The late Welsh author Bernice Rubens has been honoured with a Purple Plaque to mark her achievements as the first woman to win the Booker Prize.
Rubens, the daughter of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe, was the first Jewish winner of the Booker Prize, as well as the only Welsh person to be granted the award, but her achievements have not been memorialised until now.
Wales’ 17th Purple Plaque was unveiled at Rubens’ family home in the Roath area of Cardiff at a ceremony attended by family members, literary scholars and politicians.
Rubens, who died in 2004, won the Booker Prize in 1970 for her novel The Elected Member, which explores the struggles of a Jewish family in London’s East End. She went on to write 24 novels in total, all of which heavily feature themes of Jewishness and family. In 1978, Rubens was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her novel A Five Year Sentence.
Social historian and curator Dr Cai Parry-Jones, who attended the Purple Plaque ceremony, featured Rubens in his 2017 book The Jews of Wales: A History, and called her Booker Prize win for The Elected Member “hugely significant”.
The current owner of Rubens’ former home, Eryl Powell, applied for the Purple Plaque to be awarded to Rubens and said she was “delighted” that the honour was granted. “I hope that the plaque will serve as a reminder of the important cultural and social contribution that Bernice, daughter of a Jewish refugee, made to Wales and to literature,” Powell said.
Author Bernice Rubens Purple Plaque is unveiled on the outside of her former home in Cardiff at a ceremony attended by her family, literary scholars and politicians (Photo: courtesy)
Rubens was born in Cardiff in 1923 to parents Eli and Dorothy, who arrived from Lithuania and Poland respectively. Her father had hoped to emigrate to New York but instead found himself in Wales at the age of 16, his two violins in tow.
Rubens studied English at Cardiff University before becoming a teacher and documentary writer, eventually penning her first novel in 1960 at the age of 37, following the birth of her two daughters. She modestly described her writing as “better than most, not as good as some”.
Family member Janet Rubens said: “The Rubens family are delighted that Bernice Rubens is being honoured in this way by the Purple Plaque project. Bernice spent her formative years growing up as a girl in Cardiff and these experiences inspired many of her works.”
The Welsh Government’s Trefnydd and chief whip, Jane Hutt, said: “Bernice Rubens was one of the most captivating and versatile novelists of the 20th century, and I am thrilled to see her achievements celebrated today.
“It is only right that her remarkable contribution to literary history is recognised, so she is remembered for her talent and continues to inspire generations of Welsh women writers.”
A Purple Plaque has been unveiled in memory of Jewish Welsh writer Bernice Rubens on her former home in Cardiff, Wales
The Purple Plaques project was launched on International Women’s Day in 2017 by a group of volunteers who wanted to improve the recognition of women’s contribution to Welsh life.
Sue Essex, chair of Purple Plaques, said of Rubens’ award: “Until today, there was nothing to mark her very real and impressive achievement as the first Welsh woman (and first person from Wales) to win the Booker Prize. I’m so glad we’ve been able to put this right with a plaque on the family home.”
