D. Gwenallt Jones
Encyclopedia
Gwenallt poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

, critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

, and scholar, was one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature.http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s2-JONE-JAM-1899.html

Early life

He was born in Pontardawe
Pontardawe
Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...

, Glamorganshire, the eldest son of Thomas ‘Ehedydd’ Jones and his wife Mary. Conscripted into the Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in 1917 during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he declared himself a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....

 and was imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the Borough, at 80 ha , and one of the largest areas of common land in London...

 and Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

 from June 1917 to May 1919, an experience he wrote about in his 1934 novel Plasau'r Brenin. In 1919 he enrolled at University College Wales, Aberystwyth, where he met the writer Idwal Jones
Idwal Jones (writer)
Idwal Jones was both a novelist and non-fiction writer at the turn of the twentieth century. Jones focused a lot of his writing on the beauty and population boom in California and the west....

 whose biography he was to write in 1958.http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s2-JONE-JAM-1899.html

Welsh poet

His poem, Y Mynach, won him the Chair
Chairing of the Bard
The Chairing of the Bard is one of the most important events in the Welsh eisteddfod tradition. The most famous chairing ceremony takes place at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and is always on the Friday afternoon of Eisteddfod week....

 at the National Eisteddfod of Wales
National Eisteddfod of Wales
The National Eisteddfod of Wales is the most important of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales.- Organisation :...

 held in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

 in 1926, and he won the Chair for a second time at Bangor
Bangor, Gwynedd
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

 in 1931. He was a founder member of the Welsh Academy (Academi Gymraeg) and edited its magazine, Taliesin, from 1961 to 1965. On graduating from Aberystwyth with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in Welsh and English, he became a teacher of Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 at Barry County School and later, in 1927, was appointed Lecturer
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...

 in the Welsh Department
Culture of Wales
Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks and daffodils Wales has a distinctive culture including...

 of University College Wales, Aberystwyth.http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7675 Jones took his MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1929 and he was awarded a D.Litt
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...

 honoris causa
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 by the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...

 in 1967. He was an early member of Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

.

Christian themes are present in much of his work, not least in Y Coed, which was published following a visit to the Holy Land
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

He is buried at Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....

. A memorial plaque was placed on his house, Rhydymôr, Ffordd Rheidol, Penparcau
Penparcau
Penparcau is a suburb of Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, Wales.-Location and amenities:The original village was a small hamlet, one mile east of Aberystwyth town centre, but the building of extensive Art Deco style semi-detached social housing from the 1920s on transformed the village...

, Aberystwyth, in 1997.http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s2-JONE-JAM-1899.html

Poetry

  • Ysgubau'r Awen 1939
  • Cnoi Cil 1942
  • Eples 1951
  • Gwreiddiau 1959
  • Y Coed 1969
  • Cerddi Gwenallt: Y Casgliad Cyflawn 2001 (collected works, edited by Christine James)

Other

  • (ed.), Yr Areithiau Pros 1934
  • (ed.), Blodeugerdd o'r Ddeunawfed Ganrif 1936
  • (ed.), Detholiad o Ryddiaith Gymraeg R. J. Derfel 1945
  • Cofiant Idwal Jones 1958
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