Meic Stephens Explained
Meic Stephens |
Birth Date: | 23 July 1938 |
Birth Place: | Treforest, Glamorgan, Wales |
Death Place: | Cardiff, Wales |
Occupation: | Literary editor, journalist, author, teacher, university professor |
Notable Works: | The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales (1986) |
Meic Stephens, FLSW (23 July 1938 – 2 July 2018)[1] [2] was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet.[3]
Birth and education
Meic Stephens was born on 23 July 1938 in the village of Treforest, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan. He was educated at Pontypridd Boys' Grammar School[1] and then studied at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, graduating in 1961, at the University of Rennes, Brittany, and the University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd.[4]
Career
From 1962 to 1966 he taught French at Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire. In Merthyr Tydfil he established the Triskel Press and in 1965 he began the periodical, Poetry Wales. He learnt Welsh as an adult, and became a member of the Welsh Language Society (Welsh: Cymdeithas yr Iaith Cymraeg) and of Plaid Cymru.
After working for the Western Mail for almost a year, from 1967 to 1990 Stephens was literature director of the Welsh Arts Council. Before retiring he was professor of Welsh Writing in English at the University of Glamorgan. He was also a visiting professor in the English department of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Stephens is credited as the first person to create the Welsh: [[Cofiwch Dryweryn]] graffiti near Llanrhystyd, Ceredigion.[5] This painted slogan has come to be regarded as an unofficial "national landmark" commemorating Capel Celyn, a Welsh-speaking village near Bala, which was destroyed by the construction of the Llyn Celyn reservoir in the early 1960s.[6]
Writings
Stephens wrote many articles about literature in Wales for the Western Mail, as well as obituaries of eminent Welsh people for The Independent. He took a particular interest in the life and work of Rhys Davies, the novelist and short story writer, and founded and served as secretary of the Rhys Davies Trust, which promoted the writing of short fiction in Wales.[7] [8]
Stephens's works include:
- Linguistic Minorities in Western Europe (1976. J. D. Lewis)
- Green Horse (1978.)
- [ed.] The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales (1986; republished in 1998 as The New Companion to the Literature of Wales. Oxford University Press)
- Illuminations: An Anthology of Welsh Short Prose (1998. Welsh Academic Press)
- A Most Peculiar People: Quotations About Wales and the Welsh (1992. University of Wales Press)
- Little Book of Welsh Quotations (1997. Appletree Press)
- A Pocket Guide Series: Wales in Quotation (1999. University of Wales Press)
- Welsh Names for Your Children: The Complete Guide (2000. Y Lolfa)
- The Literary Pilgrim in Wales: A Guide to the Places Associated with Writers in Wales (2000. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch)
- A Semester in Zion: A Journal with Memoirs (2003. Gwasg Carreg Gwalch)
- Yeah, Dai Dando (2008. Cinnamon )[9]
- A Bard for Highgrove: A Likely Story (2010. Cambria Books)
- Cofnodion – Hunangofiant (2012. Y Lolfa)
- Welsh Lives – Gone but Not Forgotten (2012. Y Lolfa)
- (2013. Parthian Books)
- Wilia – Cerddi 2003–2013 (2014. Cyhoeddiadau Barddas)
- My Shoulder to the Wheel (2015. Y Lolfa)
- The Old Red Tongue: An Anthology of Welsh Literature (2017. Francis Boutle Publishers)
- More Welsh Lives (2018. Y Lolfa)
- Luis Núñez Astrain, The Basques: Their Struggle for Independence (translation) (1997. Welsh Academic Press)
Honours
In 2016, Stephens was elected as a fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.[10]
Stephens was honoured as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University in 2018.[11]
Death
Stephens died in Cardiff on 2 July 2018.[12] He had four children; his son Huw Stephens is a radio and television presenter.
External links
Notes and References
- News: Adams . Sam . Meic Stephens obituary . 6 July 2018 . The Guardian . 5 July 2018.
- News: Prolific Welsh journalist and scholar Meic Stephens dies. 3 July 2018. 3 July 2018. BBC Wales.
- News: Shipton. Martin. Tributes to the great Welsh writer Meic Stephens, who has died aged 79. 4 July 2018. WalesOnline. 8 March 2020.
- Book: Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales. Oxford University Press. 1986. 0-19-211586-3. Stephens. Meic. Oxford. 562.
- Web site: Vandals deface famous Cofiwch Dryweryn memorial . Morgon . Siôn . 24 February 2014 . . 5 August 2018 .
- News: 'National landmark' Cofiwch Dryweryn is defaced . 29 April 2010 . .
- Web site: Remembering Meic Stephens. Phil Morris. 4 July 2018. Wales Arts Review.
- Web site: About the Trust. 2020. 'the' Rhys Davies Trust. 8 March 2020.
- News: Treforest man's new book. 23 October 2008. WalesOnline. 8 March 2020.
- Web site: Wales . The Learned Society of . Meic Stephens . 2023-08-22 . The Learned Society of Wales . en-US.
- Web site: The author Meic Stephens honoured as Fellow. 16 May 2018. University of Aberystwyth. 4 July 2018.
- GRO Death Index. Stephens, Meic. DOR Q3/2018 in Cardiff (890-1D). Entry Number: 517558573.