T. James Jones (born 1934) is a Welsh poet and dramatist, and former

Archdruid Archdruid () is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd. The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, the award of the and the Chairing of the ...

of the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Eur ...

. He is also known by the

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who m ...

Jim Parc Nest. Brought up in

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenarth ...

, Jones is the brother of two other Welsh-language writers, John Gwilym Jones and Aled Gwyn, both of whom have won major prizes in the National Eisteddfod; a documentary about the three brothers, ''Bois Parc Nest'', was shown on S4C in 2018. He attended

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and Presbyterian College in Carmarthen. Jones was a Congregational minister in Mynyddbach, Swansea, and Priordy, Carmarthen, prior to working as a lecturer in Welsh and Drama at

Trinity College, Carmarthen Trinity University College ( cy, Coleg Prifysgol y Drindod) was a Church University College in Carmarthen, Wales. The institution was founded in 1848 as the South Wales and Monmouthshire Training College, a teacher-training college. It change ...

. He later joined

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

as script editor on the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

soap ''

Pobol y Cwm ''Pobol y Cwm'' (''People of the Valley''; ) is a Welsh-language soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, ''Pobol y Cwm'' was originally transmitted on BBC One Wales and l ...

''. In 1967 his translation of

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

's play, ''Under Milk Wood'', with the title ''Dan y Wenallt'', was performed at the Laugharne Festival. In 2009 he was nominated to succeed

Dic Jones Dic Jones (30 March 1934 – 18 August 2009), was a Welsh-language poet and Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Career Jones was born Richard Lewis Jones at Tre'r-ddôl in Ceredigion. The son of a farmer, he himself farmed at Fferm ...

as Archdruid. Like all Archdruids, he was a former winner of a major prize at the Eisteddfod, having won the crown on two occasions and the chair once. In 2019, after his tenure as Archdruid was over, he won the chair for a second time. This was the first time a former archdruid had won a major prize at the Eisteddfod. In June 2011, Jones claimed that "Britishness" threatened Welsh identity, and suggested that Welsh medal-winners at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

should be accompanied by the raising of the

Welsh flag The flag of Wales ( cy, Baner Cymru or , meaning 'the red dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings exis ...

and the

Welsh national anthem "" () is the official national anthem of Wales. The title, taken from the first words of the song, means "Old Land of My Fathers" in Welsh, usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and ...

, rather than the British flag and anthem. Jones, likewise, suggested that similar nations should be protected, including Cornwall, Brittany, and the Basque Country. Welsh Conservative MP David Davies said he was "talking rubbish" as most Welsh people, he speculated, were proud to be both British and Welsh. Jones is married to author

Manon Rhys ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel ''Manon Lescaut, L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost ...

; the couple have two children each from previous marriages. He is the uncle of poet

Tudur Dylan Jones Tudur (), from old Welsh , is the Welsh form of the given name ''Theodoric'' and may refer to: * , king of (fl. 6th century) * (Theodoric the Old), eponymous founder of the Tudor dynasty * (died 1367), Welsh landowner, soldier and administrator ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, T. James 1934 births Living people People from Carmarthenshire Alumni of Aberystwyth University Welsh-language poets Chaired bards Crowned bards Welsh Eisteddfod archdruids Welsh Congregationalist ministers