Preferred citation: EER9
Published
The series consists of papers relating to the organising of events by the English Language Section of the Academi in 1982.
Arranged chronologically.
Preferred citation: EER9/1
The English Language Section of the Academi organised an evening to celebrate the work of Gwyn Thomas entitled 'Laughter before Nightfall (or The Man who Rubbed the Rainbow)'. The evening was directed by John Ormond and was presented by Gerald James and Ray Smith on 18 May at the Sherman Theatre.
Published
The file contains correspondence and various papers relating to the organising of the Gwyn Thomas memorial evening.
Preferred citation: EER9/2
The American/Canadian tour was undertaken in October 1982 by Gillian Clarke, Robert Minhinnick and Alun Richards . The tour was organised by the English Language Section of the Academi and the itinary included taking part in the International Festival of Authors in Harbourfront, Toronto. John Ormond was originally part of the team but had to pull out and was replaced by Alun Richards. After the festival, Gillian Clarke and Robert Minhinnick undertook a tour to destinations including New York, Boston, Princeton and Washington. Some readings were arranged for Alun Richards in Canada.
Gillian Clarke is a poet, writer, editor and broadcaster.
Gillian Kieft Williams was born in Cardiff in 1937, the daughter of Ceinwin and Penri Williams. Her mother originated from Denbighshire and her father was a native of Carmarthenshire, and although both parents spoke Welsh their children were educated through the medium of English. She attended schools in Barry, Penarth and Porthcawl, and read English at University College, Cardiff, where she graduated in 1958. She spent two years working as a researcher in the News Information Department for the BBC in London, before returning to Wales. In 1960 she married Peter Clarke and devoted the following years to raising their three children.
Gillian Clarke's poems were first published in Poetry Wales in 1970, and she was soon recognised as one of the leading Welsh poets writing in English. Her first collection of poems, Snow on the mountain, was published in 1971, followed by The sundial (1978), Letter from a far country (1982), Letting in the rumour (1989), The King of Britain's daughter (1993), Five fields (1998), and Making the beds for the dead (2004). A volume of Selected poems was published in 1985 and her Collected poems appeared in 1997. Commissioned poems include Nine Green Gardens (2000), Owain Glyn Dwr (2000), and Bioverse (2000); and some have been performed on radio, e.g. 'Talking in the dark' (1975), and 'Letter from a far country' (1979). In addition, she has written poems for children, including The Animal Wall (1999), and her work has been published in various anthologies and is studied by GCSE and A-Level students. Essays, articles, short stories and reviews by Gillian Clarke have appeared in numerous publications. In recent years she has written several plays which have been performed in theatre and on radio, including 'The Blue Man' (2000) and 'Letter from a far country' (2004, adapted from the poem of the same title).
Although Welsh is her second language, the language and culture are an inherent feature of her writing, as is the rural background to much of her work and her experiences as a woman. She has learnt Welsh and published poems in the language, and occasionally incorporates elements of Welsh-language writing, such as traditional Welsh metres and vocabulary, in her English work. Stories translated by her from Welsh were published in One Moonlit Night (1991), and she has translated Welsh poems into English, most notably those by Menna Elfyn.
Gillian Clarke has held various freelance teaching posts over the years. She was a lecturer in art history at Gwent College of Art and Design between 1975 and 1984. In 1984-1985 she held a writing fellowship at St. David's University College, Lampeter, and has tutored students on an M.Phil. course in Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan since 1994. She has taught creative writing to school children and adults for a number of years and organised and participated in poetry workshops and readings in England and Wales. She has travelled abroad on writers' exchange visits, given poetry readings and lectures as far afield as Europe and the United States, and her work has been translated into several languages. In 1971 she became reviews editor of The Anglo-Welsh Review, and succeeded Roland Mathias as editor of the journal from 1976 to 1984.
Gillian Clarke is a member of Academi and a past Chair of Yr Academi Gymreig (English Language Section). In 1990 she co-founded Tŷ Newydd, and has been President of the writers' centre in North Wales; she was also appointed Chair of the Taliesin Trust in 1989. She has been honoured by Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Swansea Colleges of the University of Wales, and in 1997 a volume of essays, poems and tributes by other writers and critics, edited by Menna Elfyn, Trying the Line, was compiled to mark her sixtieth birthday.
