Byron Rogers (born 5 April 1942) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

journalist, essayist, historian and biographer. In August 2007, the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

awarded him the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

for the best biography published in the previous year, for ''The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of RS Thomas''. The

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, said of the book: "Byron Rogers's lively and affectionate biography is unexpectedly, even riotously, funny." Born and raised in Carmarthenshire, Rogers now lives in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. He has written for the ''

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and was once speech writer for

the Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...

.Byron Rogers, ''An Audience with an Elephant'', Aurum, London, 2001, pp. 66-81. It has been written of his essays that he is "a historian of the quirky and forgotten, of people and places other journalists don't even know exist or ignore if they do".

Bibliography

Essays

*''An Audience with an Elephant'', Aurum, 2001. *''The Green Lane to Nowhere: the Life of an English Village'', Aurum, 2002. *''The Bank Manager and the Holy Grail: travels to the wilder reaches of Wales'', Aurum, 2003. *''The Last Human Cannonball'', Aurum, 2004. *''Three Journeys'', Gomer Press, 2011.

Biography

*''The Last Englishman, the Life of

J. L. Carr Joseph Lloyd Carr (20 May 1912 – 26 February 1994), who called himself "Jim" or "James", was an English novelist, publisher, teacher and eccentric. Biography Carr was born in Carlton Miniott in the North Riding of Yorkshire, next to Thirsk ...

'', Aurum, 2003. *''The Man Who Went Into the West, the Life of

R. S. Thomas Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest ( Church of Wales) noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introduc ...

'', Aurum, 2006. *''Me: The Authorised Biography'', Aurum, 2009.

History

*''The Lost Children'', Gregynog, 2005.

References

Note on Byron Rogers

BBC Wales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Byron Living people James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients People from Carmarthen Welsh biographers Welsh essayists Welsh journalists 1942 births