John Davies (poet, born 1944)

Last updated

John Davies is a Welsh poet whose first collection, The Strangers, was published in 1974. [1] He was awarded the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize in 1985.

Contents

Early life and career

John Davies was born in 1944 and brought up in Cymmer, [1] a coal mining village in the Afan Valley, some ten miles north of Port Talbot in south Wales. He was the eldest child of Betty Dymond Davies née Chappell [2] of Cymmer and John Vyrnwy Davies [3] from Penclawdd, a coal mining and cockling village on the Gower peninsula. They were married in St John's Church, Cymmer, in 1942. [4]

Davies writes about Cymmer and his family in the first three poems of his 1985 collection, The Visitor's Book, [5] and again in Starting Point in his 1991 collection, Flight Patterns, where he writes: "Where you started from didn't stop because you left...You keep on looking back...You were never meant to leave and can't..." Davies also draws upon his uncle Joseph Chappell, a coal miner in Cymmer, in The Voice Box (in The Visitor's Book) and in Farmland (in Flight Patterns).

Much of Davies' work has been concerned with roots, language and belonging, [6] as Professor Elinor Shaffer has elaborated in her study of literary devolution. [7] Shaffer deals sensitively with what she calls the linguistic divisions within Davies' family, but it's not an issue that Davies shies away from. In his poem, The Visitor’s Book, we learn that his father's first language was Welsh, but his mother's was English. He also tells us that his wife and daughter speak Welsh, but he does not. [8] But these linguistic fissures ran deeper: Davies' Cymmer grandfather, Gomer Chappell, spoke Welsh, as did two of his brothers, but his third brother, Joseph, did not, though Joseph's wife did. [9]

In 1954, the family moved to steel-making and English-speaking Port Talbot, [10] a town with a rich cultural tradition, [11] including connections with the poets Ruth Bidgood, Sally Roberts Jones, Moelwyn Merchant, Dylan Thomas, Edward Thomas and Gwyn Williams. [12]

John Davies attended Dyffryn Grammar School in the town. [13] Some of his early poems were published in The Wayfarer, the school magazine. [14] Davies' English master at Dyffryn was R. Selwyn Davies, [15] remembered as a "revered" teacher who “embraced contemporary poetry.” [16]

After Dyffryn, Davies studied at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth [1] He then taught English at Prestatyn High School, in north Wales, later becoming an extramural tutor in English. [1]

Davies has also taught at the University of Michigan and Washington State University, and he was a visiting professor of Poetry at the Brigham Young University, Utah, 1987–88. [17] Three of his collections, The Visitor's Book (1985), Flight Patterns (1991) and Dirt Roads (1997), include his reflections on his time in America. [18]

Davies' visits to America stimulated an interest in carving, and his wood carvings of birds have since been written about [19] and exhibited, [20] leading one reviewer to note that Davies has "the gift of being a wordsmith and a woodworker - two of the intrinsic crafts of the Welsh tradition." [21] And in John Davies’ case, it was also a craft within his own family's tradition: two of his paternal uncles were woodworkers, [22] as is Davies’ brother. [23]

In 2023, Davies published Bird River, with chapters on wood carving, and on the art of sourcing driftwood along the river, as well as sharing personal portraits of many figures of note in the wood carving and literary spheres. [24]

From 1976 to 1980, Davies was the Reviews Editor for the Anglo-Welsh Review . [25]

He was awarded the Oriel Poetry Prize in 1981. [26]

In 1985, Davies was joint winner, with Vikram Seth, of the Poetry Society's the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize, awarded for his fifth collection, The Visitor's Book, [27] which has been described as "one of the most considerable books of poetry by any Anglo-Welsh poet in many years." [28]

Poetry collections

John Davies has published eight collections of poetry: [29]

North by South was Davies' last collection. An extended review in the literary journal, Acumen, provides a summary evaluation of his work as a whole: "His voice...is assured, confident in its tones and its focus...Reading the volume you get a strong sense of Davies' control over his poems' formal aspects...Davies' subject matter is wide-ranging and he can turn on the form at will...He is a master craftsman..." [30]

Poetry journals, anthologies and broadcasts

John Davies' work has appeared in literary journals and magazines, including Oxford Poetry, Stand, Planet, New Welsh Review,Literature and Belief, Poetry Wales, Stanza, Outposts Poetry Quarterly, The Anglo-Welsh Review, Cumberland Poetry Review, Lines Review, Tar River Poetry, New Mexico Humanities Review,North Dakota Quarterly and The Seattle Review. [31]

Davies has been published in a number of poetry anthologies. [32]

Davies has also read his poems on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio 4 and on BBC Television. [31]

The British Library holds five recordings of Davies reading his poetry, including one reading at the Anglo-Welsh Poetry Festival in 1983. [33]

