Mererid Hopwood

Mererid Hopwood, FLSW (born February 1964) is a Welsh poet. She became in 2001 the first woman to win the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod of Wales.[1]

Dr

Mererid Hopwood
Hopwood in Dyfodol i'r Iaith meeting in 2019
BornFebruary 1964 (age 59)
Cardiff, Wales
NationalityWelsh
Occupation(s)Writer, bard, television presenter and docent
Children3

Teaching

Originally from Cardiff, Hopwood graduated with first-class honours in Spanish and German from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She was a lecturer in German at the University of Wales, Swansea, and since 2001 has also been a Creative Writing tutor in the Welsh Department. She was a Spanish teacher in Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin Carmarthen until January 2010, and is currently a lecturer at the Trinity University of Carmarthen.

Hopwood was appointed in October 2020 as Professor of Welsh and Celtic Studies at Aberystwyth University.

Eisteddfodau

She became the first woman in Eisteddfod history to be awarded the chair at the National Eisteddfod in 2001 which was held in Denbigh. In 2003 she won the Crown at the National Eisteddfod in Meifod,[1] and in 2008 the Eisteddfod's Prose Medal for her book O Ran. She is also an S4C presenter. In 2012 she was awarded the Glyndwr Award by MOMA, Machynlleth. She now lives in Carmarthen with her husband and three children, Hanna, Miriam and Llewelyn.

In August 2009, Hopwood was put forward for the position of Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod, following the death of Dic Jones.[2] It was the first time a woman had been nominated. In November she decided to withdraw from the contest, leaving T. James Jones to fill the vacancy.

In 2023, Hopwood was elected Archdruid for the period from 2024 to 2027; she is the second woman to hold the post, after Christine James.[3]

Honours

In 2018, Hopwood was elected as a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.[4]

Works
  • Sarah Kirsch (1997)
  • Singing in Chains: Listening to Welsh Verse (2004)
  • Seren Lowri (2005)
  • Plentyn (2005)
  • Ar Bwys (2007)
  • O Ran (2008)
  • Nes Draw (2015)
  • Cantata Memoria (libretto) to music by Karl Jenkins (2016)
  • Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd (libretto) to the opera by Gareth Glyn (2017)

References
  1. Bardic and Crown winners. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  2. North Wales Daily Post
  3. "Mererid Hopwood elected Archdruid". National Eisteddfod of Wales. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  4. Wales, The Learned Society of. "Mererid Hopwood". The Learned Society of Wales. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
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