Gwyn Thomas (2 September 1936 – 13 April 2016) was a Welsh poet and academic. He was the second National Poet of Wales, holding the role between 2006 and 2008.

Early life and education

Born in

Tanygrisiau Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 175 ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, an ...

, and brought up there and in

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 ...

, Thomas was educated at Ysgol Sir Ffestiniog, University of Wales, Bangor and

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship ...

; Prof Thomas was Emeritus Professor of Welsh at the University of Wales, Bangor.

Career

Thomas published 16 volumes of poetry, several volumes of work as a literary and cultural critic and also translated the

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, creat ...

into English. His first work as a poet ''Chwerwder yn y Ffynhonnau'' ("''Bitterness in the Fountains''") was published in 1962, while his last, ''Hen Englynion - Diweddariadau'', was published in 2015 by Barddas. As a literary and cultural critic, he published several volumes of essays, critiques, adaptations and translations, including the classic ''Y Traddodiad Barddol'' – a study of the classic poetic tradition of Wales. Thomas was also involved with the film industry in Wales, and helped pioneer techniques to combine poetry and film. In 2006, Thomas published his autobiography, entitled ''Bywyd Bach'' (Small Life), having been asked to contribute to the series ''Cyfres y Cewri'' (Series of the Giants). Also in 2006, Thomas was appointed National Poet of Wales by Academi, replacing Wales first national poet

Gwyneth Lewis Gwyneth Denver Davies (born 1959), known professionally as Gwyneth Lewis, is a Welsh poet, who was the inaugural National Poet of Wales in 2005. She wrote the text that appears over the Wales Millennium Centre. Biography Gwyneth Lewis was b ...

. Thomas said he would use the 12-month appointment to draw attention to the work of Welsh poets. Thomas provided the words for many "inspirational" books and added his touch to a photographic book entitled ''Blaenau Ffestiniog''. As Welsh National Poet, Thomas was commissioned to write five stanzas celebrating the opening in June 2009 of ''Hafod Eryri'', the new summit building at the top of

Snowdon Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (histori ...

. Inscribed on the buildings and windows, in both English and Welsh, they read:WalesOnline - Snowdon summit visitor centre opens
/ref> Thomas and Margaret Jones won three annual

Tir na n-Og Award The Tir na n-Og Awards (abbreviated TnaO) are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards ca ...

s from the

Welsh Books Council The Books Council of Wales (previously known as the Welsh Books Council) or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961. Today it is funded by the Welsh Government. The council's aims are to promote the interests of Welsh language books and Engl ...

for the previous year's best Welsh-language children's nonfiction book. Their award-winning collaborations were ''Culhwch ac Olwen'' in 1989, ''Chwedl Taliesin'' in 1993, and ''Stori Dafydd ap Gwilym'' in 2004. The first two were published by Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru (

University of Wales Press The University of Wales Press ( cy, Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru) was founded in 1922 as a central service of the University of Wales. The press publishes academic journals and around seventy books a year in the English and Welsh languages on six general ...

), the latter by Y Lolfa."Tir na n-Og awards Past Winners"
. Welsh Books Council. Retrieved 2013-09-12. Works published during the preceding calendar years.

Works

Poetry

*''Chwerwder yn y Ffynhonnau'' ('Bitterness in the Wells') (1962) *''Y Weledigaeth Haearn'' ('The Iron Vision') (1965) *''Ysgyrion Gwaed'' ('Blood Splinters') (1967) *''Enw'r Gair'' ('The Name of the Word') (1972) *''Y Pethau Diwethaf a Phethau Eraill'' ('The Last Things and Other Things') (1975) *''Cadwynau yn y Meddwl'' ('Chains in the Mind') *''Croesi Traeth'' ('Crossing a Beach') (1978) *''Symud y Lliwiau'' ('Moving the Colours') (1981) *''Living a Life: Selected Poems 1962-1982''; selected and introduced by Joseph P. Clancy with translations by Joseph P. Clancy and Gwyn Thomas) (1982) *''Wmgawa'' ('Umgawah' an attempt to convey Tarzan's sound) (1984) *''Am Ryw Hyd'' ('For an Allotted Time') (1986) *''Gwelaf Afon'' ('I see a River') (1990) *''Darllen y Meini'' ('Reading the Stones') (1998) *''Gweddnewidio: Detholiad o Gerddi 1962-1986'' ('Changing Appearance: Selected Poems 1962-1986') (2000) *''Apocalups Yfory'' ("''Apocalypse Tomorrow''") (2005) *''Teyrnas y Tywyllwch'' ('The Kingdom of Darkness') (2007) *''Murmuron Tragwyddoldeb a Chwningod Tjioclet'' ('Murmurings of Eternity and Chocolate Bunnies') (2010) *''Profiadau Intergalactig'' ('Intergalactic Experiences')

References

External links