Edward Prosser Rhys

Edward Prosser Rhys (4 March 1901 – 6 February 1945) was a Welsh journalist, poet and publisher.[1]

In his early life he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which would effect him throughout his life. Before going into publishing he worked as a clerk at the Western Ocean Colliery in Nant-y-moel, Ogmore Valley. He later moved to Aberystrwyth where he married Mary Prudence Rhys (née Hughes) in 1928, where they then lived for the rest of his life.[2][1]

His poem 'Atgof' (Memory) won the National Eisteddford in Pontypool in 1924. Although it was controversial due to its homosexual content.[3] The poem is extensively about sex, most often heterosexual but there is a short section about a gay experience. It has been speculated that it could be about Morris T. Williams, a close male acquaintance of Prosser Rhys who at the time was married to Kate Roberts.[4]

He formed the publisher Gwasg Aberystwyth in 1928. He also founded The Welsh Books Club in 1937, following a canvas for public interest in subscriptions of Welsh literature, where the reader would receive 4 books a year for the cost of half a crown.[1][2]

He was also editor of Baner Ac Amserau Cymru (Banner and Welsh Times) 1923–1945.[5]

On Mynydd Bach there is a monument to Prosser Rhys and three other notable poets from local villages who competed at the National Eisteddfod: T. Hughes Jones (1895–1966), B. T. Hopkins (1897–1981) and J. M. Edwards (1903–1978). It is located just south of Trefenter near Llyn Eiddwen.[6][7][8] His grave also has an epitaph quote written by T. Gwynn Jones.[9]

Prosser Rhys' archives of personal papers are held at the National Library of Wales.[10]