Hafina Clwyd (1 July 1936 – 14 March 2011) was a Welsh educator, writer and journalist. She had a weekly column in the Western Mail.[1]

Early life and education

Mair Hafina Clwyd Jones was born at Gwyddelwern, and raised on a farm at Llandyrnog. Her family were Welsh speakers. She trained to be a teacher at Bangor Normal College.[2]

Career

Clwyd moved to London at age 21, to work as a teacher. There she co-founded a Welsh literary club, and was an officer of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion.[1]

After returning to Wales in the late 1970s, she edited a community newspaper in Ruthin (Y Bedol) and a national weekly newspaper, Y Faner. She was on the Ruthin town council from 1999 until the year she died, and served a term as mayor of the town (2008–2009).[3] She was recognized with an honorary fellowship at Bangor University in 2005, "for services to journalism."[4]

Clwyd published eleven books, mainly essay collections, including Clichau yn y Glaw (1973),[5] Defaid yn Chwerthin (1980), Clust y Wenci (1997) and Prynu Lein Ddillad (2009)[6] Her works also included an edition of her own diaries from young womanhood, Buwch ar y Lein (1987), an autobiography, Merch Morfydd (1987), and a local history, Pobol sy'n Cyfri (2001). She also edited Welsh Family History: A Guide to Research.[2] Her last book, Mynd i'r Gwrych: Dyddiaduron, 1993–1999 (2011) was published posthumously.[7]

Personal life

Clwyd married fellow teacher Clifford Coppack as her second husband in 1971. She was widowed in 1997. Hafina Clwyd died in 2011, age 74, from melanoma.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b "Hafina Clwyd: Perceptive and Vivacious Journalist Unafraid of Courting Controversy in Both English and Welsh" Independent (21 March 2011).
  2. ^ a b John Owen, "Mair Hafina 'Hafina Clwyd' Coppack" in Dictionary of Welsh Biography (National Library of Wales 2009).
  3. ^ Ruthin and District Civic Association, "Hafina Dedication" Archived 16 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "Royal Harpist Named Among University's Honorary Fellows" Bangor University archived news.
  5. ^ Hafina Clwyd, Clichau yn y Glaw (Gwasg Gomer 1973). ISBN 9780850882100
  6. ^ Hafina Clwyd, Prynu Lein Ddillad (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 2009). ISBN 9781845272371
  7. ^ Hafina Clwyd, Mynd i'r Gwrych: Dyddiaduron, 1993–1999 (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch 2011). ISBN 9781845273019
  8. ^ "Tributes paid to Hafina Clwyd" Wales Online (21 March 2011).
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