Literature, Theory and Creativity Research Unit

The Literature, Theory and Creativity Research Unit explores Welsh literature and the creative process from its beginnings to the present day. At its core is a community of scholars whose pioneering research extends the boundaries of our understanding of Welsh literature and creativity. Their specialist research on texts from all periods places the unit at the forefront of Welsh and Celtic Studies internationally, and includes areas such as:

• literary theory
• creative criticism
• editing, translation and intermediality
• identities and gender
• medieval poetry and prose
• literature in the digital age
• the short story and post-modernism
• life writing
• literature for children and young adults
• comparative literature
• creative writing
• literature and the curriculum

This research expertise is shared with diverse external audiences and offers guidance to significant stakeholders in Wales and beyond in areas such as publishing, creative media, and the teaching of literature in schools. The impact of such research is seen, for example, on the interpretation and reimagining of Welsh medieval texts in contemporary contexts, and on the Welsh Books Council’s strategy for supporting the publishing industry for children and young adults.

Research grants to fund the Unit’s work have been secured from a range of sources and in 2022 the AHRC awarded over £700,000 to the Welsh Merlin Poetry Project. This three-year project will produce a digital edition and translation of the medieval and early modern Welsh poetry attributed to Merlin (“Myrddin” in Welsh), in collaboration with researchers at the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and Swansea University.

The Unit attracts home and international postgraduate student researchers to explore various texts and genres in ways that offer new analytical frameworks and approaches to literature, theory and creativity in Welsh. Recent subjects include:

• Creativity and the Curriculum (Funded by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol)
• Rediscovering and Recreating Cultural Memory in Early Modern Wales: Dewi Alter (Funded by AHRC)
• Language, Image and Meaning in Children's Illustrated Literature: Megan Jones (Funded by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol)
• The Language of Drama / The Drama of Language (Creative and Critical Writing): Ceri Elen Morris (Funded by AHRC)
• Code-Switching in Literature from Wales and Canada: Sara Orwig (Funded by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol)
• King Arthur in the Medieval Brittonic Tradition: Jessica Shales (Funded by AHRC)
• Otherness and Multiculturalism in Welsh Fiction since 1990: Lisa Sheppard (Funded by President’s Scholarships, Cardiff University)
• Welsh Medieval Dream Narratives: Xiezhen Zhao

The Research Unit offers two MPhil/PhD research pathways: an MPhil or PhD in Welsh and an MPhil or PhD in Creative and Critical Writing, and we welcome applications from prospective PhD students who wish to join the School of Welsh’s friendly and vibrant research community.

The Research Unit is also responsible for editing the leading academic journal on Welsh literature, Llên Cymru, which publishes academic research of the highest quality on Welsh literature and literary criticism. Llên Cymru expressly welcomes innovative research articles that seek to enhance our understanding of Welsh literature from any period and propose new interpretative contexts. For further information, or to submit an abstract, please contact llencymru@caerdydd.ac.uk.