The Association originated as a completely private initiative in December, 1984, when individuals from five of the colleges of the University of Wales (Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Lampeter and Swansea) met at Swansea to discuss the establishing of an organisation to promote the study of Welsh writing in English. Since that beginning, the Association has been expanded to include scholars in the field to Trinity College, Carmarthen, University of Glamorgan and the Open University.

The work of the association includes several important series of publications; the pioneering academic journal Welsh Writing in English: a Yearbook of Critical Essays (financially supported by the Arts Council of Wales); and an annual conference (attended by a mixed audience of academics and the lay public, usually totalling some fifty to eighty people). These conferences have featured contributions from scholars from the USA, Scotland, England, Ireland as well as Wales, and have regularly included readings from such distinguished writers as R.S. Thomas, Emyr Humphreys, Dannie Abse, Menna Elfyn, Robert Minhinnick and Tony Curtis.

Click HERE for general details of the 2010 Conference