James Kitchener Davies

James Kitchener Davies(16 June 1902 – 25 August 1952),also known asJ. Kitchener Davies,was aWelshpoet and playwright who wrote mostly in theWelsh language.Davies's work is highly influenced by the industrial landscape of his adopted village ofTrealawin theRhonddaValley and his own nationalistic beliefs.

Biography

Born and brought up inLlangeithoinCeredigion,Davies spent his working life in the newly industrialised coalfields of the Rhondda Valley. The sometimes bleak conditions of his early life, especially as his early adulthood coincided with the economic despair of the depression, is reflected in his plays. Davies was part of theCadwgan Circle,a literary group of likeminded writers from Rhondda, that centred their image of Wales on the new industrialised society they were brought up in. Members of the Circle includedRhydwen Williams,Pennar DaviesandGareth Alban Davies.

His early playCwm Glo(1934) was seen as controversial because it dealt with the social impact of the depression without the cultural romanticism which was stereotypical of Welsh literature. His verse playMeini Gwagedd(1944) is set in theTregaronarea and again looks at the harshness of the industrialised Wales and the self-destructive nature of people when drawn into a spiral of ill fortune.

In 1945, Davies stood in theUnited Kingdom general election,standing in theRhondda East constituencyas the first member ofPlaid Cymruto contest the seat in the Rhondda Valleys. He came last out of three candidates, gaining 2,123 votes (6.1%).The next election, in1950he ran again, this time theRhondda West constituencyseat. He increased his vote to 6.6% and then improved this in the1951 electionwhen he polled slightly higher with 7.7% of the vote, again in the Rhondda West constituency.

James Kitchener Davies is buried atTrealaw CemeteryinTrealaw.

Bibliography

• Williams, Chris (1996).Democratic Rhondda, Politics and society 1885-1951.Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 164.ISBN0-7083-1334-5.