Social Realism within Literature John Clare and Walter Greenwood

Walter Greenwood - Love on the Dole 1933 
Walter Greenwood was a working-class man from Salford, he was educated 
at the local school and worked various jobs since the age of 12. He was on the 
'dole' three times within his life and Love on the Dole was his first novel he went 
on to write various novels and plays and died in 1974. 
Love on the Dole portrays a young man struggling with the limited options
offered to him as a poor boy in a poor area. This type of narrative
is one of my favourite types as it mixes fact with fiction, 
it details the very real issues people in the 1930's faced when there was no work
and no compensation for it. In terms of social realism, I think it 
conveys well the mixture of artistic ability and the documentation of real life. 

John Clare 1820
Clare was a self-educated working man and is often referred to as 
the 'peasant poet' although he was working as a contemporary as Keats his name 
is often lost among the greats despite how good his poetry is. 
He has been labelled 'The greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced.' 
I have enjoyed reading Clare's poetry as it highlights that good poetry doesn't need 
to come from money and that a working-class poet is as valuable as one of the richest.