Dilys Cadwaladr (19 March 1902 – January 1979) was a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

poet and fiction writer. Her work also gained readers in English translation.

First female crowned bard

Dilys Cadwaladr is notable for being the first woman to win the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

. This she achieved in 1953 at

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

. Her story "The Foolish Maid" appears in English translation in the collection ''My Heart on My Sleeve'' (Honno Welsh Women's Press,

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

, 2013), which remained in print in 2020. Earlier, her story "The Divorce" had appeared in English in 1928 in the periodical "The Welsh Outlook".

Personal life

Cadwaladr had a close relationship with the elderly poet

Dewi Emrys Dewi Emrys was the pen-name of the west Wales poet David Emrys James (28 May 1881 – 20 September 1952), who wrote in the Welsh language. He was born at Majorca House in New Quay, Cardiganshire. His father, Thomas Emrys James, was a minister of t ...

(1881–1952), by whom she had a daughter in 1930. Dilys Cadwaladr lived on

Bardsey Island Bardsey Island (), known as the legendary "Island of 20,000 Saints", is located off the Llŷn Peninsula in the Wales, Welsh county of Gwynedd. The Welsh language, Welsh name means "The Island in the Currents", while its English name refers to t ...

for several years in the 1940s, as a farmer and as the schoolteacher to the island's children.

References

1902 births 1979 deaths Crowned bards 20th-century Welsh poets {{Wales-writer-stub