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.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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

• Catherine Fisher (born 1957), novelist, poet and broadcaster

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

• Elisabeth Inglis-Jones (1900–1994), novelist
• Norah Isaac (1915–2003), Welsh-language short story writer, playwright and travel writer

J

• Maria James (1793–1868), Welsh-born American poet
• Alice Gray Jones (1852–1943), poet, editor
• Margaret Jones (1842–1902), travel writer
• Mary Vaughan Jones (1918–1983), children's writer and teacher
• Sally Roberts Jones (born 1935), poet and biographer

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
• Elizabeth Morgan (born 1930), non-fiction 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

• Mary Edith Nepean (1876–1960), romantic novelist

O

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

P

• Sarah Winifred Parry (1870–1953) fiction writer
• Amy Parry-Williams (1910–1988), singer and writer
• Jessie Penn-Lewis (1861–1927), evangelist, religious writer and magazine publisher
• Anne Penny (1729–1784), poet
• Ellis Peters (1913–1995), Welsh-English mystery fiction writer and translator: Brother Cadfael
• Pascale Petit (born 1953), poet
• Katherine Philips (1632–1664), poet and translator
• Angharad Price (living), novelist and academic
• Myfanwy Pryce (1890–1976), fiction writer

R

• Allen Raine, pen name of Anne Adalisa Beynon Puddicombe (1836–1908), novelist in English and Welsh
• Helen Raynor (born 1972), television screenwriter, script editor and playwright
• Sarah Jane Rees (1839–1916), teacher, poet and temperance campaigner
• Deryn Rees-Jones (fl. since 1994), poet and essayist
• Eigra Lewis Roberts (born 1939), poet, children's writer and novelist in Welsh
• Kate Roberts (1891–1985), Welsh-language fiction writer
• Jane Helen Rowlands (1891–1955), linguist, non-fiction writer and missionary
• Bernice Rubens (1923–2004), novelist: The Elected Member

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

• Louie Myfanwy Thomas (1908–1968), novelist
• Hester Thrale (1741–1821), diarist
• Barbara Margaret Trimble (1921–1995), novelist

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

• List of women writers

References