Helen Wilcox is Professor Emerita of English Literature at Bangor University, Wales. She has published widely on early modern religious poetry and prose, and on women’s writing; she has lectured across five continents on devotional poetry in English from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century. She is the editor of the acclaimed English Poems of George Herbert and together with Mark Oakley she is preparing the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Devotional Poetry. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Learned Society of Wales.

Wilson Poon is Professor of Natural Philosophy at Edinburgh University, where he studies the flow of gooey materials such as shampoo and molten chocolate, as well as fundamental physical processes in living organisms, especially how they die. As a practising Christian, he has also long been involved in the science-religion dialogue and in the teaching of the subject at the university’s School of Divinity. Some years ago, he helped to start a module looking at science-religion interaction through the lens of literature. Poon’s particular interest is how poets explore this complex relationship.

Joanna Penberthy trained at St John’s, Nottingham and St John’s Durham and was educated at the Universities of Nottingham and Cambridge. She has ministered in the Provinces of England and Cymru both as a non-stipendiary and stipendiary minister beginning when Bishop David Jenkins made her a deaconess at his first Ordination in 1984. Ministries as Deacon, Provincial Officer, Parish Priest, Warden of Readers and Bishop of St David’s followed. In 2019 she completed a Ph.D. on quantum physics with a thesis titled Reading the “Paradoxical Book of Bell”: A case study in theology and science.

Professor W. Richard Bowen is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He also holds degrees in physical sciences (Oxford) and theology (Wales). He has special interests in understanding across conceptual schemes. His publications include studies of the poetry of Dannie Abse, Anne Cluysenaar, John Ormond, R.S. Thomas and Vernon Watkins. He has published extensively on the relationship between science and faith, and the use of engineering for the promotion of peace and wellbeing. His book Engineering Ethics: Challenges and Opportunities is published in Chinese.

Sarah Newbold is a member of the Academy of St Martin in- the- Fields and the New London Orchestra, and formerly of both the Welsh National opera and London Philharmonic. As a freelance player she works regularly with most of the orchestras in Great Britain and is a member of Cardiff Winds and Alvor Ensemble. Teaching plays an important part in Sarah’s musical life, she has been a professor of flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 1989 and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama since 2011.

Terry Duffy is a passionate member of the Liverpool, Welsh Irish diaspora. He began to investigate Thomas’s poetry in the 1980’s, their meaning, message and relevance to cultural aesthetic. The ‘RS Thomas Triptych’ provided the backdrop for the commemoration of RS Thomas in 2001 at the Welsh Academy in Cardiff. He has exhibited internationally, his sublime abstracts to the semi-figurative address such issues as apartheid, victimhood, reconciliation, cultural identity and more.

Mandir Dighe completed her MSc in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh in 2024, having previously earned her BA in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of Mumbai. She has a deep interest in mystical experiences and the intersection of science and philosophy. Her master’s dissertation, which she will be presenting at the conference, focused on R. S. Thomas as a science mystic. Through her research, Mandir explores the profound connections between scientific inquiry and spiritual inquiry, offering perspectives on how they might complement each other.

Meyrick Alexander was Principal Bassoon of the Philharmonia Orchestra for 30 years, before which he was a member of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia. He currently plays principal with the London Chamber Orchestra and has played with nearly every orchestra in the UK. He has played and recorded as a soloist on many occasions around the world and has played on the soundtracks of many feature films and TV programmes.

Susan Fogarty is a founder and director of the RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society, facilitating RS Thomas events and retreats in the UK since 2013. She specialises in reading Thomas’s work by engaging her audience to literally walk with the poetry in churches and the natural environment. She is a licenced lay Pioneer Minister in the Church in Wales with a Ministry Through Poetry. In 2022 she co-created the website dedicated to the life and work of M. E. Eldridge.

Bishop David Morris is assistant bishop for the Diocese of Bangor, the titular Bishop of Bardsey in the Church in Wales. He graduated from the University of Wales, Bangor, with a Bachelor of Theology degree and Masters at St Michael’s College, Llandaff. Ordained as a priest in 2010 at Llandaff Cathedral he was the youngest priest in the Church in Wales. In January 2020, he was appointed Commander of the Most Venerable Order of St John, dean of the Priory for Wales and a trustee of St John Ambulance Cymru. In 2022, Morris was appointed as Residentiary Canon at Bangor Cathedral. At the age of 38, he became the youngest ever bishop in the Church in Wales.

Siân Eleri Thomas is an associate tutor of Welsh at Cardiff University with an MTh in RS Thomas’ poetry. Her scholarly interests focus on the theological themes interwoven within Thomas’ poetry and his significant contribution to the Welsh poetic tradition. She is passionate about exploring the connections between faith, language, and the natural world in Thomas’ work, and enjoys sharing her insights with others.

Mary Robinson is a poet who explores connections between people and place and the natural world. She was a lecturer in English literature in Cumbria.  During her teens and twenties she knew the Keating sisters at Plas yn Rhiw and RS Thomas.  Her latest poetry collection Cynefin written in English, is strongly influenced by the Llyn Peninsula where she now lives.  She is a recipient of the Mirehouse poetry prize and the Second Light poetry prize.   Her poems have been widely published in poetry magazines and anthologies.