Elena Puw Morgan Explained

Elena Puw Morgan
Birth Name:Elena Puw Davies
Birth Date:1900
Birth Place:Corwen, Wales
Death Place:Corwen, Wales
Known For:winning Literary Medal at Cardiff National Eisteddfod, 1938
Nationality:Welsh

Elena Puw Morgan (1900–1973, née Davies) was a Welsh writer. She became the first woman to win the Literary Medal at the National Eisteddfod, with the novel Y Graith (The Scar) in 1938. In addition to novels for an adult audience, Morgan published Welsh-language children's books.

Early life

Elena Puw Davies was born in 1900, the daughter of Lewis Davies and Kate Davies. Her father was a minister at the town's Independent chapel. She lived her life in Corwen in Wales.[1]

Career

Morgan won the Literary Medal at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff in 1938, for her short novel Y Graith,[2] as the first woman to be given this honour.[3] Y Graiths heroine struggles with cruelty and poverty at the start of the 20th century. Another novel by Morgan, Y Wisg Sidan (The Silk Gown), was voted Best Welsh Book of 1939 by readers of the Western Mail.[4]

Morgan produced some children's books in Welsh in the 1930s,[5] including Angel y Llongau Hedd (1931) and Tan y Castell (1939). She also wrote stories for the magazine Cymru'r Plant.[6]

Two of Morgan's novels, Y Wisg Sidan and Y Graith, were adapted for television. Y Graith was updated by her daughter Catrin Puw Davies and republished in 2000.[7] Another novel, Nansi Lovell: Hunangofiant Hen Sipsi, about a Welsh Romani girl, was republished by Honno Press in 2018.[8]

Personal life and legacy

Elena Puw Davies married a tailor and poet, John Morgan of Llangadfan, in 1931. The Morgans were friends with John Cowper Powys in Corwen.[9]

Elena Puw Morgan died in 1973. Her granddaughters are Prof. Angharad Puw Davies and Prof. Mererid Puw Davies.[10] [11] She was featured in a display at the Corwen Museum in 2020.[12] Morgan's letters are in various collections at the National Library of Wales.[13] [14] [15]

Selected bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Novelist EP Morgan's family shop, Corwen . History Points . 2020-03-23.
  2. Book: Edwards, Hywel Teifi . The Eisteddfod . 2016-07-20 . University of Wales Press . 978-1-78316-914-6. en.
  3. Book: Stephens, Meic . Cydymaith i lenyddiaeth Cymru/The New Companion to the Literature of Wales . 1998 . University of Wales Press . 978-0-7083-1383-1 . 841 . en.
  4. News: Best Welsh Books of 1939 . 1940-03-10 . The Observer . 2020-03-23 . 7 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Koch, John T. . The Celts: History, Life, and Culture. 2012-08-08 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1-59884-964-6 . 793, 796 . en.
  6. Book: Gymreig, Academi . The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales . 2008 . University of Wales Press . 978-0-7083-1953-6 . 570 . en.
  7. Book: Morgan, Elena Puw . Y graith . 1999 . Gwasg Gomer . 978-1-85902-745-5 . cy.
  8. Book: Morgan, Elena Puw . Nansi Lovell: Hunangofiant Hen Sipsi . 2018 . 978-1-909983-92-2 . Dinas Powys . 1048621684.
  9. Book: Powys, John Cowper . John Cowper Powys-letters, 1937–54 . 1974 . University of Wales Press . 978-0-7083-0551-5 . 10 . en.
  10. Web site: Elena Puw Morgan – a writer ahead of her time Elena Puw Morgan – awdures leol o flaen ei hoes . Events, Swansea University . 2020-03-23.
  11. Web site: The June Gruffydd Memorial Lecture: 'The Novelist Elena Puw Morgan - Rethinking Modernism' . Wales Week London . en . 2020-03-23.
  12. Web site: Corwen Museum Open Weekend Saturday 29th February and Sunday 1st March . Watkins . Lindsay . 8 February 2020. Amgueddfa Corwen Museum . en-US . 2020-03-23.
  13. https://archives.library.wales/index.php/elena-puw-morgan-annedd-wen-corwen-3 File 1169-75 – Elena Puw Morgan, Annedd Wen, Corwen
  14. https://archives.library.wales/index.php/morgan-elena-puw File: A/2548, Elena Puw Morgan
  15. https://archives.library.wales/index.php/letter-from-elena-puw-morgan-annedd-wen-corwen-mer-re-trefin-and-mrs-frasers-illnesses File A/3195 – Letter from Elena Puw Morgan, Annedd Wen, Corwen
  16. Book: Morgan, Elena Puw . Nansi Lovell: hunangofiant hen sipsi . 1934 . Gwasg Aberystwyth . cy.

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