Poet Gruffudd adds the chair to his impressive collection

HAVING won the stool at Monday evening’s Siwper Stomp on the Pavilion stage and the Stomp Werin in Tŷ Gwerin on Thursday night, Gruffudd Eifion Owen added a chair to his collection yesterday afternoon, winning in the final main ceremony of the Cardiff National Eisteddfod week.

Gruffudd, 32, wins the chair for a poem on one or more of the traditional poetic measures, of no more than 250 lines on the theme of Porth (gateway or entrance).

The adjudicators were Ceri Wyn Jones, Emyr Davies and Rhys Iorwerth. Delivering the adjudication on behalf of his fellow judges, Ceri Wyn Jones said: “This year’s theme was Gateway, and among those gateways we read about the slaves’ gateway in Calabar, the Brexit gateway in Caernarfon, the gateway in the Bay and Cardiff Castle, and the gateway to the digital world. And a few gateways that I – or my fellow judges – managed to grasp.”

He added: “This poem took our breath away – not because it’s refined or rich, not because it’s extremely elaborate and multi- layered – but because it is so trenchant in the way it deals with experiences which are a way of life for the digital generation. And by doing this, he studies the way in which we choose to live our lives, and that meaning – or lack of meaning – has worried poets for generations, of course.

“But his greatest triumph may be the fact he has done this in such an accessible way, thanks to his fast-moving colloquial style and a wide range of keys, where brand names and swear words are as natural and common to him as strict metre poems. And as writing poetry comes so easily to him, he hits the target every time, changing his style without affecting the story.”

Originally from Pwllheli, Gruffudd attended cynganeddu lessons with Ifan Prys and Meirion MacIntyre Huws as a teenager. This is the first time he has competed for the National Eisteddfod, but not the first time he has been honoured on the stage at the Donald Gordon Theatre, having won the Drama Medal at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff in 2009.

He was also among the performers at Monday night’s Siwper Stomp, appearing with his fellow poets in Bragdy’r Beirdd. He is a keen competitor, and feels that having the opportunity to regularly perform his poetry in front of an audience has been a great help to him as he develops his poetic