Rhiannon Ifans | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (age 69–70) |
| Education | University of Aberystwyth Welsh language and literature |
| Employer | University of Wales Trinity St. David - retired |
| Known for | Welsh and Celtic medieval literature |
| Notable work | Chwedlau o'r gwledydd Celtaidd (1999); Dewi Sant (2001); Ingrid (2019) |
| Awards | Tir na n-Og Award (2000, 2003); Literary Medal National Eisteddfod of Wales (2019) |
| Honours | elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales 2020 |
Rhiannon Ifans, FLSW (born 1954) is a Welsh academic specialising in English, Medieval and Welsh literature. She was an Anthony Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She twice won a Tir na-n-Og prize for her work and won the literary medal competition at the Welsh Eisteddfod, [1] for her 2019 debut novel, Ingrid, which was chosen for the Welsh Literature Exchange Bookshelf (for translation abroad at the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair). [2] In 2020, Ifans was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. [3]
Ifans was a Dyson Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies in University of Wales Trinity St. David. She is general secretary of the Welsh Folk Song Society [4] and editor of the annual journal Canu Gwerin / Folk Song. [5] Ifans has published formal monographs and popular versions for adults and young people (including collaborations for illustration) sharing her knowledge of the Welsh and Celtic literature. [6]
Her collection of Welsh poetry through the ages for St. Valentine's Day (Sant Ffolant in Wales) was published in 2019, Red hearts and roses? [7] and she was invited to give the Cliff Tucker memorial lecture. [8]
A collaboration on Y Mabinogion, a collection of classical medieval Welsh tales was published in 1980. [9] In 1989 she collaborated on an English young person's book, re-telling the ancient fables, The Magic of the Mabinogion, [10] and another called Tales from Wales. [11] Books in a similar illustrated style followed on the Tales of King Arthur [12] on the lives of the patron saint of Wales, St. David (Dewi Sant in Welsh) [13] and in English [14] which won a Tir-an-Og Award and she also wrote about the Apostle Paul, [15] and a 'simple guide to the Christian Gospel'. [16]
Ifans also wrote a version of the tales of the first Prince of Wales, Owen Glendower ( Owain Glendwr ), [17] and in Welsh, a selection of heroic and other traditional tales from Celtic countries, published 1999, Chwedlau o'r gwledydd Celtaidd [18] which won the Welsh Tir na-n-Og prize (2000),; this was translated into English in 2014. [19] Her monograph, an analysis of the writing of Thomas Edwards (Twm o'r Nant) was published in 1998. [20] In 2008, she used Welsh ballads to tell the stories of the gold hunters in rural Australia (Welsh monograph), [21] and another on the poetic debates between Sir Dafydd Trefor and four other poets in the 15th and early 16th century in 2013, [22] and a monograph on Grufydd Llwydd, a poet of love and religious verse (2000). [23]
In 2019, her first fiction work, ebook Ingrid, described as 'a sensitive and unforgettable portrayal of dementia' was nominated for the Welsh Literature Exchange Bookshelf (for translation abroad at the 2019 Frankfurt Book Fair) [2] and had won the Literary Medal Competition at the Conwy County National Eisteddfod of Wales; [24] [25] the writing was called 'crafty, brilliant, original' by the judges, who also commented that '"Few Welsh novels bring the culture of another country to life, but here the Welsh language gives its voice entirely to the German world." [26]
A new book on the rituals and poetry of the winter season is due early in 2022. [27]
In 1999, Chwedlau o'r gwledydd Celtaidd [18] won the Welsh Tir na-n-Og prize (2000) [19] and her book on St David [13] won in 2003, and on Owain Glendwr [17] was a finalist shortlisted in 2001. [1]
In 2019, her ebook Ingrid won a prize in the Literary Medal Competition at the Conwy County National Eisteddfod of Wales. [24] Ifans was elected to the Learned Society of Wales in 2020. [3]
Rhiannon Ifans was born in 1954, and spent her childhood at Carreg Wian farm in Llanidan, Anglesey, and was educated at Gaerwen Primary School and Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni. She studied Welsh language and literature at the University of Aberystwyth. She married Dafydd Ifans and has collaborated with him in some of her work. They have three sons. [1] She is retired and lives in Penrhyn-coch and now has grandchildren in Cardiff. [1]
Euroswydd is a figure in Welsh mythology, the father of Nisien and Efnysien by Penarddun, daughter of Beli Mawr. In the Second Branch of the Mabinogi Penarddun is married to Llŷr, by whom her children are Brân, Branwen, and Manawydan. The circumstances of Nisien and Efnysien's conception are not described, but one of the Welsh Triads mentions that Euroswydd had held Llŷr captive as one of the Three Exalted Prisoners of the Island of Britain; it is likely the traditions are connected.