She lives with her second husband on a smallholding in Talgarreg, Ceredigion.
Published
The file contains correspondence and papers relating to the organising of the tour, 1908-1982, and includes letters and reports from Gillian Clarke, Robert Minhinnick and Alun Richards. There is also correspondence with American and Canadian writers including Joseph Clancy; correspondence with the British Council and with the British American Arts Association.
Preferred citation: EER9/3
The Usk Valley Project was a community arts event which took place in the valley between April and August 1982. A team of seven community artists with specialist theatrical skills in playwriting, directing, costume and graphics, took up residence in the Usk Valley in order to involve local people in the new community arts project. The project was initially funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation but received further financial assistance from major funding bodies including the Welsh Arts Council, the South East Wales Arts Association and the Development Board for Rural Wales. The project's director was Joan Mills, former director of Theatre Powys.
Published
The file contains correspondence and papers relating to the organizing of the project, 1981-1982; a script for one of the performances entitled 'The Cuckoo'; and publicity material.
Preferred citation: EER9/4
Published
The file contains a circular letter regarding a possible series of readings in South Wales for Lloyd Reckord, the Jamaican actor and director, together with information on his performances.
Preferred citation: EER9/5
Published
The file contains correspondence and other papers, 1981-1982, relating to the organising of a New Poetries/Drama course in Trefeca College, Brecon. The course was to include readings by Paula Claire and one of the tutors was to be Bob Cobbing. However, the course had to be cancelled due to a rail strike. Bob Cobbing sought recompense through his solicitor and correspondence relating to his claim is included in the file.
Preferred citation: EER9/6
The Welsh Arts Council and the Academi held a conference in October 1982 at Dyffryn Houses near Cardiff to mark Margaret Atwood's visit to Wales to receive the Welsh Arts Council's International Writer's Prize for 1982. Other participants included Bery Bainbridge, Fay Weldon, Angela Carter, Emma Tennant, Ruth Fainlight and Eigra Lewis Roberts.
Published
The file contains correspondence and other papers, 1982, relating to the organising of a conference entitled 'Imagined Realities in conemporary women's writing' and includes correspodence with the participants.
Preferred citation: EER9/7
In the Autumn of 1982, the English Language Section of the Welsh Academi ran a second series of writing workshops aimed primarily at unemployed people. Four new workshops were set up in Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Barry and in the Rhondda. The workshops again received funds from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and ran from October to December.
Published
The file contains correspondence, reports, publicity material and other papers relating to the organising of the workshops, 1982-1983.
For papers relating to the 'Write about it' pilot scheme see EER7/4
Preferred citation: EER9/8
Published
The file contains a list of the names and addresses of festival organisers together with publicity material on the Birmingham, Cheltenham and Contemporary Arts festivals, 1982.
Preferred citation: EER9/9
Published
The file contains correspondence and papers, 1982, relating to the organising of a creative writing weekend entitled 'Creative Writing: Short Story', held in the Hill Residential College, Abergavenny. The tutors were G. O. Jones, Moira Dearnley and Peter Finch was the guest reader.
Preferred citation: EER9/10
Published
The file contains correspondence and papers, 1982, relating to the organising of an evening of poetry reading by Jean Earle and Andrew Motion at St Donats in July 1982.
Preferred citation: EER9/11
Published
The file contains correspondence, quiz papers and various other papers relating to the literary quiz night held at the Oriel in Cardiff. Many prominent writers contributed rounds and there are letters from Glyn Jones, Roland Mathias, Peter Finch, John Tripp, Meic Stephens and others.
Preferred citation: EER9/12
Sally Roberts Jones was invited to represent the Academi at the 19th International October Writers Meeting in Belgrade. Some sponsorship for the trip was provided by the British Council.
Published
The file contains correspondence, 1982-1983, regarding the organising of the visit to the International Writers Meeting in Belgrade; a report by Sally Roberts Jones on the visit to Yugoslavia; together with a conference programme.
Preferred citation: EER9/13
Published
The file contains correspondence and papers relating to the organising of a weekend conference entitled 'Writers and Radio' at Trefeca College, Brecon in November 1982.