Amy Dillwyn (Elizabeth Amy Dillwyn, 1845 – 1935) was a Welsh writer.
Inspired in part by George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Dillwyn became a feminist writer, and wrote some of the first lesbian novels. In private, Dillwyn wrote of being in love with Olive Talbot, whom she called her ‘wife’ in her journals. She was a strong supporter of the cause of women’s rights, and took part at the suffrage society and at the Women’s Freedom League.
After her father’s death, Dillwyn took over the running of his industrial business. As a protest against the Victorian mourning conventions, she attended the public funeral of her father dressed in a bright purple skirt, with a yellow rose in her belt and flowers in her hat. Refusing to conform to Victorian norms of femininity, Dillwyn was known for wearing masculine clothes and smoking cigars.
Books
- The Rebecca Rioter (1880)
- Chloe Arguelle (1881)
- A Burglary; or Unconscious Influence (1883)
- Jill (1884)
- Nant Olchfa (serialized between 1886-1887)
- Jill and Jack (1887)
- Maggie Steele’s Diary (1892)
About her
- Amy Dillwyn, by David Painting (2013)
the [blank] garden 
What a fascinating character. It can’t have been easy to be so independent then.
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Yes, I agree, she seems to have been fascinating, and now I want to read more about her 🙂
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Fascinating! Anyone who is inspired by George Eliot is fine with me. I have never heard of her, and have seldom read any Welsh writers. You do know about the most interesting writers. Perhaps Americans do not know her work!?
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I found out about her by chance, when I was looking for Victorian women authors. I think she is not well-known, in general.
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Jill is the most obviously lesbian of her novels (reissued by Honno Classics in 2013) and the most commercially successful at the time, but the Rebecca Rioter is widely admired too (also published by Honno). You can find out more here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/crew/research-projects/dillwyn/amy-dillwyn/ and at the Dictionary of Welsh Biography https://biography.wales/article/s12-DILL-AMY-1845
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Fiquei interessada (^_^). Então procurei por traduções em português e em francês, mas não há =/ Vou tentar sugerir a autora para a alguma editora. Valeu pela sugestão! Beijos, Juliana!
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Ei, Lulu! Acho ótima essa ideia de sugeri-la a alguma editora, porque os livros dela já estao em domínio público. Apenas li um deles, e gostei. Farei uma resenha depois.
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Juliana, sugeri para algumas editoras. Espero que a sugestão seja avaliada com carinho. Curiosa para ler a sua resenha (^_^). Beijos!
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Que legal, Lulu! Espero que a autora seja lida no Brasil 🙂
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Interesting!
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Thank you! 🙂
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You’re most welcome
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