Edward Prosser Rhys

{{Short description|Welsh poet, writer and publisher (1901–1945)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Edward Prosser Rhys

| image =

| imagesize =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1901|03|04}}

| birth_place = Trefenter, Wales

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1945|02|06|1901|03|04}}

| death_place = Aberystwyth, Wales

| occupation = journalist, poet and publisher

| movement = Welsh language poetry

| spouse = Mary Prudence Rhys (1928–1945)

}}

Edward Prosser Rhys (4 March 1901 – 6 February 1945) was a Welsh journalist, poet and publisher.{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Evan David |title=Rhys, Edward Prosser |url=https://biography.wales/article/s2-RHYS-PRO-1901 |website=Dictionary of Welsh Biography |publisher=National Library of Wales |access-date=8 August 2015 }}

In his early life he was diagnosed with tuberculosis which would affect 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 Aberystwyth where he married Mary Prudence Rhys (née Hughes) in 1928, where they then lived for the rest of his life.{{Cite web |title=Edward Prosser Rhys |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/canolbarth/papurau_bro/llais_aeron/newyddion/rhagfyr05.shtml |access-date=2023-02-18 |work=Llais Aeron |via=BBC Cymru }}

His poem "{{lang|cy|Atgof}}" ('Memory') won the National Eisteddfod in Pontypool in 1924, although it was controversial due to its homosexual content.{{Cite book |last=Shopland |first=Norena |author-link=Norena Shopland |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/994638129 |title=Forbidden lives: lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender stories from Wales |date=2017 |others=Jeffrey Weeks |isbn=978-1-78172-410-1 |location=Bridgend, Wales |pages=173 |oclc=994638129}} 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.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/951103103 |title=Queer Wales: the history, culture and politics of queer life in Wales |date=2016 |others=Huw Osborne |isbn=978-1-78316-865-1 |location=Cardiff |pages=81–82 |oclc=951103103}}

He formed the publisher {{lang|cy|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.

He was also editor of {{lang|cy|Baner ac Amserau Cymru}} (Banner and Welsh Times) 1923–1945.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Peter N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C0CVpGCHpsC&q=Edward+Prosser+Rhys |title=Presenting Wales from A to Y - The People, the Places, the Traditions: An Alphabetical Guide to a Nation's Heritage |date=2003 |publisher=Trafford Publishing |isbn=978-1-55395-482-8 |pages=230 |language=en}}

On {{lang|cy|Mynydd Bach|italic=no}} 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 {{lang|cy|Trefenter|italic=no}} near {{lang|cy|Llyn Eiddwen|italic=no}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMADCQ_Four_Welsh_Poets_Mynydd_Bach_Trefenter_Ceredigion_Wales |title=Four Welsh Poets, Mynydd Bach, Trefenter, Ceredigion, Wales - Dead Poets' Society Memorials on |publisher=Waymarking.com |date=2010-12-31 |access-date=2015-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525033844/http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMADCQ_Four_Welsh_Poets_Mynydd_Bach_Trefenter_Ceredigion_Wales |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.placiauawduron.org/placiau/?id=136266 |title=Beirdd y Mynydd Bach |publisher=Placiauawduron.org |access-date=2015-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525035409/http://www.placiauawduron.org/placiau/?id=136266 |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/hanes/safle/lleol/tudalen/canolbarth_gogledd_ceredigion2.shtml |title=Hanes trefi a phentrefi gogledd Ceredigion (parhad) |publisher=BBC Cymru |access-date=2015-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924205010/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/hanes/safle/lleol/tudalen/canolbarth_gogledd_ceredigion2.shtml |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead }} His grave also has an epitaph quote written by T. Gwynn Jones.{{Cite web |title=Rhys Edward Prosser, Aberystwyth 2013 |url=https://www.welshruins.co.uk/rhys-edward-prosser |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=www.welshruins.co.uk}}

Prosser Rhys' archives of personal papers are held at the National Library of Wales.{{Cite web |last=The National Archives |title=Records for Rhys, Edward Prosser, (1901-1945), Editor and Poet |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F48120 |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |language=en-GB}}