Dr Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge and former Archbishop of Canterbury, will be visiting Bangor University on Wednesday December 11th. Whilst here he will be delivering a lecture entitled, ‘R.S. Thomas, Christianity and Buddhism’.
The lecture, which will be free for anyone is attend, has been arranged in conjunction with the University’s R.S Thomas Research Centre. Dr Williams will be addressing the 2013 Annual Archives and Special Collections Lecture.
2013 sees the centenary of the birth of R.S Thomas (1913-2000). Whilst having a strong passion for the Welsh language, Thomas could only express his poetry in English, his first language.
Thomas, who was well known for his dislike of the anglicisation of Wales, served for over 40 years as a priest in the Church of Wales. His thoughts and beliefs were well known across Wales and in some parts of England. He spoke of how he felt England were stripping Wales of its wild nature and spoiling it with money.
R.S Thomas felt very strongly about reserving the natural beauty of Wales. He was a member of the RSPB, with who he worked to preserve the Red Kite bird of prey.
Aged 87, Ronald Stuart Thomas died at his home after suffering from a heart condition.
Senior Lecturer in the School of Welsh, Dr Jason Walford Davies spoke of his delight to welcome Dr Williams.
‘It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome Dr Rowan Williams to Bangor. He is one of our major religious thinkers and is himself, of course, a distinguished poet. It’s hard to think of a more appropriate figure to discuss the work of Wales’s finest modern religious poet’.
The lecture will be held at the University’s Main Arts Lecture Theatre at 5:30pm.
