Alan Llwyd

Who is Alan Llwyd?

Alan Llwyd, original name Alan Lloyd Roberts, is a Welsh poet, literary critic and editor, one of the most prolific Welsh-language poets in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Born in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, Alan Llwyd was brought up on a farm at Cilan and was educated at Bangor University. He has been manager of a bookshop at Bala and worked as an editor for the Christopher Davies publishing company and an editorial officer for the Welsh Joint Education Committee.

He published his first volume of poetry Y March Hud in 1971 as Alan Lloyd Roberts, and this has been followed by a series of other volumes. He came to prominence when he achieved the rare feat of winning both the Crown and the Chair at the 1973 National Eisteddfod and then repeated the feat in 1976. On the second occasion there was some controversy, as another popular poet, Dic Jones, lost out on the chair through a technicality.

Llwyd has published collections and studies of the works of other poets, including Goronwy Owen and Hedd Wyn, and wrote the script for the Oscar-nominated Welsh-language film Hedd Wyn about the life of the latter, who was killed in World War I. While most of his books have been on literary themes, he also edited Cymru Ddu = Black Wales, a history of black Welsh people. His biography of Kate Roberts was the subject of an S4C programme in which he was interviewed by Ffion Hague.