Edited anthologies

John Davies has edited four anthologies: [34]

Essays on the work of John Davies

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Thomas</span> Welsh poet and writer (1914–1953)

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime; and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". Dylan Marlais Thomas was the son of David John Thomas, a school master, and Florence Hannah Williams who married in 1903 and were living in Sketty Avenue, Sketty, Swansea when the 1911 Census was taken. Their daughter Nancy, born 1906, was not at home with them on Census Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh literature in English</span>

Welsh writing in English, is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dannie Abse</span> Welsh poet and physician, 1923–2014

Daniel Abse CBE FRSL was a Welsh poet and physician. His poetry won him many awards. As a medic, he worked in a chest clinic for over 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maesteg</span> Town and community in Wales

Maesteg ( ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translation of Maesteg is 'fair field'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pascale Petit (poet)</span> French-born British poet

Pascale Petit, is a French-born British poet of French, Welsh and Indian heritage. She was born in Paris and grew up in France and Wales. She trained as a sculptor at the Royal College of Art and was a visual artist for the first part of her life. She has travelled widely, particularly in the Peruvian and Venezuelan Amazon and India.

Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal was a Welsh poet, from Norman stock. He composed primarily in Welsh, but was also responsible for the first known poem in the English language written by a Welshman. His father Hywel Swrdwal was also a poet, and there are doubts as to whether a number of extant works should be attributed to the father or to the son. He is reputed to have composed a history of Wales, but this has not survived.

Christopher Meredith FLSW is a poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator from Tredegar, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Minhinnick</span> Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator

Robert Minhinnick is a Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator. He has won two Forward Prizes for Best Individual Poem and has received the Wales Book of the Year award a record three times.

Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, an independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from Wales and also publishing other literary fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Seren's aim is to bring Welsh literature and culture to a wider audience. The press takes its name from the Welsh word for "star".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Jenkins</span> Anglo-Welsh poet

Nigel Jenkins was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was an editor, journalist, psychogeographer, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction, as well as being a lecturer at Swansea University and director of the creative writing programme there.

Tony Curtis is a Welsh poet who writes in English.

Jeremy Hooker FRSL FLSW is an English poet, critic, teacher, and broadcaster. Central to his work are a concern with the relationship between personal identity and place.

Grahame Clive Davies CVO is a poet, author, editor, librettist, literary critic and former journalist and courtier. He was brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. S. Thomas</span> Welsh poet and Anglican priest (1913–2000)

Ronald Stuart Thomas, published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introducing Song at the Year's Turning (1955), the first collection of Thomas's poetry from a major publisher, predicted that Thomas would be remembered long after he himself was forgotten. M. Wynn Thomas said: "He was the Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn of Wales because he was such a troubler of the Welsh conscience. He was one of the major English language and European poets of the 20th century."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Griffiths (writer)</span> British poet

Brynllyn David Griffiths is a poet and writer, who has worked in Britain and Australia. His poems are often concerned with the ocean and the history of Wales.

Cecil Fleming Biggs was a British sportsman who played rugby union at centre for Cardiff and the Barbarians, and as a Cricketer represented Glamorgan. Biggs was one of six brothers to play rugby for Cardiff, and captained the team for a season in 1904/05. Although he was never capped at an international level, he has been described as "...one of the great uncapped Welsh players."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Coastal Path</span> Coastal long-distance footpath in south Wales

The South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary Coastal Path covers Region H of the larger Wales Coast Path, an 870-mile (1,400 km) long-distance walking route around the whole coast of Wales which opened on 5 May 2012. The South Wales Coast and Severn Estuary stretch is a 109-mile (176 km) in length running from Kenfig Dunes near Port Talbot, South Wales to Chepstow. With five local councils involved in its creation and maintenance, the route goes through a heritage coast, three national nature reserves and three heritage landscapes.

Rhian Edwards is a Welsh poet. Her debut collection of poetry, Clueless Dogs, was named the Wales Book of the Year in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Kinsey</span> Welsh artist (born 1942)

Christine Kinsey is a Welsh painter, now based in Pembrokeshire. She was the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Chapter Workshops and Centre of the Arts, Cardiff, now called the Chapter Arts Centre.

