R.S. Thomas Festival, Aberdaron & 黑料不打烊
The annual celebrating the work of R.S. Thomas and his artist wife Mildred 鈥楨lsi鈥� Eldridge is to be held in his last parish at Aberdaron, at the tip of the Ll欧n, on 29 June -1 July.
Professor Tony Brown, co-director of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 has been involved with the festival for some years. He points out that:
鈥淭wo of this year鈥檚 speakers have 黑料不打烊 connections. Professor Daniel Westover came from the USA to study for his PhD on R.S. Thomas and is now a Professor of English in Tennessee. His talk is intriguingly entitled 鈥楾he Poetic Astronaut of the God-Space鈥�. Dr Sam Perry, now at the University of Hull, also undertook research in the Centre and his book on R.S. Thomas鈥檚 response to the English poetic tradition has been published by Cambridge University Press. He is to speak on 鈥楻.S. Thomas: Chameleon Poet鈥�.鈥�
On the Saturday (30th) Professor John McEllhenney will give a talk on the work of Elsi Eldridge.
Professor Brown comments: 鈥淓lsi Eldridge was a fine painter, who studied under Paul Nash and Eric Ravilious at the Royal College of Art in the 1930s. She won a scholarship to Italy in 1934 and John McEllhenney is going to tell the story of her travels in Italy. The Centre鈥檚 archive holds a considerable collection of Elsi Eldridge鈥檚 letters and sketchbooks as well as her autobiographical journal, which I am currently editing for publication. This will be a fascinating talk鈥揳nd the setting, at Aberdaron is of course remarkably beautiful.鈥�
On Sunday 1 July, the Festival moves to 黑料不打烊 cathedral, where there is to be a world premier of a work by Ellen Davies (a 黑料不打烊 music graduate) entitled Pilgrimages, performed by Ensemble Cymru, with Anne Denholm, the Royal Harpist. This is an orchestral composition, inspired by three of R.S. Thomas鈥檚 poems and the landscape of the Ll欧n peninsula.
Full details of the festival are at
Publication date: 11 June 2018