New Academi Fellows Announced
Paul Henry, Jim Perrin and Stan Barstow accept Fellowship
The Welsh Academy, the Society for Writers in Wales, has recently created three new Fellows. Fellowship of the Academy is offered rarely and is done after long deliberation by the Welsh Academy’s elected Membership Committee. Fellows are those who have made a significant contribution to the literatures of Wales. These are life-time honours made to those who have worked long, produced much and made a mark.
The English section of the Committee, under the Chairmanship of Catherine Merriman, met earlier in 2008 to finalise the extension of the current list of Fellows by a few names. The Welsh Academy is proud to announce that the poet Paul Henry, travel writer Jim Perrin, and fiction writer and dramatist Stan Barstow have accepted its offer of life-time Fellowship.
Poet Paul Henry is renowned for his originality and emotive imagery.
Originally from Aberystwyth and now based in Gwent, Paul has been active in the Welsh literary scene for decades as an editor, broadcaster, performer, lyricist and tutor. He received a Gregory Award from the Society of Writers in 1989 and two Academi bursary awards. His published titles include The Milk Thief (Seren, 1999), The Breath of Sleeping Boys and Other Poems (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2004) and more recently Ingrid’s Husband (Seren, 2007). Paul’s work has also been widely anthologised and has appeared in numerous journals including Poetry Wales. To read more about Paul you can visit his Writers of Wales by clicking here.
Jim Perrin has challenged the boundaries of creative writing in his uniquely lyrical climbing and travel essays.
Jim moved to Wales in 1964 and was one of Britain’s leading rock climbers in his youth. Inspired into writing about his experiences, he has won numerous awards including the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1985 and 2005 and the Wales in Print Award in 2002. He regularly contributes travel writings to the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and Climber and TGO magazines. His diverse published titles include Menlove (Gollancz, 1985), a biography of rock-climbing pioneer John Menlove Edwards; Travels with Flea (Inn Pinn, 2002), a collection of travelogues; and The Climbing Essays (Inn Pinn, 2006) which was short-listed for the 2007 Wales Book of the Year. To read more about Jim you can visit his Writers of Wales by clicking here.
Fiction writer and dramatist Stan Barstow changed the face of British fiction with his groundbreaking novel A Kind of Loving (Michael Joseph, 1960).
Considered to be one of the pioneers of the 1960s school of northern English literary realism, Stan moved to south Wales from Yorkshire later in his career. His work has been National Curriculum set-texts for decades and A Kind of Loving (Michael Joseph 1960) was made into a film in 1962, directed by John Schlesinger. Joby (Michael Joseph 1964) was televised by Yorkshire Television in 1975. He has published eleven novels, three books of short stories, numerous television scripts and material for the theatre and radio. To read more about Stan you can visit his Writers of Wales by clicking here.
Academy Fellows now number sixty-six. Paul Henry, Stan Barstow and Jim Perrin join Dannie Abse, Jan Morris, Dai Smith, Tony Conran, Sian James and others at the high end of literary achievement. For a full list of Welsh Academy Fellows, click here (English section) and here (Welsh section).