Penparcau is a village and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, situated to the south of Aberystwyth.
Dr. Geraint Bowen was a Welsh language poet, academic and political activist.
David James Jones, commonly known by his bardic name Gwenallt, was a Welsh poet, critic, and scholar, and one of the most important figures of 20th-century Welsh-language literature. He created his bardic name by transposing Alltwen, the name of the village across the river from his birthplace.
Mimosa was a clipper ship that gained fame for carrying the first Welsh emigrants to South America in 1865.
Dafydd Ifans is a contemporary Welsh language novelist and translator, born in Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, west Wales.
The Tir na n-Og Awards are a set of annual children's literary awards in Wales from 1976. They are presented by the Books Council of Wales to the best books published during the preceding calendar year in each of three awards categories, one English-language and two Welsh-language. Their purpose is "[to raise] the standard of children's and young people's books and to encourage the buying and reading of good books." There is no restriction to fiction or prose. Each prize is £1,000.
Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the county, on the road from Rhydypennau to Borth. To the north of the community lies the village of Dôl-y-bont. The community is called Geneu'r Glyn.
Dewi Morgan, also known by his bardic name "Dewi Teifi", was a Welsh bard, scholar and journalist, who won the Chair at the 1925 National Eisteddfod of Wales in Pwllheli with his important awdl recounting the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod.
Fflur Dafydd is a Welsh novelist, singer-songwriter and musician. Though mainly publishing in Welsh, she also writes in English. She contributes regularly in Welsh to Radio Cymru.
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Myrddin ap Dafydd is a Welsh writer, publisher and chaired bard. In 2018 he was elected Archdruid of Wales.
Thomas Hughes Jones was a Welsh poet and writer from Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) in West Wales. He wrote several collections of stories and contributed to various journals, including Welsh Outlook, throughout his career. In 1940 he won the Literature Medal for his story, "Sgweier Hafila", at the National Eisteddfod. His pen name was generally abbreviated to "T. Hughes Jones".
Peniarth Manuscript 259B, known as Pomffred since it had previously been owned by the constable of Pontefract Castle, is a version of the Laws of Hywel Dda. Aneurin Owen assigned this manuscript the siglum Z in his Ancient laws and institutes of Wales. It is one of the Peniarth Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales. It was transcribed in the mid-sixteenth century by two hands: Richard Longford and his amanuensis, from an earlier exemplar owned by Einion ab Addain, who was serving a prison sentence in Pontefract at the time that it was copied.
Peniarth Manuscript 32 is a fifteenth-century volume of the laws of Hywel Dda that contains a brief chronicle from Gwrtheyrn Gwrtheneu to King John, Paul's Vision, the Tree of the Cross, Brutus Saxonum, and various englynion. It is beautifully written on vellum in the hand of the scribe responsible for the Mabinogion in the Red Book of Hergest, and is bound in white vellum.
Manon Steffan Ros is a Welsh novelist, playwright, games author, scriptwriter and musician. She is the author of over twenty children's books and three novels for adults, all in Welsh. Her award-winning novel Blasu has been translated into English, under the title of The Seasoning. In May 2021 she was described as "arguably the most successful novelist writing in Welsh at the moment". In June 2023 she won the Yoto Carnegie Medal for The Blue Book of Nebo, her English translation of her novel Llyfr Glas Nebo.
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