Catrin Dafydd (born c. 1982) [1] is a Welsh author, scriptwriter and poet, who was awarded the Crown at the 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Catrin Dafydd (born c. 1982) [1] is a Welsh author, scriptwriter and poet, who was awarded the Crown at the 2018 National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Dafydd is of a Welsh language family from Gwaelod y Garth, near Cardiff and attended her local Welsh-medium school Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Rhydfelen (now Ysgol Garth Olwg) in the Pontypridd area. [1] [2] She graduated with a degree in Welsh from the University of Aberystwyth. [3]
Dafydd's first Welsh-language novel, Pili Pala, was published in 2006 and her first English-language novel, Random Deaths and Custard, in 2007. [3] [4]
She co-wrote the television drama Ar y Tracs in 2009. [1] She later became one of the writers for the S4C soap opera, Pobol y Cwm . [5]
In August 2018, Dafydd won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, in Cardiff Bay, for a poetry collection on the theme of Olion (Traces), exploring Welshness in the Grangetown area of Cardiff. [5] [6] Archdruid Geraint Llifon caused argument at the award ceremony by claiming that Dafydd could not have achieved her win without men. He later apologised. [7]
Dafydd is an supporter of Welsh independence and has ratified her position in print:
"Someone close to me asked me recently what my obsession with Independence was. I was unequivocally clear. I'm not obsessed with the idea of being independent, but I am obsessed with what being independent would do to our people. All across Wales, from Pembroke Dock to Pontypridd, people are being failed. Paying the price that massive decisions that affect the way we live our lives are being made in London. In the imperialist capital! We are the people best able to make decisions about ourselves. Independence would give us agency, would give our communities sovereignty – would give us the freedom to choose how we want to live our short lives!" [8]
In Welsh culture, an eisteddfod is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term eisteddfod, which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: eistedd, meaning 'sit', and fod, meaning 'be', means, according to Hywel Teifi Edwards, "sitting-together." Edwards further defines the earliest form of the eisteddfod as a competitive meeting between bards and minstrels, in which the winner was chosen by a noble or royal patron.
Archdruid is the title used by the presiding official of the Gorsedd. The Archdruid presides over the most important ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod of Wales including the Crowning of the Bard, the award of the Prose Medal and the Chairing of the Bard. Although Iolo Morganwg was the first to preside over the Gorsedd when the National Eisteddfod came into being, his successor David Griffith, under the bardic name "Clwydfardd", was the first to be known by the official title "Archdruid".
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Gorsedd Cymru, or simply the Gorsedd or the Orsedd, is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and promote their fields in addition to maintaining relationships with other Celtic nations and Y Wladfa in Patagonia. The Gorsedd is most prominent at the National Eisteddfod of Wales where it is responsible for the main ceremonies held.
