Herbert Williams
Herbert Williams was born in Trefechan, Aberystwyth. He went to Alexandra Road Boys' School and then to Ardwyn Grammar School.His formal education ended at the age of 15, when he was struck down by tuberculosis and spent two years in the South Wales Sanatorium in Talgarth, Powys. While working as a journalist - first on weekly and then on daily papers - he educated himself by extensive reading and through attending university extra-mural classes.In the 1960s he was seen as one of the 'new wave' of Welsh poets writing in English whose voices were distinctly different from those of Dylan Thomas, Vernon Watkins, Idris Davies and others who had made their mark in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of the earliest contributors to Poetry Wales and his work appeared in international magazines. His achievements were recognised by his winning a place alongside such writers as D H Lawrence, Sidney Keyes and Edward Thomas in the Corgi Modern Poets in Focus series, edited by Dannie Abse. Since then his poems have appeared in over 20 anthologies and his commissions have included two lengthy works for BBC radio - 'A Lethal Kind of Love' and 'Journeys Through Time. He has also written several biographies and other novels. As a producer of BBC Radio 4's Morning Story for many years, he provided vital encouragement for many new writers who have since become established names.His awards include a Hawthornden Poetry Fellowship and a top prize in the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition, which he later adjudicated. He is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy and a member of the Society of Authors. He is a contributor to the Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, and was the subject of a special edition of the Radio Wales Arts programme presented by Jon Gower. The Welsh Academy and Welsh Union of Writers combined to present a tribute show in his honour at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, in 1999. He won the Cardiff Poetry Slam 1998, and was one of the adjudicators of the John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry in 2007.
BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
