Introduced by writer Kathryn Gray

2016 is the centenary of the Military Service Act, when thousands of men became conscientious objectors during the First World War - among them, Lily Tobias's brothers.

Whether she was putting herself in danger helping conscientious objectors, or boycotting the 1911 Census in support of the rights of women, arguing vehemently against militarism in the Zionist movement, or making a poignant case for the rights of small nations, Lily Tobias lived and wrote what she believed and her life proved tragic.

Her politically engaged life spanned most of the twentieth century and her fiction and commentary addressed some of its most intractable problems.

In this talk, Jasmine Donahaye will discuss the delights and challenges of researching and writing the biography of a forgotten writer whose work, now back in print, has a central place in both Welsh and British-Jewish literature.

Jasmine Donahaye's most recent books are The Greatest Need, the biography of Lily Tobias (Honno), and Losing Israel (Seren), selected as one of the best travel books of 2015 by the Telegraph. She is also author of the monograph Whose People? Wales, Israel, Palestine and two poetry collections, Self-Portrait as Ruth (Salt) and Misappropriations (Parthian). She has edited two Lily Tobias novels for the Welsh Women’s Classics series (Honno) - Lily Tobias and My Mother’s House. She is a part-time Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Swansea University.