, born in North Wales and educated at London University; her works, with their emphasis on frankness about female experience, contributed to the development of the woman’s novel in the 1960s.’

Her career as a writer was actually far broader than this entry suggests; as well as publishing nine novels, a collection of short stories, two volumes of autobiography, a travel book and (bizarrely) a biography of the Queen Mother, she was also film critic for the Observer, an Agony Aunt for the Daily Mail and adapted Nigel Nicholson’s, Portrait of A Marriage, for the BBC in 1990. With her then husband, John Mortimer, she wrote the screenplay for the Otto Preminger film Bunny Lake is Missing and, in 1974, The New Yorker printed her novel Long Distance in its entirety – the first time they had done so since J. D. Salinger’s Raise High The Roofbeam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction a decade earlier. Hard to know then, given all that, why she has been wiped from the Welsh literary canon...

She, of course, may not have identified herself as ‘Welsh’ and she certainly didn’t set any of her novels here. She did, however, write about her childhood in Rhyl and the clergyman father who had lost his faith and used the parish magazine to celebrate the Soviet persecution of the Russian church. She also wrote about the universal experiences of women in the post-war world of illegal abortions, illicit affairs and paralysing marriages – experiences which were as familiar to Welsh women as they were to their English and Scottish counterparts. It’s ten years ago last month since Mortimer died – time perhaps to acknowledge her existence?

Sarah Broughton

Arthur Giardelli

Celebrated artist Arthur Giardelli has died at the age of 98. David Moore's obituary in the Guardian outlines his life and career here.

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New Welsh Review - Issue 86 - Coming soon

Issue 86 will be published later this month. This quarter, enjoy the work of Glyn Maxwell, Tristan Hughes, Gwyneth Lewis, Jon Gower, Kona Macphee, Stevie Davies, Tiffany Murray and Jim Perrin, among others. Available in selected fine bookshops or, alternatively, subscribe by visiting and get Wales's finest literary quarterly delivered directly to your door.

Patrick Hannan, Broadcaster and Journalist, 1941-2009

The great Welsh broadcaster and journalist Patrick Hannan sadly died on October 11th. An obituary can be found here.

His most recent book, A Useful Fiction: Adventures in British Democracy, was published in May of this year.

This issue's Prize Draw

This issue's prize draw is Welsh Furniture 1250-1950. A sumptuous two-volume work from Saer Books covers a cultural history of craftsmanship and design from the perspective of Welsh furniture.

Beautifully illustrated throughout and meticulously researched, subjects range from chairs, chests and cradles to church screens, clocks and the Welsh dresser. This comprehensive study is by Richard Bebb, the recognised authority on the subject. The book is the result of sixteen years’ worth of research, and attempts to explain furniture history to those who have an interest in all things Welsh, and Welsh culture and history to those interested in furniture.

This unique and lovely work is worth £150.

The prize is open to New Welsh Review subscribers. To enter, simply email admin@newwelshreview, or write or phone, by the closing date of November 27th, and the book could be yours. Good luck!