INTRODUCTION This list of working class novelists is not intended to be definitive but is a work in progress resulting from the interest of a member of Working Press. We felt it worthwhile to produce this annotated list both to bring back to light these mainly forgotten writers as well as to perhaps discover others (working class women and members of ethnic minorities are conspicuous by their absence). In some senses this list has been determined by two source books; Ken Walpole's Dockers and Detectives (1983) and Andy Croft's Red Letter Days (1990), as well as the arbitary availability of books in the basements of second-hand bookshops. Furthermore, as is the trouble with most research projects, what is found/discovered is dependent upon the choices made by others; eg, in this case, what a publisher chose to print in the first place and re-print later. It is frustrating to scan the list and realise that some of the more legendary books and stories might never be re-printed.

Much of the writing featured in this list (though not all of it) could be said to be in a realist style, following narrative patterns. Today, with a wider variety of forms on offer, many of which are more immediate, it could be that such a list appears quaint and unfashionable. This may be the case, but that is not to belittle the achievements of these mostly self-taught writers who chose to base the contents of their novels upon their immediate experiences: for some a depiction of brutalities that led to prosecution (Hanley), of dropping out and going on the tramp (Phelan), of political commitment (Heslop, Jones, Sommerfield). Working class life had been a subject before, but the 30s marked a time when much of that writing was written by working class people themselves.

NORTH WEST

James Hanley

Jack Hilton

JH worked as a plasterer in Rochdale. Active in the Trade Union Movement and National Unemployed Workers Movement, doing time for his role in a demonstration of the unemployed at Rochdale; was a also a member of the Socialist Labour Party, a Marxist organisation that eventually merged into the Communist Party in 1921 - JH did not follow the majority of the party into the CPGB. Whilst blacklisted from employment he began writing saying "I equipped myself with a new kind of protest method against what was our lot". From 1935-37 JH went on a scholarship to Ruskin College (Trade Union). His stories were published in Left Review, Adelphi etc. and he was a contributor to the anthology Seven Shifts. JH was to have collaborated with Jack Common on a sequel about women's work as well as on a project inviting working class writers "to slaughter two establishment authors".

William Holt

WH was born in 1898 the son of a coal hawker. Though a weaver by trade he turned his hand to countless other jobs including language teacher, able seaman, stuntman etc. WH was widely travelled and fought in WW1. He later became a communist councillor in Todmorden and In 1930 he attempted to establish a "League for the Liberation of Proletarian Arts" via The Daily Worker but this was rejected (ie this was before the CPGB adopted the Popular Front tactic). WF served a 9 month jail sentence in 1932 for his part in a demonstration of the unemployed in Todmorden. His first book was self-published and hawked door-to-door and its success led him into journalism eg covering the Spanish Civil War and Northern life etc..

A.P. Roley

This was a pseudonym for Manchester railway worker George Chandler. A communist he was a leading contributor to Storm a magazine of proletcult as well as writing similar stories for the Daily Worker between 1932-34.[The leading figure in Revolt is a composite of Jim Phelan and his accomplice Jack Braddock].

E.A. Hibbert

J.L. Hodson

Frank Tilsley

Frank Tilsley was born in Lancashire. His 1936 book was seen as "an attempt to apply the technique of the talky novel to the English scene".

Walter Greenwood

Born in Salford in 1903, WG is perhaps the most widely known author on the list. His 1933 book has always been readily available. Before becoming a full time writer he worked as an office boy, warehouseman etc.

WALES

Lewis Jones

LJ was born in 1897 in Clydach Vale and spent his early working life as a miner in the South Wales coalfield. He won a scholarship to the Central Labour College between 1923-25 where he joined the CPGB. During the 1926 Lock-Out he received a 3 month jail sentence for his "seditious speeches". Following his dismissal from the colliery for refusing to work with scab labour, Jones became organiser for the Welsh NUWM before, in 1936, becoming a communist councillor. In the early 30's his writing was modelled on a proletcult style. He died in 1937.

Gwyn Thomas

GT was born in 1913 in Cymmer, the youngest of 12 kids in a family whose father was an unemployed miner. He attended University where he was "profoundly unhappy". By 1942 he was working as a teacher in Barry and became a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1962. Much of his writing expresses injustice with a sardonic almost surreal humour.

Bert Lewis Coombes

BC worked as an ambulance driver in a large colliery. He contributed mainly documentary stories to New Writing in which he was first published as well as Left Review and the CPGBs Daily Worker. His only novel was published by the Labour Bookclub.

Jack Jones

JJ was a founder member of the CPGB who ended up supporting the Liberals after passing through Oswald Mosley's New Party. Even so the Unity Theatre staged a dramatisation of Rhonnda Roundabout.

Rhys Davies

RD was born in Clydach Vale the son of a grocer. He left Wales in the 20s to pursue a writing career in London. He travelled abroad and was later befriended by D.H. Lawrence.

Gwyn Jones

MIDLANDS

Walter Brierley

WB was born in 1900 in the village of Waingroves, Derbyshire the son of an engine-winder. He began working as a miner in Derbyshire and between 1927-31 he partook in a Miner's Welfare Scholarship on day release from the pit. On returning to full time work he was soon put on short time and then made redundant. He was unemployed between 1931-35 when he began to write. He scraped a living from writing (including radio plays) during the 1930s before eventually becoming a child-welfare officer in 1937, a job in which he remained until his death in 1967.

