New Prose-Poetry Memoir Explores the Fading Identity of Industrial South Wales
Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Prose-Poetry Memoir Explores the Fading Identity of Industrial South Wales
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Humanities-Ebooks, LLP announces the 2026 release of From the Edge, a new prose-poetry memoir by author and scholar John Tanner. Blending verse, personal anecdotes, and historical fragments, the collection offers an unsentimental and evocative portrait of a lost working-class culture in South Wales. Set primarily in the village of Cwmbran during the post-WWII decades, From the Edge chronicles the twilight years of the region's defining heavy industries. Through the eyes of a teenage narrator navigating the contradictions of the 1950s and 60s, Tanner explores how the collapse of coal, iron, and steel fundamentally challenged the community's identity. The book dives deeply into the myths, memories, and daily realities of the South Wales coalfield, touching on themes of class, the pursuit of education as an "escape hatch from a life of labour," and the creeping lure of American pop culture. At its core, the memoir asks a poignant question about post-industrial survival: "What happens when a community, and a national identity, lose their foundations?". As the supporting pillars of the culture vanish, Tanner wonders if local identity is destined to become "no more than an accent, a postcode".
About the Author: John Tanner is a former journalist and publishing executive who later earned a PhD in English literature from Bangor University, where he became a part-time tutor and writer. His verse has appeared in various magazines and the anthology The Lie of the Land. He is the author of two poetry collections, Pieces and How to Make an America, as well as Landscapes of Language, a study of the American writer Richard Brautigan.
Product Details: Publisher: Humanities-Ebooks, LLP | Publication Year: 2026 | ISBN: 9798275497267 | Format: Paperback / E-book.
