Next year’s Eisteddfod host area notched up yet another winner today as Llŷr Gwyn Lewis stood up to the sound of the Corn Gwlad in the final ceremony of the week – the Chairing – at the Ceredigion National Eisteddfod.
The Chair is presented this year for an awdl or a collection of poems in strict metre on more than one of the traditional measures – up to 250 lines – on the subject of Traeth (Beach). The adjudicators were Idris Reynolds, Emyr Lewis and Twm Morys.
It was quite a competition this year, and, delivering the adjudication on behalf of his fellow judges, Idris Reynolds said "I’ve got to admit that I’ve been dreading this competition for two years. What would it be like to judge poems from 2020 in 2022 bearing in mind the two strange years we’ve had? The closing date for this competition and the beginning of the first lockdown period happened at the same time, and the Eisteddfod decided to freeze the competition rather than extend the closing date. I have to say that I, and many others, felt it was a mistake at the time.
“But when received the entries, I realised that the Eisteddfod was right - because it was an excellent competition. To begin with, fourteen had competed - the largest number for over thirty years. On top of that, all of them knew what we needed. Working on an awdl is no small feat and I believe all fourteen deserve credit for their efforts.
“I feel that the standard throughout is quite a bit higher than the norm. At least two-thirds of them would win chairs in regional eisteddfodau. And, the standard at the top was exceptionally high. After going through them all, there were five left on the table to be seriously considered for the Chair here in Ceredigion, and we could have chaired any one of the five with a clear conscience...”
He went on to talk about the awdl: “The poet tells the story of a father, mother and a two-year old boy spending a Bank Holiday on Llangrannog beach in his collection thirteen poems. The first is about the arrival, the last with the departure, while the rest deal with the usual seaside holiday activities such as collecting shells, building sandcastles and buying an ice cream.
“But there is much more to it than that. The poet is very aware of the big problems of our time - climate change, plastic waste, the harmful effects of tourism and the decline of the Welsh language in its heartlands - they are all here under the sand together with more personal worries such as the process of getting older, family responsibilities and the pile of emails that await answers.
“There is also a sea of emotions from anger to tenderness, from cynicism to affection – and a willingness to laugh at his own efforts.
“And underneath it all there is an awareness of how powerless man is to stop the eternal tide.
“Personally I put him in the lead because of his lyrical talent and also because he, above all, tackles the topic set for the competition.
“Emyr Lewis also puts him ahead, narrowly, and I quote 'for his subtlety, insight and intimate affection and for recounting the complex and humorous experience of being a Welsh parent on Llangrannog beach'.
“So, by two votes to one, in an excellent competition, we award the Chair to Cnwt Gwirion.”
Llŷr lives in Cardiff and grew up in Caernarfon. He was educated at Ysgol y Gelli and Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, and also learned a lot at Ysgol Glanaethwy, before going to study at Cardiff and Oxford Universities. After a period as a lecturer in Swansea and Cardiff, he is about to come to the end of a very happy period as a resource editor with WJEC.
Ceredigion is already close to his heart, as he won the chair of the Urdd Eisteddfod for the first time in Llanerchaeron in 2010 before winning again in Swansea in 2011. He came second for the chair of the National Eisteddfod in 2017 and third in 2018, and close as well as for the prose medal in 2016. He has published two volumes of poetry and two volumes of prose.
He also enjoys performing his poems live, and his greatest poetic education has been taking part in poetic competitions with other poets. Some of the greatest influences on his work include this year’s judges and the Archdruid, and also fellow members of the Ffoaduriaid and Penceirddiaid poetry teams and Bragdy’r Beirdd.
Llŷr has no idea where to start thanking, as his debt is so immense to so many different people. He really hopes they all know how grateful he is to them. But when it comes to the cynghanedd, he pays particular tribute to Dei Fôn Williams and Llion Jones for giving him such solid foundations years ago. And he thanks his family above everyone else, especially his parents, his grandparents, his brother and sister, and to Lowri, Math and Gwern.
Rees Thomas, Bow Street, designed and created the Chair this year. A former woodwork teacher at Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig, Aberystwyth, he says, "I was inspired by the flow patterns of the River Teifi as it meanders from the Elenydd hills through the county and to the sea near Cardigan. As well as creating a Chair that takes its place on the stage of our Eisteddfod, I was also keen to create a piece of furniture that is suitable for the home."
Rees worked on the plan with his wife, Mary, and they both got help fromo one of his former pupils, Aled Richards, to flatten the wood and to cut the mortises. The Chair itself is made from an oak tree, and Rees said when discussing the design on its back, "I have borrowed the idea of including the intricate mark and the name of Ceredigion from the Gorsedd Circle at Aberystwyth Castle. These are made from bog oak from Cors Fochno near Y Borth in the north of the county. According to experts, the peat bog dates back at least four thousand years."
The red kite also features prominently on the back of the Chair, and according to Rees, the image is based on a painting by his friend, Wynne Melville Jones. "I wanted to celebrate the huge success of the campaign to save and develop the species, especially in the area in the middle of the county around Tregaron, and the relevance of that conservation campaign from the point of view of our struggle to ensure the future of our language."
The Chair is sponsored by the Aberystwyth Men's Dinner Circle, and the financial prize is given in loving memory of Eluned and W Ambrose Bebb, by their children and grandchildren.
The Cyfansoddiadau a Beirniadaethau, which includes the full adjudication for this competition and the winners of all the other composition winners at this year’s Eisteddfod will be published at the end of the ceremony.