Rhydwen Williams

Robert Rhydwenfro Williams, known as Rhydwen Williams, (29 August 1916 – 2 August 1997), was a Welsh poet, novelist and Baptist minister. His work is mainly written in his native Welsh language, and is noted for adapting the established style and context of Welsh poetry from a rural and bygone age to that of a modern industrial landscape, while retaining traditional prosody and metre.

Born in Pentre,Rhondda, in 1916 into a miner's family, Williams spent his childhood in the industrial community of the valley before his family moved to Christleton, Cheshire, in 1931 to escape the economic depression. Williams was very unhappy in England and returned to live in the Rhondda in 1941.

Before his return to Wales, Williams worked mainly in menial jobs, and later studied intermittently at both the University College of Swansea and Bangor. A conscientious objector on Welsh nationalist grounds, he served in a Quaker relief unit during the bombing of Liverpool. Williams was given his first pastorate in 1941 in a Baptist chapel in Ynyshir, where he developed his style of poetry. A controversial figure due to his pacifism and nationalism, he was nevertheless a popular minister, with a wonderful voice, comparable with that of Richard Burton. A gifted reader of poetry, he often read for the Welsh Home Service on the BBC.

As a member of the Cadwgan Circle, he mixed with fellow members J. Gwyn Griffiths, Pennar Davies and Gareth Alban Davies, and was especially close to J. Kitchener Davies. From this informal group of like-minded intellectuals, Williams developed a style of writing and literal ethic opposed to eisteddfodic tradition. Amongst his heroes were writers Aldous Huxley, W H Auden and George Orwell.

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