Poet with most cancers throughout wins National Eisteddfod Chair in Wrexham

A poet who was identified with most cancers throughout final yr’s National Eisteddfod has been awarded one of many occasion’s most prestigious prizes.

Tudur Hallam was introduced with the Eisteddfod Chair for his poem about receiving the information of his sickness.

“I believe writing can be a great help to people,” he stated.

He stated the preliminary shock of his prognosis prevented him from writing “in his mother tongue” for a lot of months, including: “In January I had some sad news that the treatment which was supposed to buy me some time had not worked at all and, in that anguish, I certainly began to write and the poem just flowed out to me.

“I used to be in two minds whether or not to current the poem to the competitors, as a result of I did not know at the moment if I’d be right here in August. I wasn’t positive how a lot time I had.”

In an emotional ceremony on Friday afternoon, the pavilion rose to its feet to applaud the father-of-three as the Archdruid, the head of the Gorsedd of the Bards, greeted him.

Tudur’s brother, Gwion Hallam, also addressed the pavilion with a heartfelt poem.

This is the second time Tudur Hallam has received the award, following his success in the competition at the Blaenau Gwent and Valleys National Eisteddfod in 2010.

After the ceremony, Mr Hallam, a retired Swansea University professor, said the experience was “exhilarating”.

“I really feel blissful, proud that I competed,” he stated.

“I’m glad I’ve created one thing constructive out of a really troublesome state of affairs.”

The audience in the pavilion heard that 15 poets competed this year – the highest number since 1989 – and the judges said it was an “exceptionally sturdy” competition.

This year’s task was to compose an awdl, a long poem, or a collection of poems, on the theme of dinas (city).

In his adjudication, Peredur Lynch said he “was utterly deceived” by the opening of Mr Hallam’s poem, which was cheerful and made reference to the girls’ school football team in Carmarthenshire which he coaches.

“I need to admit my instinctive response was one thing like: ‘Very entertaining, however it takes greater than a light-hearted cywydd (couplet) like this to win the National Chair’.

“And then, in an instant, I felt a punch in the gut… without any preparation, we are summoned as readers by the poet from the middle of a football field to Glangwili Hospital, where he receives a diagnosis of bone cancer and metastatic cancer in the liver.

“I used to be deceived, and life is a deceiver. On a soccer discipline stuffed with problem and bravado someday; our world turned the wrong way up the following.”

• Additional reporting by Eben Leonard