Kate Roberts

Kate Roberts (born February 13, 1891, Rhosgadfan, Caernarvonshire [now in Gwynedd], Wales—died April 4, 1985, Denbigh, Clwyd [now in Denbighshire]) was one of the outstanding Welsh-language novelists and short-story writers of the 20th century and the first woman to be recognized as a major figure in the history of Welsh literature.

Roberts set her early works in the quarrying districts of North Wales and in the mining villages of South Wales, where poverty is usually the harsh determinant of her characters’ hopes and fates, while her later works deal mainly with the psychological problems of characters living in more comfortable material circumstances. Her works include O Gors y Bryniau (1925; “From the Swamp of the Hills”), Rhigolau Bywyd (1929; “The Grooves of Life”), Traed mewn Cyffion (1936; Feet in Chains), A Summer Day and Other Stories (1946), Stryd y Glep (1949; “Gossip Street”), and Y Byw Sy’n Cysgu (1956; The Living Sleep).