It was losing a brother in the World War I and seeing the suffering of another who lost his health that drove Kate Roberts to develop her literary skills.

She was born and raised in the heart of Caernarfonshire’s slate quarry industry. She had an unusual talent for observing life around her in her home village of Rhosgadfan. One of the first people to recognise her work was literary and political figure Saunders Lewis. He once commented: “She’s got a sharper pair of eyes than any other in Wales.”

Although she cherished the rich dialect of her community, she was schooled thoroughly in Welsh literature by Sir John Morris Jones and Sir Ifor Williams at University College Of Wales, Bangor.

She taught Welsh in schools in Ystalyfera and Aberdare, but after marrying Morris T Williams in 1928 they moved to Denbigh and established the publishing business Wasg Gee. Roberts continued to run the company on her own for a further 10 years following her husband’s death in 1946.

She contributed consistently to Y Faner (The Banner), the Welsh language magazine published by Wasg Gee, as well as Y Ddraig Goch (The Red Dragon), published by Plaid Cymru, of which she was a member and staunch supporter from its very beginning.

In 1958, following a nomination from Saunders Lewis, she accepted the rare honour of a pension from the civil list for her literary work. She is notable not only as an important literary figure, her work in Traed Mewn Cyffion (Feet In Chains), Tegwch Y Bore (Fairness Of The Morning), Y Byw Sy’n Cysgu (The Living That Sleep) and Yn Y Grug (In The Heather) for example, is an unequalled record of life exactly as it was during the height of the slate industry in Caernarfonshire.