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The Biggest Arts and Humanities Grant to come to Wales

The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies has succeeded in winning the largest grant ever made by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to a higher education institution in Wales. The grant of £879,383 goes to Dr Ann Parry Owen, research fellow at the Centre and general editor of the successful series Poets of the Nobility.

The grant will enable a team of researchers at the Centre to prepare a new and accessible edition – on the web and in print – of the poetry of the famous Welsh poet Guto’r Glyn (c.1435 – c.1493). Guto’r Glyn was probably the greatest poet in the Welsh praise-poetry tradition. He flourished during a period called the ‘Great Century’ because of the volume and quality of the poetry produced. His poetry provides fascinating insights into the lives of the nobility: feasts, fine wines, costumes, military battles, domestic relations and animals. The proposed programme of research and publication will enable this remarkable poet to claim the limelight he deserves.

Dr Ann Parry Owen has been a member of the Centre’s staff since 1985 and has built up an international reputation as a scholar and editor. The research will be undertaken in collaboration with two other leading authorities in the field – Professor Dafydd Johnston (Swansea) and Dr Dylan Foster Evans (Cardiff) – and with the National Library of Wales and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.

Professor Geraint H. Jenkins, Director of the Centre, praised Dr Parry Owen on her success. ‘This is a remarkable achievement. It confirms the reputation of the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies as a world leader in this field’.

The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies is a dedicated research centre whose staff are engaged on major multidisciplinary research projects. Its projects on medieval Welsh poetry, the visual culture of Wales, the social history of the Welsh language, the Celtic languages and identity, and Iolo Morganwg and Romanticism have won universal acclaim. It has benefited hugely from the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The quality and range of research supported by the AHRC not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.