The 2023 J. E. Caerwyn and Gwen Williams Memorial Lecture

The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies will host the J. E. Caerwyn and Gwen Williams Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, 6 December.

This Memorial Lecture was established in 2001 in memory of the late Professor J. E. Caerwyn Williams and the late Mrs Gwen Williams. This year’s guest speaker is Professor Jane Aaron.

Professor Jane Aaron is Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, at the University of South Wales. She is the editor of Honno Press’s reprint series ‘Welsh Women’s Classics’, for which she has edited five volumes. Her monographs include Nineteenth-Century Women’s Writing in Wales (2007), which won the 2009 Roland Mathias Award, and Welsh Gothic (2013). She was a co-founder of the UWP series ‘Gender Studies in Wales’. Her latest monograph is Cranogwen (UWP, 2023).

The lecture will be entitled ‘ “O’r glynnoedd i’r goleuni”: Gwleidyddiaeth Beirdd y Meysydd Glo’. J. E. Caerwyn Williams was born in 1912 in the industrial village of Gwauncaegurwen, Glamorganshire, the son of a miner. This lecture will take into account the rich Welsh culture in which he grew up, with its many generations of poets, many of whom began their careers working in the mines. According to some critics of the second half of the twentieth century, their literature was weak in its politics: they were satisfied with portraying the miner as a passive martyr, resisting the early socialism of the time. However, today, in the age of climate change, one can see in the work of many of them an alternative anti-capitalist politics, and green politics in particular. ‘Leave the coal in the ground’ is the message of some of the Welsh poets, or that is, at least, what is argued in this lecture.

Professor Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, Director of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, said, ‘We are delighted that Professor Jane Aaron will present this year’s Gwen and J. E. Caerwyn Williams Memorial Lecture. She has contributed substantially to Welsh scholarship over many years, often bringing under-represented or overlooked voices and lives to the fore. Her recent biography of Cranogwen is a prime example of how her research connects the past with the pressing issues facing our world today. We look forward to her lecture.’

The lecture will be held in the Drwm, National Library of Wales, and online on Wednesday, 6 December 2023, at 5.30pm. Email cawcs@wales.ac.uk to register.

This lecture will be in Welsh.

Note to Editor

Contact: Dr Angharad Elias (Admin Officer) a.elias@wales.ac.uk

1. The Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies (CAWCS) was established by the University of Wales in 1985 as a dedicated research centre conducting team-based projects on the languages, literatures, culture and history of Wales and the other Celtic countries. It is located in Aberystwyth, adjacent to the National Library of Wales, which is an internationally renowned copyright library with excellent research facilities.

2. CAWCS offers unique opportunities for postgraduate students to work alongside specialists in a dynamic and supportive environment. We welcome enquiries about MPhil/PhD topics in any of our research areas. For more information about research opportunities, or for an informal chat about possible topics, contact our Head of Graduate Studies, Dr Elizabeth Edwards: e.edwards@wales.ac.uk

3. CAWCS is the home of the Dictionary of the Welsh Language

Further Information

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