Tony Conran
Encyclopedia
Tony Conran is a Welsh
poet
and translator
of Welsh
poetry. His own poetry is written in English but is very much influenced by Welsh language literature and Welsh culture and history. To some extent there are parallels in Conran's writing with that of R. S. Thomas
, but Conran is a greater experimenter and is allied far more with the Modernist
movement.
Although he was born in India
, other than a brief spell working in a factory in Essex
, Conran has spent most of his life in Bangor
, North Wales
. Until 1983, he taught at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he was tutor in the English Department. Academically, he took a particular interest in Welsh poetry in both Welsh and English and also traditional folksong and ballads. Since retiring from academic life, Conran has continued to develop his own poetic art, often combining dramatic presentation of his work in conjunction with a number visual and performance artists.
Conran's first collection of original poetry was Formal Poems (1958). His numerous other collections include Stelae and Other Poems (1965), Spirit Level (1974), Life Fund (1979), Blodeuwedd (1988) and Castles ( 1993). He has also written many critiques of Welsh literature, including a collection of essays entitled The Cost of Strangeness (Gomer Press, 1982). In 1967, he produced a celebrated collection of Welsh language poetry in translation, Welsh Verse (Penguin). This collection was re-published in 1982 by Poetry Wales Press with an extensive and influential introductory essay by Conran. He has also edited a collection of poetry by South Wales
poet Idris Davies
.
Some of his poetry has been set to music by the Dutch composer, Lowell Dijkstra.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
poetry. His own poetry is written in English but is very much influenced by Welsh language literature and Welsh culture and history. To some extent there are parallels in Conran's writing with that of R. S. Thomas
R. S. Thomas
Ronald Stuart Thomas was a Welsh poet and Anglican clergyman, noted for his nationalism, spirituality and deep dislike of the anglicisation of Wales...
, but Conran is a greater experimenter and is allied far more with the Modernist
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
movement.
Although he was born in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, other than a brief spell working in a factory in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, Conran has spent most of his life in Bangor
Bangor, Wales
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
. Until 1983, he taught at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he was tutor in the English Department. Academically, he took a particular interest in Welsh poetry in both Welsh and English and also traditional folksong and ballads. Since retiring from academic life, Conran has continued to develop his own poetic art, often combining dramatic presentation of his work in conjunction with a number visual and performance artists.
Conran's first collection of original poetry was Formal Poems (1958). His numerous other collections include Stelae and Other Poems (1965), Spirit Level (1974), Life Fund (1979), Blodeuwedd (1988) and Castles ( 1993). He has also written many critiques of Welsh literature, including a collection of essays entitled The Cost of Strangeness (Gomer Press, 1982). In 1967, he produced a celebrated collection of Welsh language poetry in translation, Welsh Verse (Penguin). This collection was re-published in 1982 by Poetry Wales Press with an extensive and influential introductory essay by Conran. He has also edited a collection of poetry by South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
poet Idris Davies
Idris Davies
Idris Davies was a Welsh poet. He was born in Rhymney, near Caerphilly in South Wales, the Welsh-speaking son of colliery chief winderman Evan Davies and his wife Elizabeth Ann. Davies became a poet, originally writing in Welsh, but later writing exclusively in English...
.
Some of his poetry has been set to music by the Dutch composer, Lowell Dijkstra.