A new poem, commissioned to celebrate our historical connections with Wales, and written by alumnus and acclaimed Welsh poet Llyr Gwyn Lewis (2009, MSt Celtic Studies), has been published today.
In ‘What makes a college?’/’Byth sy’n gwneud coleg?’ Llyr reflects on his time at Jesus College as ‘the little Wales beyond England that welcomes you back each time in a different language’ and explores the universal experiences of all who have studied, lived and worked at Jesus. He has recorded the poem in both English and Welsh, and they are available to watch via the links below. Videography is by Rhydian Lewis.
To listen to the English version of the poem, click here.
To listen to the Welsh version of the poem, click here.
If you would like to read the poem in English, click here
If you would like to read the poem in Welsh, click here
Llyr Gwyn Lewis
About Llyr Gwyn Harris
Raised in Caernarfon, North Wales, Llŷr Gwyn Lewis studied at Cardiff University and the University of Oxford, before completing a doctorate on the work of T. Gwynn Jones and W.B. Yeats. Following periods as a lecturer in Welsh at Swansea and Cardiff universities, he now works as resource editor at the Welsh Joint Education Committee in Cardiff. He has published poetry, fiction and articles in periodicals including Ysgrifau Beirniadol, Poetry Wales, Taliesin and O’r Pedwar Gwynt.
His first prose work, Rhyw Flodau Rhyfel (Some Flowers of War) (Y Lolfa, 2014), won the Creative Non-Fiction category in the 2015 Wales Book of the Year award, and his poetry collection, Storm ar Wyneb Haul (Storm on the Face of the Sun) (Barddas, 2014), was shortlisted in the poetry category. An English translation of Rhyw Flodau Rhyfel will appear from Parthian in 2021 with the title Flowers of War and translated by Katie Gramich.
In 2017 Llŷr was selected as one of the Ten New Voices from Europe for 2017, part of an innovative project, Literary Europe Live. In January 2019 he was one of the authors who took part in a two-city programme of literary debates, theatre, dance and film in Calicut and Mumbai, organised by Literature Across Frontiers and Wales Literature Exchange.