pp xv841 1998 hardback ISBN 0-7083-1383-3
‘ . . . without peer, by far the most comprehensive and well conducted guide we have yet had . . . a stunning bargain, an obvious choice for Christmas or birthday present for friends and family, an indispensable, invaluable accession for reference libraries worldwide – and a highly desirable component of personal, public and school libraries within Wales and the Welsh diaspora.’ (Reference Reviews)
`No academic library should be without this title, and most public libraries will want it as well, particularly at such a reasonable price.' (Choice)
'A marvellous book, an endlessly fascinating companion' - this response was typical of how the first edition of the Companion was greeted in 1986. In view of the huge success of that edition, and of its equivalent Welsh-language volume Cydymaith i Lenyddiaeth Cymru, this new, completely revised edition has been prepared. The New Companion to the Literature of Wales contains more than 400 new entries in a total of nearly 3,300. The entries from the original edition have also been updated and revised where necessary.
Wales, though a small country, has a literature among the oldest in Europe. The New Companion is an essential reference guide to its literature, whether in Welsh or in English, and to Wales's history and culture. It spans the period from the sixth century to the present, from early heroic poetry and the medieval Arthurian tales to the flowering of Welsh national consciousness in the late twentieth century. The individual entries contain a wealth of information about writers and their work, and taken as a whole present a panorama of Welsh society over the centuries. Among the subjects treated are books and periodicals, the principal genres, the complexities of Welsh prosody, myth, legend, and folklore, names of places and people with literary associations, and events, movements and institutions which have a literary dimension. There is also a chronology of the history of Wales, and an appendix listing the winners of the main literary prizes at the National Eisteddfod since 1861, together with the festival's annual location.
‘Its simply marvellous from beginning to end - a compilation of our country’s best authors and most famous works - how can any serious lover of Welsh literature manage without it?’ (Rhondda Leader)
As Wales acquires a higher international profile with the establishment of its own National Assembly, a volume which has already established itself as an indispensable work of reference will surely find an even wider audience.
The New Companion is compiled and edited by Meic Stephens. The Welsh-language version of this volume, Cydymaith i Lenyddiaeth Cymru, also compiled and edited by Meic Stephens, was published in a new edition by the University of Wales Press in 1997.
How the critics received the first edition:
'. . . a splendidly comprehensive and entertaining reference book'. (Times Educational Supplement)
'. . . probably one of the most important publishing events in Welsh literary history'. (Poetry Wales)
'. . . humane, friendly and expert guidance to a great (and still neglected) literature'. (British Book News)
'. . . elegantly written, leading from reference to reference in a trail of fascinating enlightenments'. (The Author)