Ciaran Eynon

I would like to extend a very sincere thanks to the James Pantyfedwen Foundation for the grant to study for an MA in Welsh and Celtic Studies at Cardiff University. There is no doubt that these kind of grants are a tremendous boost to students from Wales, financially and otherwise. And let’s not forget that these grants support some of our most valuable institutions too.

I completed my MA during a challenging year in education with the Covid-19 pandemic, but I cannot believe how the academic year flew past so quickly. The highlight of the year was completing a dissertation on LGBT+ Welsh poetry, focusing mainly on the works of E. Prosser Rhys, Siôn Eirian, Mihangel Morgan and Gwynfor Dafydd. This postgraduate degree gave me the opportunity to expand my creative writing, poetry and prose, and I had the time and support to experiment. My work was amongst the three best submissions for two of the main literary prizes in the 2021 Eisteddfod T, and this would not have been possible without the expert teaching and guidance of my tutors at Cardiff.

It has been a privilege to receive an invitation from Cyhoeddiadau’r Stamp recently to edit a new poetic periodical entitled Ffosfforws, and I’m looking forward to working on this with Elan Grug Muse and Iestyn Tyne. Once again, this opportunity would not have come my way without the postgraduate course.

Once again, thank you very much for the support of the James Pantyfedwen Foundation. I can only hope that many other students will receive the same support over the years and I wish the Foundation very well for the future.