Y Ddraig takes flight

Left to right: Dr Bleddyn Huws, Gwenno Edwards, Ffraid Gwenllian, Elin Haf Gruffydd, Llinos Jones and Efa Gruffudd Jones, Chief Executive of the Urdd.

A new literary magazine created by first year students in the Department of Welsh at Aberystwyth University was launched on Saturday 9 June at the Urdd Eisteddfod.

The students taking the module 'Introduction to Welsh Professional' have been given an ambitious project to work on this season, to publish and edit a literary magazine called Y Ddraig (The Dragon).

This 117 page volume includes examples of creative work by students from more than one of the university’s departments in the form of short stories, poems, micro pieces of literature, as well as interviews with interesting individuals.

Y Ddraig was launched on the University stand at the Urdd Eisteddfod in Glynllifon. It provides a new generation of young poets and authors at Aberystwyth University with the opportunity to showcase their work.

Professor Margaret Haycock and Dr Bleddyn Huws are coordinating the module. Dr Hughes said, "The students were responsible for commissioning contributions for the magazine and for selecting and editing pieces for inclusion. They have also commissioned a design for the cover.

"By working together as a team, they have developed important skills that have allowed them to apply what they have heard in lectures and seminars towards a practical and creative project.”

“There will always be a need for professional journalists and editors who can serve the press and publishing industry in Wales, and we have several budding journalists and editors at the Department who will have had the opportunity to develop their skills."

The launch took place in the company Efa Gruffudd Jones, Chief Executive of the Urdd, who is a former student of the Welsh Department.

Efa graduated in 1993 and then gained a Master's degree for a thesis on aspects of Welsh in the Victorian era. Her father, Heini Gruffudd, and her sister Nona are also former students of the Welsh Department.

The Department is very proud of the close contact it has with the Urdd and is one of the organisations receiving students from the Department on work experience. Several former students of the Department, like Efa herself, are now members of staff at the Urdd.

Copies of Y Ddraig are available for £5 from the Welsh Department, cymraeg@aber.ac.uk.

AU18912

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