The winner of this year’s Prose Medal is Lleucu Roberts, and this is the second time for her to win one of the Eisteddfod’s main prizes this week .
Lleucu Roberts won the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize on Tuesday night.
In 2014, Lleucu became the first person to win the prose ‘double’, winning both the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize and the Prose Medal during the same week, and this year sees her repeat her amazing feat.
As organisers had already received the adjudications for the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize at the Ceredigion National Eisteddfod back at the beginning of 2020, they decided to open the successful sealed envelope this year and honour the winner, to support the books industry during such a difficult period. So, Lleucu tonight receives the National Eisteddfod Prose Medal and £750, donated by the Friends of the National Library of Wales.
The judges were Rhiannon Ifans, Elwyn Jones and Elfyn Pritchard, and this year's Medal is presented for a volume of creative prose of no more than 40,000 words, on the subject 'Clymau' (Knots). This was a closely-fought competition this year, with much praise for Corryn's work, as well as Cwmwl's volume, ‘Y Stori Orau’.
Elfyn Pritchard said in his adjudication, “To me, this volume stands shoulder to shoulder with the best volumes that have won this competition in recent years.”
Elwyn Jones added, "Although the expression seems straightforward the author knows exactly how to manipulate words and there are subtle touches mixed with catchy comments about life and by re-reading the work, I discovered some extra layers of meaning every time. This is a writer who is a master at communicating the relationships of characters with each other.”
Rhiannon Ifans, winner of the Prose Medal at the Conwy County National Eisteddfod, delivered the adjudication on behalf of her fellow judges, and said, “So how will it be? For me, my winner is Corryn and I would award the Medal to her or him.
“But there are three of us, and it hasn’t been a unanimous decision. My co-adjudicators believe that Cwmwl’s volume about Swyn, her mother and the VW van is the winner. Many congratulations to this writer for captivating us with his or her talent.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner of this year’s Prose Medal is Cwmwl, and we very much congratulate our worthy winner.”
Lleucu is originally from Llanfihangel Genau’r Glyn (Llandre) in Ceredigion, but has lived in Rhostryfan near Caernarfon for nearly three decades. She attended Ysgol Rhydypennau in Bow Street, and Ysgol Penweddig in Aberystwyth, where she was inspired to write by her Welsh teachers, Alun Jones and Mair Evans. She graduated in Welsh from Aberystwyth University and gained a PhD in the field of medieval poetry under her tutor, the late Bobi Jones.
She worked as editor for Y Lolfa press for a time, but she now makes a living mostly from translating, primarily for Testun Cyf. Over the years, she has written for radio and television and has been a scriptwriter on numerous drama series, both on radio and TV.
Her work includes seven novels and two volumes of short stories for adults and eight novels for children and young people. She won the Urdd Eisteddfod chair at Pwllheli in 1982, has won the Tir na n-Og prize twice for her novels for young people, Annwyl Smotyn Bach and Stwff, and the Daniel Owen memorial prize (for her novel Rhwng Edafedd) and the fiction medal (for Saith Oes Efa, a volume of short stories) at the Carmarthenshire National Eisteddfod in 2014. She won the Golwg360 people’s prize for Saith Oes Efa as part of the Welsh Book of the Year ceremony in 2015.
She and her husband, Arwel ‘Pod’ Roberts, have four children and a grand-daughter. She counts herself extremely fortunate to have spent months in a bubble with her grand-daughter, who was born last October. Although she wasn’t inspired to write much during the lockdown, she says that it deepened further still her appreciation of her family’s company.
With the traditional Maes Eisteddfod postponed again this year, organisers, the Gorsedd and the broadcasters have been working together to create ceremonies which are both dignified and safe. Christine James, Gorsedd Recorder, said, “Naturally, the circumstances this year have forced us to make a number of changes: a small audience, a limited number of Gorseddogion, and some things have had to be done in a slightly different way - with the ceremonies held in the evenings, and on different days.
“But there are many familiar elements too: the Archdruid procession, the Gorsedd Prayer and the Corn Gwlad. And the dignity and splendor is just the same, as is the thrill of revealing whether anyone has reached the judges’ high standards this year!”
The Cyfansoddiadau a Beirniadaethau includes the full adjudication for this competition and the winners of all the other composition winners at this year’s Eisteddfod. The volume is available to buy at all good bookshops and online from Saturday 7 August.