Daniel Westover is Professor of English and Chair of Literature and Language at East Tennessee State University. He is the author of R.S. Thomas: A Stylistic Biography and several articles on Thomas’s poetry. Daniel’s most recent book is The Fire that Breaks: Gerard Manley Hopkins’s Poetic Legacies. His chapter on Hopkins’s years in North Wales is forthcoming in Gerard Manley Hopkins in Context. Daniel was a speaker at the 2018 Festival.
Nicola Slee is a poet theologian who has published widely in the fields of feminist theology, spirituality and liturgy. She is professorial research fellow at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham and Professor of Feminist Practical Theology at VU, Amsterdam. Published works include: Fragments for Fractured Times: What Feminist Practical Theology Brings to the Table. Abba Amma: Improvisations on the Lord’s Prayer. She is writing a chapter about Rev Jim Cotter for the soon to be published, “Anglican Spiritual Writers of the 20th Century”.
Nathan Munday is a trainee minister and writer. Recently, he was the guardian of Tŷ Mawr Wybrnant, the birthplace of Bible translator William Morgan. In 2016 he finished his doctorate on the Welsh Christian Aesthetic and came second in the New Welsh Writing Awards with his book Seven Days: A Pyrenean Adventure. His debut novel, Whaling, was published by Seren in 2023. Website: www.nathanmunday.com
Hilary Davies has published four collections of poetry and has been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at King’s College, London (2012-6) and the British Library (2018-9). She is also a former Chair of the Poetry Society of Great Britain. In 2023 she was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Environmental Poet of the Year award. She has lectured and written on the relationship between poetry and theology in the work of David Jones, G.M. Hopkins, Henry Vaughan, Thomas Traherne, Christina Rossetti and Emily Dickinson. She has 30 years’ experience in schools, universities and at the British Library helping graduates and members of the general public with creative writing, as well as leading poetry writing workshops.
Mark Pryce is a poet, priest and practical theologian specialising in ‘the place of poetry in Christian spirituality and ministry’. He is a member of the ecumenical poet-theologian group The Diviners, Director of Ministry for Birmingham Diocese, and a Chaplain to the King. He is writing a chapter about RS Thomas for the soon to be published, “Anglican Spiritual Writers of the 20th Century”. Mark was a speaker at our 2022 Festival.
Susan Fogarty is a founder and director of the RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society, facilitating poetry & arts festivals in Aberdaron since 2013. She specialises in reading Thomas’s work: engaging her audience to move through the poetry, in churches and the natural environment. In 2022 she co-created a website dedicated to the life and work of ME Eldridge. www.meeldridge.com
RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Poetry & Arts Festival 