This is a bibliography of some of the novels, the poems and articles of the author Emyr Humphreys and some of the books written about him.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Stephens, M. (1986). The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales. Oxford: Oxford University. pp. 132–133.
  2. ↑ Betty Chappell (1918-2010) was the daughter of Gomer Chappell (1879-1927), the Station Master at Cymmer since 1902, and his wife, Mary (1880-1969). Betty attended St Margaret's boarding school in Bridgend and then worked as a clerical officer for the South Wales Power Co. (Glamorgan Advertiser, July 29, 1932 and August 7, 1942). Gomer, born in Abergwynfi and a Welsh-speaker (1911 census), was active in village life, as a warden at St John’s Church, committee member of the Cymmer Cooperative Society and village events organiser. (The Glamorgan Gazette, at British Newspapers Archive (1910-1927) British Newspapers Archive) The issue of February 25, 1927 describes him as a "zealous churchman" and a member of the Llynfi Lodge of Freemasons, as well as a Companion of the Llynfi Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. Gomer's three brothers were: Joseph (1885-1963), Lloyd's Terrace, Cymmer, coal miner/heavy worker (not a Welsh speaker, 1911 census, though his wife, Annie, was); Harold (1894-1973), Vicarage Terrace, Maesteg, a collierý clerk at Bryn Navigation Colliery, secretary of the Maesteg Conservative and Unionist Assoc. and manager of the Brythonic Male Glee Choir (a Welsh speaker, 1911 census); and the Rev. William Chappell (1877-1941), Rector of St Bride's Minor, Bridgend, a member of the Freemasons and the Royal Order of Moose (a Welsh speaker, as was his wife, Ethel, 1911 census. His obituary notes that "He was a fluent Welsh preacher, and was equally at home in Welsh and English Churches."). Their widowed mother, Arabella (1855-1922), had been born in Somerset, and had moved to Abergwynfi in 1878 (Data on Arabella, who was not a Welsh-speaker, and her sons from the 1911 census and 1939 War Register, from the report of her funeral in The Glamorgan Advertiser, June 2, 1922 and other searches on her sons in the British Newspapers Archive, including The Glamorgan Advertiser 22/2/1929, 7/11/1930, 21/1/1949 and The Glamorgan Gazette 7/2/1941, which has William Chappell's obituary.)
  3. ↑ Vyrnwy Davies b. 1910 was a teacher and the son of Margaret and Alderman William Henry Davies J.P. (1878-1948), a colliery checkweigher (1911 census) and then a colliery director in Penclawdd. (Details of Betty and Vyrnwy’s marriage on August 1st 1942, including the names and occupations of their parents, were taken from the Glamorgan Advertiser, August 7, 1942, p4.) William and Margaret were both born in Llanrhidian. They, and their children, were Welsh-speakers. (1911 census) William was a member of Gower Rural District Council, and also a member of Glamorgan County Council, and chair of its Health Committee. He was an early member of the Independent Labour Party, and represented Gower at the 1909 party conference. His papers are archived at Swansea University: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb217-swcc:mnb/pp/12.
  4. ↑ Glamorgan Advertiser, August 7, 1942
  5. ↑ The three poems are: The visitor's book, The voice box and Squire in: Davies, John (1985). The Visitor's Book. Bridgend: Poetry Wales Press. pp. 9–17.
  6. ↑ Stephens, M. (1998). The New Companion to the Literature of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. pp. 163–164.: "His work has been praised for its formal precision and for its marriage of delicate lyricism with intellectual toughness. It is much concerned with 'the tension between rootedness and flight..'"
  7. ↑ "John Davies has continued to write about home, family and Welsh origins and places, and...is a traditionalist in his frequent use of regular stanza forms and rhyme...he is constantly aware of linguistic and cultural tensions. The reasons may lay partly in his up-bringing in industrial South Wales, and partly within the linguistic divisions within his own family. He does not speak Welsh while those about him do..." Shaffer, Professor E. (1998). Comparative Criticism: Literary Devolution. Cambridge University Press. pp117-119
  8. ↑ It’s the first poem in his 1985 collection, The Visitor’s Book.
  9. ↑ 1911 census at Findmypast and see Note 2
  10. ↑ See Rees, Lynne. "Poetry and Port Talbot". Port Talbot Historical Society. The first five poems in Davies' collection, The Visitor's Book (1985) reflect on living in Cymmer and Port Talbot, and Davies’ return journeys to both. See in particular his poem In Port Talbot. His biography in The Visitor’s Book gives the date of 1954.
