The Black Chair

Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's poetry archive and to mark St David's Day selects The Black Chair - the compelling story of the Welsh poet Hedd Wynn.

In September 1917, in a ceremony whose power and emotion still resonates in Wales a century later, a remarkably beautiful chair, crafted by a Belgian refugee, was awarded to Hedd Wyn for his winning poem 'Yr Arwr' (The Hero).

Before being conscripted into the army, he had been a shepherd, who had attended school for only nine years.

When the winning entry was announced at the 1917 Eisteddfod, the trumpets were sounded for the author to identify himself.

After three summons, it was announced to a stunned audience that the poet was absent because he’d been killed in action, weeks earlier.

In the presence of the Prime Minister Lloyd George, the empty chair was draped in a black sheet, and sent on to Hedd Wyn's parents.

The event is referred to as the Eisteddfod of the Black Chair, and is the continued focal point for Wales's commemorations of the First World War.

Poet Mab Jones visits Hedd Wyn's family farm in Snowdonia and she talks to chair winners Twm Morys and Mererid Hopwood, and historian Aled Eirug, to find out why the event still holds such significance in Wales.

Producer: Megan Jones

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017

*** And Daljit reads from his Poetry Extra Book of the Month: Mouth by Mona Arshi.