Abercuawg:Paradise or Utopia?
Dr Rowan Williams was born in Swansea in 1950 and has written widely on literature and theology, including several essays on R.S. Thomas. After retiring as Archbishop of Canterbury in 2012, he served as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, until 2020, and now lives in Cardiff, continuing to write and teach and assist in local churches. His most recent books are Solidarity: the Work of Recognition (Bloomsbury 2026) and, with Brenda Hale, Do We Have the Right to Die? (Penguin/ Bodley Head 2026).
Dr. Jenny Rowland earned her PhD from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and lectured in Welsh and Celtic at University College Dublin. She is the author of Early Welsh Saga Poetry: A Study and Edition of the Englynion, and has written extensively on early Welsh poetry and history, language and metrics.
Jason Walford Davies is Professor of Welsh and Welsh Writing in English, and Co-Director of the R.S. Thomas Research Centre, at Bangor University, where he has taught since 1993. He has published widely in the field of twentieth-century Welsh poetry, and is the author of numerous studies of the work of Waldo Williams (1904–71). His publications on R.S. Thomas include the monograph Gororau’r Iaith (‘The Marches of Language’) – a study of Thomas’s engagement with Welsh-language literature – and the following editions/translations: ABC Neb R.S. Thomas: Autobiographies, R.S. Thomas: Letters to Raymond Garlick 1951–1999. With Tony Brown, Uncollected Poems and Too Brave to Dream: Encounters with Modern Art. He won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod in 2004.
clare e. potter is the Royal Society of Literature/Jerwood Poetry Award winner for Cymru. Her pamphlet Nôl Iaith follows Healing the Pack. She was an ambassador for the Welsh language at Llif (European languages retreat, focus on ecology, climate emergency, culture). She’s recently been appointed as the Artist-in-Service for Rhondda Cynon Taf
David McBride is a doctoral researcher at Aberystwyth University, where he studies Middle Welsh bardic poetry. Born in New Jersey, USA, he has lived in Wales for nearly a decade. His academic interests include medieval literature and history. An Anglican churchwarden in the Church in Wales, he holds the works of R. S. Thomas in particular esteem.
Susan Fogarty is a founder and current director of the RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society, facilitating RS Thomas events in Aberdaron and on-line since 2013. She specialises in reading Thomas’s work: engaging her audience to move through the poetry, in churches and the natural environment. She co-leads RS Thomas retreats with her partner John McEllhenney in the UK and America. In 2022 she co-created a website dedicated to the life and work of M E Eldridge.
Trystan Lewis is well known as a conductor of Hymn Singing Festivals in Wales, England and America with television appearances on S4C’s Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol and Songs of Praise. He is an organist at Penuel Chapel, Deganwy and St Trillo and St George’s Church in Rhos on Sea. He is also the music director of four choirs, namely Côr Cymysg Dyffryn Conwy, Mold Choral Society, Tremeirchion Choir and St Asaph Choral Society.
Therese Urbanska is a local artist and creative art teacher on the Llŷn Peninsula. Inspired by ME Eldridge’s masterwork The Dance of Life she was commissioned by Plas Glyn y Weddw Art gallery to create her own series of six paintings of the same name.
Joshua Games is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Brecon Choir Festival which took R.S. Thomas as its theme for 2025. He splits his time between Bavaria where he sings with the internationally renowned Münchener Bach Chor, and his native Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon)
He holds a Masters degree in Theology & Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge. He is a member of the RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Society’s advisory board.
RS Thomas & ME Eldridge Poetry & Arts Festival 