Geraint Bowen (poet)

Dr. Geraint Bowen (10 September 1915 – 16 July 2011[1]) was a Welsh language poet and academic.

Born in Llanelli, Carmartehnshire, he was the nephew of Carmarthenshire minister David Bowen,[2] and the brother of poet Euros Bowen. He was a Welsh nationalist, and during the Second World War was a conscientious objector, undertaking farming. He was also the Plaid Cymru candidate for Wrexham in the 1950 General Election.[3] In 1946 he won the bardic Chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and from 1978 to 1981 he presided over the Eisteddfod ceremonies as Archdruid. He was also a campaigner against the dumping of nuclear waste and was chairman of the campaign group Madryn.[3]

Bowen's doctoral thesis was a study of Recusant literature in south-east and north-east Wales and he was to write extensively on this subject and other aspects of Welsh religious history during his academic career. Amongst works published by Bowen were an edition of the Recusant Robert Gwyn's Gwssanaeth y gwyr newydd (1970), an edition of Y Drych Kristnogawl (1996) and a history of the Welsh Mormons during the nineteenth century, Ar Drywydd y Mormoniaid (1999). Despite his interest in religious literature and history, he was an avowed atheist.[3]

Works

Poetry

Autobiography

Books

References

  1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/welsh/hi/newsid_9540000/newsid_9541300/9541380.stm
  2. Welsh Biography Online
  3. 1 2 3 "Obituary for Geraint Bowen". The Independent. 04/08/2011. Retrieved 15 January 2016. Check date values in: |date= (help)
Preceded by
R. Bryn Williams
Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales
1978–1981
Succeeded by
James Nicholas


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