Street Fighting and Other Past Times

An essential collection, Street Fighting and Other Past Times is a moving study of life, love, memory and loss. A late, but not too late, first poetry collection, from one of the leading literary interpreters of the South Welsh experience. For readers who are interested in both the pre- and post-devolutionary cultural landscape of Wales, this is a crucial addition to the canon of Welsh writing in English, crowning and celebrating a life filled with enriching work at the coal-face of Welsh culture.

Dai Smith was born in the Rhondda in 1945. His writing has encompassed history, biography, essays and criticism. He was the Series Editor of the Library of Wales and Chair of the Arts Council Wales and was made a CBE for services to arts and culture in Wales in 2016. He currently edits the Modern Wales Series and is Chair of the Dylan Thomas Prize. With The Crossing, Dai Smith built upon and completed his trilogy of fictional work, Dream On, What I Know I Cannot Say and What Lies Beneath. His memoir Off the Track was published in 2023.