Poet Tudur wins the Eisteddfod Chair for a second time

POET Tudur Hallam has won the prestigious National Eisteddfod Chair for the second time.

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It comes following his success in the competition at the Blaenau Gwent and the Heads of the Valleys Eisteddfod in 2010.

The Chair was awarded for an awdl (a long poem in strict metre) or a collection of poems in full cynghanedd, using more than one of the traditional Welsh metres, up to 250 lines, on the theme 'City'.

Tudur lives with his wife, Nia, and their children Garan, Bedo, and Edwy in Foelgastell, Carmarthenshire.

He is Professor Emeritus at Swansea University, where he taught and conducted research in the field of Welsh.

Tudur, who has coached local rugby and football teams, including the Carmarthen-shire under-14 girls' football team, thanked his family and friends for all their expressions of love and support, especially over the past year.

In literary terms, Tudur said he owes a great debt to his teachers at Ysgol Gymraeg Rhydaman and Ysgol Maes yr Yrfa, his university lecturers in Aberystwyth, the talwrn teams he was part of, his colleagues and students in Swansea, his close friend Robert Rhys, and Urdd Gobaith Cymru. Winning the Urdd Literary Medal and Urdd Chair gave him the encouragement to pursue a career in literature.

In 2010, he won the National Eisteddfod Chair, and in 2019, he published a volume of poetry titled Parcio.

This year’s judges were Peredur Lynch, Llŷr Gwyn Lewis, and Menna Elfyn.