John Davies (poet, born 1944)

John Davies is a Welsh poet whose first collection, The Strangers, was published in 1974. He was awarded the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize in 1985.

Early life and career

John Davies was born in 1944 and brought up in Cymmer, a coal mining village in the Afan Valley, some ten miles north of Port Talbot in south Wales. He was the eldest child of Betty Dymond Davies née ChappellBetty Chappell (1918-2010) was the daughter of Gomer Chappell (1879-1927), the Station Master at Cymmer since 1902, and his wife, Mary (1880-1969). Betty attended St Margaret's boarding school in Bridgend and then worked as a clerical officer for the South Wales Power Co. (Glamorgan Advertiser, July 29, 1932 and August 7, 1942). Gomer, born in Abergwynfi and a Welsh-speaker (1911 census), was active in village life, as a warden at St John’s Church, committee member of the Cymmer Cooperative Society and village events organiser. (The Glamorgan Gazette, at British Newspapers Archive (1910-1927) British Newspapers Archive) The issue of February 25, 1927 describes him as a "zealous churchman" and a member of the Llynfi Lodge of Freemasons, as well as a Companion of the Llynfi Chapter of Royal Arch Masons.

Gomer's three brothers were: Joseph (1885-1963), Lloyd's Terrace, Cymmer, coal miner/heavy worker (not a Welsh speaker, 1911 census, though his wife, Annie, was); Harold (1894-1973), Vicarage Terrace, Maesteg, a collierý clerk at Bryn Navigation Colliery, secretary of the Maesteg Conservative and Unionist Assoc. and manager of the Brythonic Male Glee Choir (a Welsh speaker, 1911 census); and the Rev. William Chappell (1877-1941), Rector of St Bride's Minor, Bridgend, a member of the Freemasons and the Royal Order of Moose (a Welsh speaker, as was his wife, Ethel, 1911 census. His obituary notes that "He was a fluent Welsh preacher, and was equally at home in Welsh and English Churches."). Their widowed mother, Arabella (1855-1922), had been born in Somerset, and had moved to Abergwynfi in 1878 (Data on Arabella, who was not a Welsh-speaker, and her sons from the 1911 census and 1939 War Register, from the report of her funeral in The Glamorgan Advertiser, June 2, 1922 and other searches on her sons in the British Newspapers Archive, including The Glamorgan Advertiser 22/2/1929, 7/11/1930, 21/1/1949 and The Glamorgan Gazette 7/2/1941, which has William Chappell's obituary.) of Cymmer and John Vyrnwy DaviesVyrnwy Davies b. 1910 was a teacher and the son of Margaret and Alderman William Henry Davies J.P. (1878-1948), a colliery checkweigher (1911 census) and then a colliery director in Penclawdd. (Details of Betty and Vyrnwy’s marriage on August 1st 1942, including the names and occupations of their parents, were taken from the Glamorgan Advertiser, August 7, 1942, p4.) William and Margaret were both born in Llanrhidian. They, and their children, were Welsh-speakers. (1911 census) William was a member of Gower Rural District Council, and also a member of Glamorgan County Council, and chair of its Health Committee. He was an early member of the Independent Labour Party, and represented Gower at the 1909 party conference. His papers are archived at Swansea University: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb217-swcc:mnb/pp/12. from Penclawdd, a coal mining and cockling village on the Gower peninsula. They were married in St John's Church, Cymmer, in 1942.Glamorgan Advertiser, August 7, 1942

Davies writes about Cymmer and his family in the first three poems of his 1985 collection, The Visitor's Book,The three poems are: The visitor's book, The voice box and Squire in: and again in Starting Point in his 1991 collection, Flight Patterns, where he writes: "Where you started from didn't stop because you left...You keep on looking back...You were never meant to leave and can't..." Davies also draws upon his uncle Joseph Chappell, a coal miner in Cymmer, in The Voice Box (in The Visitor's Book) and in Farmland (in Flight Patterns).

Much of Davies' work has been concerned with roots, language and belonging,: "His work has been praised for its formal precision and for its marriage of delicate lyricism with intellectual toughness. It is much concerned with 'the tension between rootedness and flight..'" as Professor Elinor Shaffer has elaborated in her study of literary devolution."John Davies has continued to write about home, family and Welsh origins and places, and...is a traditionalist in his frequent use of regular stanza forms and rhyme...he is constantly aware of linguistic and cultural tensions. The reasons may lay partly in his up-bringing in industrial South Wales, and partly within the linguistic divisions within his own family. He does not speak Welsh while those about him do..." pp117-119 Shaffer deals sensitively with what she calls the linguistic divisions within Davies' family, but it's not an issue that Davies shies away from. In his poem, The Visitor’s Book, we learn that his father's first language was Welsh, but his mother's was English. He also tells us that his wife and daughter speak Welsh, but he does not.It’s the first poem in his 1985 collection, The Visitor’s Book. But these linguistic fissures ran deeper: Davies' Cymmer grandfather, Gomer Chappell, spoke Welsh, as did two of his brothers, but his third brother, Joseph, did not, though Joseph's wife did.1911 census at Findmypast and see Note 2

