{"id":85170,"date":"2024-11-30T20:11:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T20:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=85170"},"modified":"2025-01-16T10:06:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T10:06:58","slug":"new-book-explores-the-myth-of-wales-last-bard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/business-culture\/new-book-explores-the-myth-of-wales-last-bard","title":{"rendered":"Former BBC Wales journalist reveals lost Welsh poet&#8217;s legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New book reveals how Welsh poet&#8217;s work connected rural past with industrial age<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-770x433.jpg 770w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/11\/WechatIMG669-293x165.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Stewart, former journalist and author of&nbsp;<em>In Search of the Last Bard<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A former BBC Wales journalist&#8217;s new book unveils the forgotten legacy of 18th century Wales through the life of one of its least-known poets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Stewart&#8217;s book&nbsp;<em>In Search of the Last Bard<\/em>, published in summer 2024, explores how Edward Evan&#8217;s poetry became popular in the industrial age, long after his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;South Wales changed from a rural area with traditional culture into the centre of industry,&#8221;\u00a0said Stewart.\u00a0&#8220;It&#8217;s fascinating that Evan&#8217;s poetry, written in the old rural world, became so popular in this new industrial society.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stewart worked at BBC Wales for many years before teaching journalism at Cardiff University.&nbsp;&#8220;I approach this as a journalist, not as a historian,&#8221;&nbsp;he said.&nbsp;&#8220;I ask questions like&nbsp;&#8216;Who exactly was this person?&#8217;&nbsp;or&nbsp;&#8216;What was life like at that time?&#8217;&nbsp;I want to tell accurate stories about the past that people find interesting to read.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his five years of research, Stewart visited many libraries across Wales to find old copies of Evan&#8217;s poetry.&nbsp;&#8220;I wrote this book in English because very little has been written about Evan in English before,&#8221;&nbsp;Stewart&nbsp;said.&nbsp;&#8220;I wanted more people to know about him.&#8221;&nbsp;He translated parts of Evan&#8217;s Welsh poems and put them at the start of each chapter to help readers understand the life in 18th&nbsp;century Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The book looks at why people called Evan &#8220;the last bard.&#8221; This title came from Edward Williams, better known as Iolo Morganwg, a well-known Welsh writer of his time. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t completely true,&#8221; Stewart said. &#8220;But legends are just as interesting as facts because they become facts in themselves. People keep telling these stories until they become part of our history.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stewart visited the places where Evan lived and worked, looking through old records to learn about his life.&nbsp;&#8220;In Britain, we&#8217;re lucky because there are many records from 200 or 300 years ago. We can find out a lot about how people lived then,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a good quote at the end of the book,&#8221;&nbsp;Stewart added.&nbsp;&#8220;It talks about remembering who you are and where you come from. The landscape means more when you know the history of the people who lived there.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/gp\/product\/0953107663\/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1\">In Search of the Last Bard<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is available on Amazon in both print and eBook formats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Edward Evan&#8217;s life and poetry uncover the fascinating blend of history, culture, and legend in 18th century Wales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1260,"featured_media":85375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[845],"coauthors":[1294],"class_list":["post-85170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-culture","tag-welsh-culture"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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