Walter Allen

WA was born in Aston, Birmingham in 1911 the son of a silversmith. Graduated from Birmingham University and made a living as a freelance journalist and broadcaster.

Leslie Halward

LH was born in Sally Oak, Birmingham in 1906, the son of a butcher and started work at the age of 15, working variously as designer, tool-maker, labourer and plaster. He also contributed to New Writing, Fact, Left Review and the London Mercury.

John Hampson

G.F Green

GFG was born in North Derbyshire in 1914 and during the 30s he wrote for magazines such as New Writing, Life & Letters, London Mercury and Best Short Stories.

F.C. Boden

FCB was a miner at Williamsthorpe Colliery until he was put on short time in 1926. He moved to Exeter where he taught for the Workers Education Association.

NORTH EAST

Jack Common

JC was born in Newcastle in 1903 the son of a railway man. He had various jobs throughout his life including clerk, caretaker, labourer and various stints unemployed. During the 30s he worked on the magazine Adelphi and had many short articles published. It was during this time that he became friendly with George Orwell.

Dan Billany

DB was born in Hull in 1913 and began work as an apprentice electrician. As an alternative to the dole he went to night school eventually getting to university and becoming a teacher at a Hull school. He joined the army in 1940 as a Lieutenant and was captured in Africa in 1942. It was in a POW camp that he wrote his two novels, The Cage, in collaboration with David Dowie. He died in 1945 trying to put an end to the activities of an informer. He is buried near Fermo, Italy.

Harold Heslop

HH was a miner in South Shields and a militant in the Durham Miners Association from whom he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College from 1924-26.A former member of the Independent Labour Party he attended the 2nd Revolutionary Writers Congress in Charkov (USSR). His first 2 books were criticised by the CPGB and the authorities in the USSR and Last Cage Down was written as a direct expression of the CPGBs "Class against Class" policy. Ironically for Heslop, this too met with a jaded reaction, as CPGB policy had changed by the time of its publication to Popular Front tactics. Heslop's earlier books were rehabilitated.

J.C. Grant

JCG was a civil servant in Alnwick, Northumberland and this was the only novel he wrote. As such it attracted a lot of attention and he was pilloried by the Left for his grim depiction of a mining village.

LONDON

Simon Blumenfield

SB worked in the rag trade and as market trader in London's Whitechapel district. He became a member of the editorial board of the Left Review and did much to promote the Workers Theatre Movement as well as founding The Rebel Players. From here he began to work professionally in a number of editorial jobs.

Willy Goldman

WG was born in Stepney in 1910, left school at the age of 14 and worked in the dock, engineering and clothing industries with periods of unemployment. Wrote in New Writing.

Ashley Smith

John Sommerfield

JS was born in London off the Portobello Road in 1908. He left school at 16 and worked on ships and as an occasional stage-hand in London Theatres. He had stints unemployed and fought in Spain from where he published the first combatants account. He joined the CPGB in the late 20s and his writing appeared in the Left Review, New Writing and as a columnist in the Daily Worker.

SCOTLAND

Lewis Grassic Gibbon

Joe Corrie

JC worked as a miner in West Fife. He began writing when he was made unemployed after WW1. His work was published in the Glasgow paper Forward and his one-act plays were produced by the Fife Miners Players. JC tried to make a living from writing after 1926.

George Blake

A novel GB later repudiated as unworthy of its epic subject.

James Barke

JB was born in 1905 a farm-workers son at Kincardine-on-Forth. He moved to Glasgow after WW1 and became a gate keeper at a shipyard. Became a member of the CPGB in the late 1930s. The success of his first novel encouraged him to take up writing professionally.

Fenner Brockway

"Volatile leader of the 1930s ILP"

IRELAND

Jim Phelan

JP was born in 1895 and spent much of his early life around Dublin though he later settled in Liverpool. By his own account he was an engineering apprentice, ships fireman, travelling actor, gun runner, circus hand and tramp travelling as far afield as Texas and Toulon. He witnessed the 1913 transport strike in Dublin and later had connections with the IRA. In 1923 he was sentenced to death for his part in an armed robbery, though he was reprieved and spent 15 years in the prison system. On release he appears to have made a living as novelist, scriptwriter and broadcaster though he continued the wandering life with wife Kathleen. He died in 1966.

Patrick McGill

PM was born in 1890 on a farm in Glenties, Donegal and left school aged 10. He worked locally and was hired out at Strabane fair aged 12. At 15 he was a potato picker in Scotland, at 18 a plate-layer on the railways. Later a tramp and navvy he worked on waterways projects and by the time he was 21 he was employed as a journalist in London.

Liam O'Flaherty

Frank O'Connor

FOC was born in Cork in 1903 and was later active in the Irish Republican movement. He was imprisoned in Gormanstan. By the 30s and 40s he was part of the Irish literary revival and became director of the Abbey Theatre. He left Ireland in the 50s as a result of government censorship of his work. He settled in the USA and died in 1966.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ralph Bates

RB was born in 1899 in a northern town and apprenticed to a factory at 16. He settled in Spain in 1923 and worked at first in a fish cannery. Later he became active in the Dockers Union and was involved in the Spanish Revolution of 1932 and the 1937 Civil War. He was editor of Volunteer for Liberty, the paper of the 1st International Brigade.

Charles Ashleigh

Alec Brown

Harry Carlisle

Herbert Hodges

Mark Benny

Further information on any of the above authors would be appreciated.

WORking Press

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