In 1954, the family moved to steel-making and English-speaking Port Talbot,See The first five poems in Davies' collection, The Visitor's Book (1985) reflect on living in Cymmer and Port Talbot, and Davies’ return journeys to both. See in particular his poem In Port Talbot. His biography in The Visitor’s Book gives the date of 1954. a town with a rich cultural tradition,For a full account, see John, A.V. (2015) pp9-65, as well as Jones, S.R. (2009). The town had an operatic society and several choirs, as well as regular competitive musical and literary festivals (eisteddfodau) held in schools, churches and chapels, and a long-standing amateur dramatic tradition that has produced, for example, Ivor Emmanuel, Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Di Botcher, Michael Sheen, Rebecca Evans, Rob Brydon and many others. Both John and Jones note that cultural activity was also fostered by groups such as the Port Talbot Historical Society, the Port Talbot Writers' Circle and 'the Port Talbot Literary Society. including connections with the poets Ruth Bidgood, Sally Roberts Jones, Moelwyn Merchant, Dylan Thomas, Edward Thomas and Gwyn Williams.Port Talbot connections: see Stephens, M. ed. (1986) for the entries of Ruth Bidgood p40, Sally Roberts Jones p323, Moelwyn Merchant p395 and Gwyn Williams p646. For more on Edward Thomas and Port Talbot, see James, B. Ll. (1993) and online at . For Dylan Thomas and Port Talbot, see

John Davies attended Dyffryn Grammar School in the town.He was a pupil from 1955 to 1963: His father, J. Vyrnwy Davies, was the history teacher at Dyffryn, where one of his pupils had been the actor, Richard Burton: see Burton, R. (2012) pp50,54. Vyrnwy Davies later became Headmaster at the school: see p33 in Jones, S.R. (2009) on both John Davies and his father, Vyrnwy. Some of his early poems were published in The Wayfarer, the school magazine. See in particular the issues for 1959-1962. Davies' English master at Dyffryn was R. Selwyn Davies,Selwyn Davies had succeeded Philip Burton at Dyffryn in 1945 - see Burton, P.H. (1969) pp87,98 and John, A.V. (2015) pp46,63. Press reviews of some of Selwyn Davies' annual productions of the school play from 1956 to 1970 can be found here: British Newspapers Archive remembered as a "revered" teacher who “embraced contemporary poetry.”Embraced, revered: see John, A.V. (2015) p63 and p157. One of Selwyn Davies’ former pupils has written: “Selwyn Davies became my English teacher and he replaced Mr P.H Burton. I absolutely loved this teacher and enjoyed every lesson…He even made English Grammar palatable.” (See Grace's Blog ) Selwyn Davies was a formative influence on many pupils, not just through his teaching but also the work he did in producing the school plays and The Wayfarer, the school magazine. He also set and adjudicated the essay, poetry, short story, parody, limerick and recitation competitions that were part of the annual St David's Day Eisteddfod. For more on him, see John, A. (2015) pp 63-64, 67, 76, 157

After Dyffryn, Davies studied at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth He then taught English at Prestatyn High School, in north Wales, later becoming an extramural tutor in English.

Davies has also taught at the University of Michigan and Washington State University, and he was a visiting Professor of Poetry at the Brigham Young University, Utah, 1987–88.Stephens, M. (2007) p546. Three of his collections, The Visitor's Book (1985), Flight Patterns (1991) and Dirt Roads (1997), include his reflections on his time in America.The impact of America on Davies’ poetry has been discussed by Thomas, A.(1991)

Davies' visits to America stimulated an interest in carving, and his wood carvings of birds have since been written aboutRoberts, D. (1993/94) The Bird Carvings of John Davies in Planet, 102, December, Aberystwyth: Planet and exhibited,Wall Street International Magazine leading one reviewer to note that Davies has "the gift of being a wordsmith and a woodworker - two of the intrinsic crafts of the Welsh tradition."Lloyd, I. (2003) New Book from Prestatyn Poet in Y Glannau/The Waterfront, February, BBC Wales, online at The Waterfront (“ y ddawn i drin geiriau ac i drin coed - dwy grefft gynhenid y traddodiad Cymreig."/ "the gift of being a wordsmith and a woodworker - two of the intrinsic crafts of the Welsh tradition.") And in John Davies’ case, it was also a craft within his own family's tradition: two of his paternal uncles were woodworkers,Davies' uncle, Morien Davies, taught woodwork at Gowerton Grammar School (see the 1946 and 1953 staff photos at Gowertonian Society staff photos). Morien’s brother, Glyn M. Davies, was a colliery carpenter. Vyrnwy, Morien and Glyn are shown with their parents and other siblings on the 1911 census and the 1939 War Register returns for Penlan, Penclawdd at Findmypast as is Davies’ brother.Gareth Davies, who lives in America, carves fish in wood and paints them. See the Caernarfon Herald, September 30, 2020, and online at Caernarfon Herald While still at junior school, Gareth came second in a national art competition organised by the Western Mail (The Neath Guardian, March 11, 1960). Davies has written about him in three poems in The Visitor's Book (The visitor's book, The bridge and Moontalk), as well as in Picture Time in Davies' earlier collection, At the Edge of Town, and in My Brother Keeps Moving in a later collection, Dirt Roads.

In 2023, Davies published Bird River, with chapters on wood carving, and on the art of sourcing driftwood along the river, as well as sharing personal portraits of many figures of note in the wood carving and literary spheres. Published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, September 2023.

From 1976 to 1980, Davies was the Reviews Editor for the Anglo-Welsh Review.See the Anglo-Welsh Review, autumn 1976 vol 3 no.7., editorial.

He was awarded the Oriel Poetry Prize in 1981.Davies, John (1985), The Visitor’s Book, Bridgend: Seren (cover biography).

In 1985, Davies was joint winner, with Vikram Seth, of the Poetry Society's the Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize, awarded for his fifth collection, The Visitor's Book, which has been described as "one of the most considerable books of poetry by any Anglo-Welsh poet in many years."

Poetry collections John Davies has published eight collections of poetry:All eight are listed in Stephens, M. (2007) p546 and all are also listed in the catalogue of the British Library at British Library Catalogue The Strangers, 1974, Swansea: Christopher Davies Spring in a Small Town, 1979, Mold: Centre for Ed. Tech. At the Edge of Town, 1981, Llandysul: Gomer