Gwyn Thomas (poet)

As Welsh National Poet, Thomas was commissioned to write five stanzas celebrating the opening in June 2009 of Hafod Eryri, the new summit building at the top of Snowdon. Inscribed on the buildings and windows, in both English and Welsh, they read:

In 2006, Thomas published his autobiography, entitled Bywyd Bach (Small Life), having been asked to contribute to the series Cyfres y Cewri (Series of the Giants).

Also in 2006, Thomas was appointed National Poet of Wales by Academi, replacing Wales first national poet Gwyneth Lewis. Thomas said he would use the 12-month appointment to draw attention to the work of Welsh poets.

Thomas and Margaret Jones won three annual Tir na n-Og Awards from the Welsh Books Council for the previous year's best Welsh-language children's nonfiction book. Their award-winning collaborations were Culhwch ac Olwen in 1989, Chwedl Taliesin in 1993, and Stori Dafydd ap Gwilym in 2004. The first two were published by Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Press), the latter by Y Lolfa.

Thomas published 16 volumes of poetry, several volumes of work as a literary and cultural critic and also translated the Mabinogion into English. His first work as a poet Chwerwder yn y Ffynhonnau ("Bitterness in the Fountains") was published in 1962, while his last, Hen Englynion - Diweddariadau, was published in 2015 by Barddas. As a literary and cultural critic, he published several volumes of essays, critiques, adaptations and translations, including the classic Y Traddodiad Barddol – a study of the classic poetic tradition of Wales. Thomas was also involved with the film industry in Wales, and helped pioneer techniques to combine poetry and film.

Gwyn Thomas (2 September 1936 – 13 April 2016) was a Welsh poet and academic. He was the second National Poet of Wales, holding the role between 2006 and 2008.