David Gwyn Williams

Who is David Gwyn Williams?

Professor David Gwyn Williams, usually known simply as Gwyn Williams was a Welsh poet, novelist, translator and academic.

He was born in Port Talbot and educated at the University College of Wales and Jesus College, Oxford. As an academic he taught at Cairo, Alexandria where he first became Professor of English Literature, Benghazi, and Istanbul. While in Egypt he befriended a number of expat writers including Lawrence Durrell. In Egypt he began to work on translations of Welsh poetry into English, pioneering works which were published during the 1950s. On his retirement in 1969 he returned to Wales and concentrated on writing, producing a series of novels, four travel books, and numerous other works. A fluent Welsh-speaker, he was a committed member of Plaid Cymru.

His friend John Ormond, produced his well-regarded 1972 and 1974 series on Welsh history, The Land Remembers, for the BBC, which was accompanied by his book of the same title.

His autobiography, ABC of G. W, was published in 1981, while his Collected Poems, 1936-86 were published in 1987. Williams died in 1990 in Aberystwyth.

A full bibliography is being created at: www.gwynwilliams.org For permission to use any of his writings please use the contact details on this website.