I attended Daniel G. Williams‘ professorial lecture at Swansea University last night. Speaking to a packed lecture theatre and delivering his lecture in Welsh, Professor Williams’ presentation was masterful, fascinating, insightful, entertaining, witty and topical. Entitled ‘Un Genedl! Pa Genedl?: Cymathu Cymru o Shakespeare i Miliband’ (One Nation! Which Nation? Assimilating Wales from Shakespeare to Miliband), the lecture transported the rapt audience on an intellectual yet highly-accessible journey exploring various terrains of Welshness within a variety of literary and political contexts, from Henry V to Daniel Deronda and the philosophy of Slavoj Žižek. Professor M. Wynn Thomas spoke in praise of Professor Williams’ considerable achievements as a scholar and public intellectual at home in Wales but also in Cambridge and further afield at Harvard. Both Professor Williams’ recent UWP publications in the Writing Wales in English series, the newly published Wales Unchained: Literature, Politics and Identity in the American Century and 2012’s Black Skin, Blue Books: African Americans and Wales 1845-1945 (both available for sale on UWP’s website) skilfully and deftly weave the question of Welshness within a variety of national and international themes, including the relationships between Wales and the United States. UWP is proud to publish Professor William’s work and wish him many congratulations on his success.
Sarah Lewis, Commissioning Editor