Roland Glyn Mathias (4 September 1915 – 16 August 2007) was 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 peopl ...

writer, known for his poetry and short stories. He was also a literary critic, and responsible with

Raymond Garlick Raymond Garlick (21 September 1926 – 19 March 2011) was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was also the first editor of '' The Anglo-Welsh Review'', a lecturer, critic, and campaigner for the use of the Welsh language. Early life and studies Raymond Ga ...

for the success of the literary magazine ''Dock Leaves'' (from 1949), later from 1957 ''

The Anglo-Welsh Review ''The Anglo-Welsh Review'' was a literary and cultural magazine published in Wales between 1949 and 1988. Its original title was ″Dock Leaves″, a reference to the fact that it was published in Pembroke Dock, the town in which its founding edito ...

''. He edited it from 1961 to 1976. His other writing includes books on David Jones,

Vernon Watkins Vernon Phillips Watkins (27 June 1906 – 8 October 1967) was a Welsh poet and translator. His headmaster at Repton was Geoffrey Fisher, who became Archbishop of Canterbury. Despite his parents being Nonconformists, Watkins' school experiences ...

and

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

, and ''Anglo-Welsh Poetry 1480-1980'' with Raymond Garlick.

Early life

Mathias was born at

Talybont-on-Usk Talybont-on-Usk ( cy, Tal-y-bont ar Wysg) is a village and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. It lies on both the Caerfanell river and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, about from the River Usk. In 2001, i ...

, south-east of

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, in 1915 and brought up mostly in England and Germany. He graduated in history from

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 ...

. ''Days Enduring'' (1942) was his first poetry collection. He was a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campai ...

, and was twice gaoled in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to objec ...

. His career was in teaching, in Wales and elsewhere in the UK, notably serving as Headmaster of

King Edward VI Five Ways School King Edward VI Five Ways (KEFW) is a highly selective co-educational state grammar school for ages 11–18 in Bartley Green, Birmingham, England. One of the seven establishments of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI, it is a volun ...

, Bartley Green,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

from 1964 to 1969. He retired to

in 1969 and died in 2007; buried at Aber Chapel on the outskirts of Talybont on Usk. His son, Jonathan Glyn Mathias, known as

Glyn Mathias Jonathan Glyn Mathias, (born 19 February 1945) is a British print and broadcasting journalist of over thirty years' standing. He was a lobby correspondent at Westminster for thirteen years, and is the former Political Editor of Independent Tel ...

, is a well known political correspondent.

Honours and awards

The Roland Mathias Prize, a literary award, is administered by the

Brecknock Society and Museum Friends Brecknock Society and Museum Friends ( cy, Cymdeithas Brycheiniog a Chyfeillion yr Amgueddfa) is a Welsh historical society that promotes "the study and understanding of the Archaeology, History, Geology, Natural History, the Arts and Literature of ...

and is named in his honour. There are collections of manuscripts and correspondence of Roland Mathias and of ''

'' in the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

.Archives Wales
National Library of Wales Roland Mathias Papers
an
Anglo-Welsh Review Archive
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References

Publications

*''Roland Mathias'' (1995) by Sam Adams *''The Collected Poems of Roland Mathias'' (2002) (ed. Sam Adams) *''The Collected Short Stories of Roland Mathias'' (2001) (ed. Sam Adams

External links

The Independent: Roland Mathias Obituary
1915 births 2007 deaths Welsh poets Welsh short story writers Welsh pacifists Welsh conscientious objectors Welsh Christian pacifists Calvinist pacifists Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford People from Powys {{Wales-writer-stub