  11. ↑ For a full account, see John, A.V. (2015) pp9-65, as well as Jones, S.R. (2009). The town had an operatic society and several choirs, as well as regular competitive musical and literary festivals (eisteddfodau) held in schools, churches and chapels, and a long-standing amateur dramatic tradition that has produced, for example, Ivor Emmanuel, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Di Botcher, Michael Sheen, Rebecca Evans, Rob Brydon and many others. Both John and Jones note that cultural activity was also fostered by groups such as the Port Talbot Historical Society, the Port Talbot Writers' Circle and 'the Port Talbot Literary Society.
  12. ↑ Port Talbot connections: see Stephens, M. ed. (1986) for the entries of Ruth Bidgood p40, Sally Roberts Jones p323, Moelwyn Merchant p395 and Gwyn Williams p646. For more on Edward Thomas and Port Talbot, see James, B. Ll. (1993) and online at "Edward Thomas and Port Talbot". National Library of Wales Journal.. For Dylan Thomas and Port Talbot, see Rees, Lynne. "Poetry and Port Talbot". Port Talbot Historical Society.
  13. ↑ He was a pupil from 1955 to 1963: Dyffryn Grammar/Comprehensive School. "Admission Registers". jisc Archives Hub. His father, J. Vyrnwy Davies, was the history teacher at Dyffryn, where one of his pupils had been the actor, Richard Burton: see Burton, R. (2012) pp50,54. Vyrnwy Davies later became Headmaster at the school: see p33 in Jones, S.R. (2009) on both John Davies and his father, Vyrnwy.
  14. ↑ "The Wayfarer - Dyffryn School - Archives Hub". archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. See in particular the issues for 1959-1962.
  15. ↑ Selwyn Davies had succeeded Philip Burton at Dyffryn in 1945 - see Burton, P.H. (1969) pp87,98 and John, A.V. (2015) pp46,63. Press reviews of some of Selwyn Davies' annual productions of the school play from 1956 to 1970 can be found here: British Newspapers Archive
  16. ↑ Embraced, revered: see John, A.V. (2015) p63 and p157. One of Selwyn Davies’ former pupils has written: “Selwyn Davies became my English teacher and he replaced Mr P.H Burton. I absolutely loved this teacher and enjoyed every lesson…He even made English Grammar palatable.” (See Grace's Blog ) Selwyn Davies was a formative influence on many pupils, not just through his teaching but also the work he did in producing the school plays and The Wayfarer, the school magazine. He also set and adjudicated the essay, poetry, short story, parody, limerick and recitation competitions that were part of the annual St David's Day Eisteddfod. For more on him, see John, A. (2015) pp 63-64, 67, 76, 157
  17. ↑ Stephens, M. (2007) p546.
  18. ↑ The impact of America on Davies’ poetry has been discussed by Thomas, A.(1991)
  19. ↑ Roberts, D. (1993/94) The Bird Carvings of John Davies in Planet, 102, December, Aberystwyth: Planet
  20. ↑ Wall Street International Magazine
  21. ↑ Lloyd, I. (2003) New Book from Prestatyn Poet in Y Glannau/The Waterfront, February, BBC Wales, online at The Waterfront (“ y ddawn i drin geiriau ac i drin coed - dwy grefft gynhenid y traddodiad Cymreig."/ "the gift of being a wordsmith and a woodworker - two of the intrinsic crafts of the Welsh tradition.")
  22. ↑ Davies' uncle, Morien Davies, taught woodwork at Gowerton Grammar School (see the 1946 and 1953 staff photos at Gowertonian Society staff photos). Morien’s brother, Glyn M. Davies, was a colliery carpenter. Vyrnwy, Morien and Glyn are shown with their parents and other siblings on the 1911 census and the 1939 War Register returns for Penlan, Penclawdd at Findmypast
  23. ↑ Gareth Davies, who lives in America, carves fish in wood and paints them. See the Caernarfon Herald, September 30, 2020, and online at Caernarfon Herald While still at junior school, Gareth came second in a national art competition organised by the Western Mail (The Neath Guardian, March 11, 1960). Davies has written about him in three poems in The Visitor's Book (The visitor's book, The bridge and Moontalk), as well as in Picture Time in Davies' earlier collection, At the Edge of Town, and in My Brother Keeps Moving in a later collection, Dirt Roads.
  24. ↑ Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, September 2023.
  25. ↑ See the Anglo-Welsh Review, autumn 1976 vol 3 no.7., editorial.
  26. ↑ Davies, John (1985), The Visitor’s Book, Bridgend: Seren (cover biography).
  27. ↑ https://www.serenbooks.com/book/the-visitors-book/,
  28. ↑ Hooker, Professor J. (1987). The Presence of the Past: Essays on Modern British and American Poetry. Poetry Wales Press. pp. 192–196.
  29. ↑ All eight are listed in Stephens, M. (2007) p546 and all are also listed in the catalogue of the British Library at British Library Catalogue
  30. ↑ Smith, C. J. P. (2003). "Pebbles and Poems". Acumen (May): 113–117.
  31. 1 2 Davies, John (2002). North by South: New and Selected Poems. Bridgend: Seren. p. 151.
  32. ↑ British Library Catalogue and noted by his publisher on page 151 of Davies' last collection, North by South.
  33. ↑ British Library Catalogue
  34. ↑ All four are listed in the catalogue of the National Library of Wales at National Library of Wales

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.