Dr Hallam was chaired in a ceremony today (Friday, August 6) at the Blaenau Gwent and the Valleys National Eisteddfod at Ebbw Vales for his winning poem, Ennill Tir ("Gaining Ground"), written in the strict meter verse, cynghanedd.

His poem was a tribute, in the form of a verse, to the late Hywel Teifi Edwards, a former Professor of Welsh and Head of Department at Swansea University, and who this week has been honoured and remembered in the newly-established Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University.

Congratulating the chaired bard, Swansea University Vice-Chancellor, Richard B. Davies, said: "To win the Chair of the Eisteddfod is a great achievement and highest accolade for a Welsh poet. The University and its staff share in the celebration and the pride in Tudur's success. It is a great honour for us to have a chaired bard in our Welsh department."

"It is very fitting that Tudur, has written a tribute to Hywel Teifi Edwards, in the same week that we saw the formal launch of Academi Hywel Teifi, in his memory on the Swansea University campus."

Dr Tudur Hallam joined the Welsh department in 1999 and his specialisms include literary theory, literary criticism and the media. He was recently awarded the Saunders Lewis Memorial Scholarship to write a study of Saunders Lewis' own work. Dr Hallam is from Ammanford, and lives in Foelgastell, Carmarthenshire. He is married with two children.

Issued by Rwth Williams, Welsh Language Policy Officer, Tel: 01792 606743.