Tributes paid to Anglo-Welsh poet Raymond Garlick
- Published
Mr Garlick was born in London in 1926 and left school aged 15
Tributes have been paid to the Anglo-Welsh poet and critic Raymond Garlick who has died at the age of 84.
He was known for his passion for writing in English about Wales.
The chief executive of Welsh literature organisation Academi called Mr Garlick one of the top five mid-20th Century English writers in Wales.
Peter Finch said his work rated along with that of RS Thomas, Leslie Norris, John Tripp and Harri Webb.
Mr Garlick was born in London in 1926 and left school at 15. He later studied at Bangor University.
Between 1948 and 1960 he worked as a teacher in Bangor, Pembroke Dock and Blaenau Ffestiniog.
In 1960 he worked at an international school in the Netherlands before being appointed as a senior lecturer at the then Trinity College, Carmarthen (which is now the University of Wales Trinity Saint David) where he stayed until he retired.
His publications include A Sense of Europe, Travel Notes and Collected Poems.
Mr Finch said he had known Mr Garlick since "way back in the 60s" when the two of them edited different magazines.
Mr Garlick had "put the hand of experience on my shoulder", and guided him as a kind of mentor, he added.
The two of them had discussed what Anglo-Welsh poetry - writing about Wales in English - actually meant.
Raymond Garlick was passionate about writing in English about Wales
"He was determined to show me, and indeed did show me, that Welsh writing in English is important," he added.
Later Mr Finch was invited to join the Academi, and by that time Mr Garlick had a book of his work published.
"I was running poetry readings, in a room above a pub, and invited Raymond to read to us," he said.
Mr Finch added Mr Garlick's poetry could be "dense" and not written for "the man in the street", but he was passionate about Wales.
A few years ago the Academi held an evening in Mr Garlick's honour, and he had been well enough to attend, Mr Finch said.
"He sat in an armchair at the back, he didn't interfere in the reading of his work, he was very dignified," he added.
Mr Garlick was known for his work on the "matter of Wales, the culture and where he was in it."