Grahame Davies

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Grahame Davies

CVO
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Coedpoeth, Wales
Occupationpoet, author, librettist, editor and literary critic
Education
Website
grahamedavies.com

Grahame Clive Davies CVO (born 1964) is a poet, author, editor, librettist, literary critic and former journalist. He was brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales.[1][2][3]

Education

After gaining a degree in

T.S. Eliot and Simone Weil, whom he identified as part of an anti-modern trend in Western culture in the 20th Century.[3]

Work

His career as a journalist and producer between 1986 and 2012 brought him a number of Welsh and industry awards. In 1997, his first volume of poetry, Adennill Tir (Barddas), a book arising from the 10 years he spent in Merthyr Tydfil in the south Wales Valleys, won the Harri Webb Memorial Prize.[3]

In 1999, his study of Wales and the anti-modern movement, Sefyll yn y Bwlch (University of Wales Press, 1999), the product of his doctoral research, was published. It went "straight to the front rank of criticism of our day," according to the critic Dr Dafydd Glyn Jones (Barn), and was described as "a signal book" by the critic Dr Angharad Price (New Welsh Review). In 2000, he co-edited Oxygen (Seren), a bilingual anthology of Welsh poets aged under 45.[3]

In 2001, his second volume of poetry, Cadwyni Rhyddid (Barddas), appeared. It went to a second edition within a few months of publication, won the

Jewish people as reflected in literature.[3][4]

Also in 2002, he edited a 160-page edition of the Bulgarian literary magazine Plamak (“Flame”) dedicated to Welsh literature, the first such anthology of Welsh writing in the Balkans. In 2002 Ffiniau/Borders appeared from Gomer press, a bilingual volume of poetry jointly with Elin ap Hywel.[3][5]

In 2003, he chaired the panel of judges for the Welsh Book of the Year Awards. The first prize of £5,000 went to Jerry Hunter's Llwch Cenhedloedd.[6] In 2004 his first novel Rhaid i Bopeth Newid was published by Gomer. It was longlisted for the £10,000 Book of the Year prize, 2005, and was described by Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas in the Welsh poetry periodical Taliesin as 'the first post-national novel.' Also in 2004, his selection of Welsh poetry in Asturian translation appeared in Spain from Kêr ar Mor press under the title Nel país del borrina (The Country of the Clouds). In 2005, his selection of Welsh poetry in Galician translation appeared under the title of No país de la brétema from VTP Editorial.[3]

He was a board member of the Welsh

National Eisteddfod in 1994 and 2022, the sonnet prize in 2004 and 2016, the Poem Suitable for Song prize in 2017 and the Welsh Academi's Stomp competition in 2001. His work has been translated into several languages, including English, German, Latvian, Maltese, Bulgarian, Polish, Asturian and Galician, and is widely anthologised, appearing in publications as diverse as The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Poetry London, the Literary Review in America, and the Yearbook of Welsh Writing in English.[3] His poem 'Departed' was Poem of the Week in The Guardian
.

He is a frequent contributor of articles and reviews to journals such as Poetry Wales, Barn, Taliesin, Planet and New Welsh Review, and his poetry is on the syllabus for school pupils in Wales. He was a regular columnist with Barddas. He reads regularly at festivals and venues, including the Berlin Poesiefestival, the

Sir Karl Jenkins, Paul Mealor
, Sarah Class, Debbie Wiseman, Tom Harrold, Roderick Williams, Peter Boyer and Joanna Gill.

For the 2023 coronation of Charles III, Davies' text Sacred Fire was set to a composition by Sarah Class and performed by South African soprano Pretty Yende.[7]

Selected publications

Contributed to:

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Grahame Davies | Seren Books".
  2. ^ "Grahame Davies - Authors". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Davies, Grahame". The Writers of Wales Database. Literature Wales. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  4. ^ "BBC CYMru'r BYD - Adloniant - Llyfrau".
  5. ^ "Elin Ap Hywel (poet) - United Kingdom - Poetry International". Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
  6. ^ "BBC - Cymru - Enillwyr y blynyddoedd".
  7. ^ Limbu, Dawn; PA Media (16 April 2023). "Bristol composer's pride in writing music for King's coronation". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  8. ^ "2020 Birthday Honours". The London Gazette.
  9. ^ "CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD". London Gazette. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
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